Randomness: Of here and now!

(((I am having blogger issues - the font may be all jumbled up and I have no clue how to fix it)))

Relative Story: A few days back I got invited to a phone conference of a talk by a very popular spiritual Guru of our times, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudeva of Isha Foundation. Check him out on YouTube. He sort of reminds me of Osho. His delivery of message is a lot like Osho’s – candid! Quite a few of my friends are highly influenced by him.

So during the talk, Sadhguru narrated a story (these are pretty close to his words as I typed it while he spoke):

On a certain night, a lady went to sleep. She had a dream; she saw a hunk of a man staring at her. As he started to come close to her, closer, closer, she could feel his breathe. She trembled! What will you do to me? The man said, well, lady, it is your dream!!!

Moral of the story: Please manage your dreams at least!

Radio influenced reflections while driving:

John Meyer is totally relentless with his “say what you need to say”. Seriously, the radio stations are still not giving up on this song or each time I turn on the radio, there it is. I want an association song for this time. Like you know when you hear some song, you go back to a certain time and place with that song. & I don’t want it to be “say what you need to say”! For instance “dil deewana” from Pardes reminds me of driving down the San Mateo Bridge - sun setting on San Francisco became “dil, deewana, deewana hai yeh dil”… My first trip back to India is connected to the Judwa soundtrack. What a musical masterpiece: “tan tana tan tan tan tara, chalti hai kya nau se barah”. Aaj tak India mein nau se barah ka show dekhne ki hope hai!

Hmmm… I want something absolutely random with a touch of ridiculous to it. Those are the best memory songs. And it has to be Bollywood! Aaahhhhh .. can’t believe; I found it – its perfect all complete with the theatrics of the moment:

Zoobi Doobi Zoobi Doobi Pum Para

Zoobi Doobi Param Pum

Zoobi Doobi Zoobi Doobi

Naache Kyun Pagal Stupid Man!!!

Way to go! Moving on!!!

Weight Fluctuations.

One of the most annoying side effects of emotional issues – weight fluctuation! Its like the moon phases – you gain, you loose, you gain, you loose, you pms, you bloat and get very angry over God knows what!

During the “jab dil hi toot gaya, hum jee kar kya karenge” phase, I inhaled a large tub of Haagen-Dazs dark chocolate ice-cream and I don’t even like ice-cream. I did it because that’s the protocol! Heartbroken girls eat atrocious amounts of ice-cream. I followed it with crazy amount of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Moral of the story: Do NOT mix ice-cream and wine.

Good thing though – I had followed my protocol and was ready to move on to “I am not hungry” phase. Not a bad phase – its helping me reach my ideal weight goal. Every cloud has a silver lining, aye!

Shoe Therapy

I must have realllyyy liked this fellow!

I was devastated to find that buying shoes won’t help. I was in shoe heaven with the Macy’s sale going on. I was right there and came back empty handed. Did not even want to try anything? Usually, the Borns, the Nine Wests, the Steve Maddens, the Bondolinos, the Circas, the Franco Sartos … call me by my first name. But this time they did not even wanna have an eye-contact. What can I say, “dekhi zamane ki yaari, bichadey sabhi baari-baari”. . .

Now I have a permanent room on disappointment-central platform - Kholi # 420!

Friends

I am so grateful to God! I have fabulous friends and they don’t let me forget they are around. I am not allowed to be MIA for too long cuz they hate missing their McChatty express spewing her goofiness on the fly… they are persistent with their texting, leaving vms, emails, facebooking, sending a pigeon,… I suppose you know who your real friends are because they will break down the walls you put up. My weakness is I run; thank God that they don’t let me go too far.

Here I will share my friend philosophy; it’s an exercise I ask people to do once in a while. On one hand count five people who can count on you and on another hand count five people you can count on. If you can fill all the ten fingers, you are doing something right. Because only 2 types of people count:

1) those who believe they can count on you in desperate times (this is tricky because this set may include a few opportunists)

2) those on whom you can count on during adversities.

Generally these set of people overlap, which is a good thing. A 2-way relationship is logical, sensible, hassle free, and a rocking party.

Nostalgia

Gulzar says, “waqt marta nahin”!

True – waqt memories ban kar hamarey mind mein ek parallel universe kai form mein zinda rehta hai.

These days a few friends from childhood have been making rounds in my memories.

Last night, one of the channels was broadcasting Qyamat Se Qyamat Tak. Each time I that movie comes up, I remember Kevin – he was my neighbor, my schoolmate and best friend in eight grade in India. He was an Anglo-Indian with striking resemblance to Aamir Khan (w/ blue eyes). No – I did not have a crush on him. I was true to my love for Aamir Khan. Around Diwali time, while playing, Kevin broke my little patakha bandook and I got so mad at him for that. He tried to hard to apologize but I was such a B*! I feel bad now L … But my best friend knew of my love for Aamir Khan that when the DSOI played QSQT, he surprised me by taking me to watch it. (DSOI played QSQT frequently because that is one of the two movies they had to show)

I wonder how he is doing!

Green Tea

This is just a random sub topic.

Ladies in case you are wondering, drinking Green Tea really works. I can feel the difference in my skin and hair. Girls, feel free to write to me if you want personal confirmation.

Over and out – but not for too long!

in spirit like the Kirpan

I have met him a few times. My father introduced us – Justice Mota Singh. He is the first Asian on the Queen’s Counsel. We exchanged a few pleasantries as he noted that we have the same last name. In 2009, he was honored with the highest civilian honor; the Queen knighted him.

We met mostly during wedding functions of mutual friends. During the few meetings I had with him and his wife, I got to speak to the wife more. I used the opportunity to impose questions about the British Royal Family. Yes – I am a gossip-mongering female! Surprise surprise!!! But seriously, there was no deviousness attached with my questioning. It was mostly small talk.

What was Princess Di like?
Well, she was a lot more beautiful in person.
Do Camilla and Charles look like they are in love?
Yes, they are happy together.

The conversation lasted through lunch in the Gurdwara.

I heard Justice Singh lecture at the Gurdwara and also at the reception. Each time, perhaps due to my lack of interest in “orthodox-religious”, my mind lingered off to the outfits, jewelry and shoes the women-folk adorned at the function. All I remember is that although he is highly knowledgeable of Gurbani, his interpretation of it was far removed from mine. I belong to spiritual school-of-religious thought. I like to think that society, social-norms, religion, and so forth are created for the people and not the other way around. We seem to forget that we created them and we have the duty to amend them per the fluidity of time and changes the time brings. What is the sense in imposing the norms of 1900 (example) in 2000? As a Sikh, I am afraid that these orthodox people are making Sikhism a stagnant system and in effect also alienating the coming generations from the beautiful philosophy based on which Guru Nanak Dev Ji established the religion.

Per the definition of present-day leaders of the Sikh religion, the dictates one must follow to be a true Guru ka Sikh are close to impossible if one would also like to lead a fulfilling and active social life. Again, they are alienating a majority of future generation Sikhs. Majority has either completely disconnected with the religion of their ancestors or they keep a very basic connection by visiting the Gurdwara occasionally.

My main fear and sorrow is that the word of Guru is getting lost in this transition. The religion, which was established to eradicate the rituality out of spirituality, is back to square one. Preserving the identity has become the main focus of the Sikhs. I think I understand because Guru Gobind Singh Ji said,

Khalsa mero roop hai khaas, Khaalse meh hau karau nivaas
Khalsa is my form special, In Khalsa I live

Khalsa mero mukh hai angaa, Khaalse ke haun sad sad sangaa
Khalsa is my body, With Khalsa Im ever ever present

Khalsa mero mitar sakhaaee, Khalsa maat pita sukhdaaee
Khalsa my friend companion, khalsa mother father peacegiver

Khalsa mero dharam our karam, khalsa mero bhed nij maram
Khalsa my faith and actions, Khalsa my distinct personal mystique

Khalsa mero bhavan bhandaara, Khaalse kar mero satkaara
Khalsa my treasure vast, Khalsa keeps my honour

Khalsa mero satgur poora, Khalsa mero sajjan soora
Khalsa my satguru complete, Khalsa my virtous noble friend, brave dauntless warrior

Khalsa akal purakh ki fauj, pragteo khalsa paramatam ki mauj.
Khalsa army of God, the Akal Purakh, Khalsa joy of the Supreme Being.

The call of the times is to truly decipher the not-so-hidden symbolism of Guru’s word; to incorporate the “Khalsa” in spirit. To truly become like Sarbans Dani Guru Gobind Singh Ji in action and not only appearance.

Similarly a Sikh should be like Kirpan in character. The wearing of it should not precedence over the connection of Sikh and Gurbani. It should not take precedence over Guru’s intention and reasons for establishing the religion. What happened to Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s order to the Sikh panthics to do the following:

• Naam Japo: a constant remembrance of One Lord Almighty.
• Kirat Karo: earn an honest living.
• Vand Chako: sharing with people in need.

What about the hukum to eradicate caste system and gender inequality? If I am not mistaken, Punjab is one of the leading states in female infanticide.

What about the guidance of the Gurus to evoke the qualities of Sat (Truth), Daya (Compassion), Santokh (Contentment), Nimrata (Humility) and Pyaar (Love)?

How, when and why did the Sikhs get consumed with the tangible aspects the religion and put Guru’s Bani on the back burner?

Well back to why I started this post (ranting) - a few days after getting knighted, Sir Singh made a statement that the Sikh students should not be banned from wearing the Kirpan to schools.

Is he a Justice for reals? Ok – I am not too surprised because I have heard him talk but seriously. These are the Sikhs in public eye and this is the reflection of my religion – already severely under-represented minority. Of all the issues, he decides to take up the cause of carrying a Kirpan to school?!

As a Sikh future mom, my children will not carry a Kirpan and I refuse to have their kids wield one. We live in different times today. We live in community of various religions and philosophies and further more the west and the east have become global neighbors – literally.

Now as for logic, if a Kirpan needing situation arises, more than likely the kid will be faced with a Gun. And if by chance the kid pulls out a Kirpan on an unarmed peer, beats the purpose of the Kirpan and also very disrespectful!

If Guru Gobind Singh Ji were around, he would say, “context kids context”. Be sensitive to the sensibilities of your fellow humans. I handed you the Kirpan in 1600s which was the call of the day. It was a time when we had to protect our women; it was a time to protect our families from forced Islamic conversions. A weapon was handed in your fists to fight the intruders who carried weapons.

However, today the challenges are of different kind. We have evolved into a comparatively civilized culture where the kind of atrocities faced by our ancestors are not likely to occur in London or San Francisco. The call of today is to integrate that which the Kirpan represents in our spirit. To know that we will use the weapons of our times to fight our battles & furthermore, to know that the weapons of our times can cause unprecedented devastation. To understand that a social revolution is necessary and it happens everyday by changing our thinking as a community. To realize that true bravery is in avoiding a violent face-offs – to avoid does not mean to fear it when necessary!

As I write this, one of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s very beautiful Bani keeps on ringing in my mind:

Chidiayan De Naal Baaz Ladaon
Tahe Gobind Singh Naam Kahaaon.

Translation:

When sparrows will fight and beat hawks,
Is when I will be true to my name, Gobind Singh

(Please feel free to correct my translation and if you disagree, feel free to do so respectfully because everyone is entitled to their opinion.)

Baarish mein epiphanies...

Wouldn’t it be nice if epiphanies were as delightful as this! (I mean the beginning of the video)

Like when the warm monsoon rain catches you off-guard as you gaze into a not so distant memory or a possible future, out of your window!

For those who have not had an opportunity to experience Indian monsoon – you really missed something. It’s MAGICAL. Really! Not exaggerating…

By the time monsoon arrives in that part of the world, the earth and man are equally parched for a warm and love-filled embrace from the heavens. The water is like a messenger from the other side of the skies and all the five senses are touched. Nobody knows the true meaning of the expression, “dancing in the rain” until you have seen the kids run out into the streets at the first shower.

Splish splash … jump in the puddles . . . out with your paper boats . . . not too long before out comes a rainbow ….

Moms get busy cooking delicacies to welcome basant! Oh the aroma fills the atmosphere…

Meanwhile the water falls heedlessly as if its only aim is to wash away the world of all the dhool-mitti ke illusions! Aise mein – epiphanies can’t be avoided!

boodon ke motiyon mein khul ke ehsaas aya

waqt se nikal ke lamha dil ke paas aya

choo ke guzara tha par dil ko na mehsoos hua

ab jo dekha to voh lamha dil ko raas aaya

yun ke tai kar na paaon re

dil ki baat mein hawa ke zariye pahuchaaon re

ya khud hawa pe chal ke aaon re

tumse pyaar hai yeh khul ke jin mein keh paaon re

lafz voh kahan se laaon re . . .

Osho's No-Thought for the Day

I am loving Osho's thought of the day:

To me, disobedience is a great revolution. It does not mean saying absolute no in every situation. It simply means deciding whether to do it or not, whether it is beneficial to do it or not. It is taking the responsibility on yourself. -OSHO

Isn't it something along the lines of my personal quote, "the wisest are those who know which rules to keep and which to break"?

Quote: April 15, 2010

At a certain age some people's minds close up;
they live on their intellectual fat.

~William Lyon Phelps

Quote: April 13, 2010

We are so vain that we even care for

the opinion of those we don't care for.

-Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach

bloggoobbccessed!

The stat-counter that I had installed on my blog froze and stopped working a month back! Not a big deal because I hardly get any traffic here – in fact, majority of the people in my non-virtual life are not even aware that I purge in the virtual purgatory! [oooh – I like that; purge in the virtual purgatory. Have you noticed that one’s creative expression and sense of irony greatly improves during distressing times?!].

However, I too suffer from a not-so-severe case of self-obsession. I like to know where in the world does my blog attract most visitors from? Lately the readers aren’t as interactive as they were a few years back. I am thinking since there is so much more blogging material available to read that the need to relate has sort of taken a back seat.

But since the counter has been broken for a while now, my initial withdrawals have ceased; the expression has become braver probably because the audience is invisible! Reminds me of what the teachers used to say before you had to go on stage for a performace, ‘imagine the audience is naked’. … This is truly the way to write. Without care of offending, without fear of being judged, being as true to your intellect as possible.

Its not an easy comfort zone to secure. I have friends and acquaintances who boast of half a million per month click rate on their blog. They get very disheartened when the number dips even a few hundreds! When my numbers dip, they might as well go into the negatives … So – this silly woe reminds me of an incident from my early blogging days. ---I think 2004ish when the blog-mania was catching on; I was a consistent visitor on a very popular community-blog run by a famous spiritual Guru. He had involved a decent collection of people to post entries from all walks of life – journalists, actors, socialists, social-workers/NGO workers, models, authors, entrepreneurs, etc. The full-lot of them averaged about six to eight posts per day. We the little people were granted an opportunity to interact with these big-fellows by responding to their posts. One day, a famous actor complained that he was sort of disappointed that he was not getting all too much attention from the visitors. His posts were definitely some of the most interesting ones but I think his wit and humor was so cutting edge that it intimidated people. I thought his complain must be in good humor but when subsequently his posts thinned out, I could not help but believe that self-obsession does not spare any soul!

….I am not sure if I want the counter to work anymore. Perhaps someday but for now I like this experience – its like talking really loud in blinding darkness!

i m perfect

Sometime back, on Facebook, I joined a group titled - "I am almost there". Oh the response I got from friends who have had to wait for me and eventually learn to give me time half an hour in advance - well lets just say the response was "overwhelming". I have quite a fan following! I am the definition of unpunctuality - but you know what Evelyn Waugh says, "Punctuality is the virtue of the bored."

Jasleen's new personal project: If you can't fix your short-comings; find good/intelligent enough excuses which may justify them!

love, music and Mom का हल्दी वाला दूध

Mom!!! मेरा दिल टूटा हुआ है!

Uffooo – तभी तो फिक़र हो रही है मुझे तेरी! हल्दी वाला दूध ला दूं?

Mom – I was not in a car accident; I don’t have a sprained ankle; I am heart-broken! I don’t offer you Tylenol when you feel sad. [Although – T3 is not a bad alternative]

तो अब तू ही बता, क्या करूं तेरे लिए?

First of all – please don’t assume I am dying of grief like Laila or something. Second – please no “future के बारे में सोचो” questions। Third – I wanna be alone!!!

Desi Moms (actually all Moms) are amazing! Their capacity to love is unbeatable। That’s all they do – love you unconditionally. But when it comes to dealing with their progeny’s emotionally vulnerable moments, they come up with some of the most outrageous suggestions.

My mother is quite an endearing character. Whiles back when watching a Bollywood movie, we got into discussing the concept of unconditional love between a man and a woman. She related the stories of Laila/Manju, Heer/Ranjha, Sohni/Mahiwal. She told me – Doll, पता है लैला बड़ी काली थी और कहते हैं मजनू बहुत ही handsome था. मगर उनका इश्क़ रूहानी था! Physical beauty के परे.

Me: यह रूहानी इश्क़ क्या होता है [I think she was telling me how they did not indulge in any hanky-panky when they were alone and here comes my opportunity to totally kill the conversation] … so Mom ji – जब हीर रांझे से छुप छुप कर मिलने जाती होगी तो रांझे ने कभी नहीं कहा होगा की ‘सुन हीर, तेरे पीछे इन्ने सालां तों मझां चारा रह हाँ, इक kiss तो दे जा!’. [Yup - that was offensive enough for her to mumble a few things about the new generation and leave…hehehehe]

हल्दी वाला दूध ! – मेरी माँ को मेरे दिल में और मेरे ankle में कोई difference नहीं लगता!! Phine, phine, fine … I am admitting that I am दुखी. But it’s not everyday that you fall दुखी! थोड़ा enjoy तो करने दो. The need to be quite and reflect and get distracted by things which you had stopped noticing! Also, that old prayer I had from God जी, is making its rounds again in my restless दिमाग़. Oh God! Please please please bless me with the facility of background music in my life – like in the movies. You know like when the protagonist is going to enter a house he/she should not, the music warns them, the बांसुरी for an approaching sad scene, a violin piece for a possible romantic scene, भांगरा for तमाशा … and so forth – God ji you get it ना? This feature would quite helpful for me who jumps and then thinks. It would be nice to get a few warnings via background music.

Anyway, so to add to the glory of my broken heart, I am thinking of adding a new playlist of broken-hearted people music to my iPod. Like a horrendously दुखी kind, something like this:

• Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day) -- sob sob
• Uninvited (Alanis Morisette) --- ok this one is more angry than sad but I deserve an angry-girl song in here too!
• Irresistible (Beyonce) – hey! Another angry-girl song. What is my sub-conscious saying to me? I am really NOT angry…
• Complicated (Avril Lavigne) … *H*T! This is an angry-girl song as well! I think I am going to move on to the traditional Bollywood music. Only Bollywood knows what I really want!
• Yaaa raabbaaa – de de koi jaan bhi agar/dilbar ko ho na koi khabar (Salam-E-Ishq) .. a bit too dukhi but still in rhythm with my sorrows. Ok - I think this playlist can rock now…
• Mein jahan rahoon (Namaste London) – This one is a classic. It is included in most of my playlists already.
• Sau dard hain (Janeman) – oho yeh to maha-dukhi hai; like a 7 on a scale of 10.
• Ik tara …(Wake up Sid) – yeh hui naa baat. Aab maza aa raha hai.
• A Punjabi one – changa hoya tun parayaa ho gaya/muk gayi chinta tenu apnaan di (jaach menu – Batalvi by Jagjit Singh)
• Uff teri ada, I wanna dance with you (Karthik calling Karthik) – I know, I know its not a sad song but whose list is this? MINE – and this is what I am rocking to these days!! Enough with sad stuff
• Prem ki naiyaa hai raam ke bharose (APKGK) - J
• Love Story – Taylor Swift; whatever to all the haters! She was rocking the Grammies.
• An old – totally played out song – Even angles fall (Jessica Riddle) – so it may be all played out but I still like it! Cuz .. you will fly and you will crawl / God knows even Angels fall….
• And the finale song – Hey there Delilah (Plain White T) … super sweet …
• Seriously – the list itself is going to be never-ending …

So I plan on celebrating this phase of life as well. This sense of dejection, an unsettling feeling, confusement, is kind of cool. Makes you think of things you generally won’t. For example, I have been thinking, I am not the first of the last person to have failed. Many did and many will. What can I do that I only carry the good ahead with me and not get bitter and burden others with my failed expectations?And I need to stop over reacting!!!

वोह सब तो ठीक है मगर - I have been thinking of where to put all the dreams I had – about a future … curtains किस color के होंगे? Roses ki grafting से किस color के फूल निकलेंगे? I hate onions!

& I love my Mom and her हल्दी वाला दूध!

Line of Fire ... all in a day's work!

I have a soft corner for all defense related stories due to my army background. This story truly reflects the spirit of a soldier... Also reminds you to not become an isolated island ... stay connected and tolerant to people around you because we are all fighting our own battles!

Here is a bloggifiable email forward:

------------------------------------------

Vivek Pradhan was not a happy man. Even the plush comfort of the air-conditioned compartment of the Shatabdi express could not cool his frayed nerves. He was the Project Manager and still not entitled to air travel. It was not the prestige he sought, he had tried to reason with the admin person, it was the savings in time. As PM, he had so many things to do. He opened his case and took out the laptop, determined to put the time to some good use.

“Are you from the software industry sir,” the man beside him was staring appreciatively at the laptop.

Vivek glanced briefly and mumbled in affirmation, handling the laptop now with exaggerated care and importance as if it were an expensive car.

“You people have brought so much advancement to the country sir. Today everything is getting computerized.”

“Thanks,” smiled Vivek, turning around to give the man a look.

He always found it difficult to resist appreciation. The man was young and stocky like a sportsman. He looked simple and strangely out of place in that little lap of luxury like a small town boy in a prep school. He probably was a railway sportsman making the most of his free travelling pass.

“You people always amaze me,” the man continued, “You sit in an office and write something on a computer and it does so many big things outside.”

Vivek smiled deprecatingly. Naivety demanded reasoning not anger. “It is not as simple as that my friend. It is not just a question of writing a few lines. There is a lot of process that goes behind it.” For a moment, he was tempted to explain the entire Software Development Lifecycle but restrained himself to a single statement. “It is complex, very complex.”

“It has to be. No wonder you people are so highly paid,” came the reply.

This was not turning out as Vivek had thought. A hint of belligerence came into his so far affable, persuasive tone.

“Everyone just sees the money. No one sees the amount of hard work we have to put in.Indians have such a narrow concept of hard work. Just because we sit in an air-conditioned office does not mean our brows do not sweat. You exercise the muscle; we exercise the mind and believe me that is no less taxing.”

He had the man where he wanted him and it was time to drive home the point.

“Let me give you an example. Take this train. The entire railway reservation system is computerized. You can book a train ticket between any two stations from any of the hundreds of computerized booking centres across the country. Thousands of transactions accessing a single database, at a time concurrency; data integrity, locking, data security. Do you understand
the complexity in designing and coding such a system?”

The man was stuck with amazement, like a child at a planetarium. This was something big and beyond his imagination. “You design and code such things.”

“I used to,” Vivek paused for effect, “But now I am the Project Manager,”

“Oh!” sighed the man, as if the storm had passed over, “so your life is easy now.”

It was like being told the fire was better than the frying pan. The man had to be given a feel of the heat.

“Oh come on, does life ever get easy as you go up the ladder. Responsibility only brings more work. Design and coding! That is the easier part. Now I do not do it, but I am responsible for it and believe me, that is far more stressful. My job is to get the work done in time and with the highest quality. To tell you about the pressures, there is the customer at one end always changing his requirements, the user wanting something else and your boss always expecting you to have finished it yesterday.”

Vivek paused in his diatribe, his belligerence fading with self-realisation. What he had said, was not merely the outburst of a wronged man, it was the truth.. And one need not get angry while defending the truth. “My friend,” he concluded triumphantly, “you don’t know what it is to be in the line of fire.”

The man sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as if in realization. When he spoke after sometime, it was with a calm certainty that surprised Vivek.

“I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire,” He was staring blankly as if no passenger, no train existed, just a vast expanse of time.

“There were 30 of us when we were ordered to capture Point 4875 in the cover of the night. The enemy was firing from the top. There was no knowing where the next bullet was going to come from and for whom. In the morning when we finally hoisted the tricolour at the top only 4 of us were alive.”

“You are a…”

“I am Subedar Sushant from the 13 J&K Rifles on duty at Peak 4875 in Kargil. They tell me I have completed my term and can opt for a land assignment. But tell me sir, can one give up duty just because it makes life easier. On the dawn of that capture, one of my colleagues lay injured in the snow, open to enemy fire while we were hiding behind a bunker. It was my job to go and fetch that soldier to safety.”

“But my captain refused me permission and went ahead himself. He said that the first pledge he had taken as a Gentleman Cadet was to put the safety and welfare of the nation foremost followed by the safety and welfare of the men he commanded.”

“His own personal safety came last, always and every time. He was killed as he shielded that soldier into the bunker. Every morning now, as I stand guard I can see him taking all those bullets, which were actually meant for me. I know sir, I know what it is to be in the line of fire.”

Vivek looked at him in disbelief not sure of his reply. Abruptly he switched off the laptop. It seemed trivial, even insulting to edit a word document in the presence of a man for whom valour and duty was a daily part of life; a valour and sense of duty which he had so far attributed only to epical heroes.

The train slowed down as it pulled into the station and Subedar Sushant picked up his bags to alight.

“It was nice meeting you sir! ”

Vivek fumbled with the handshake. This hand had climbed mountains, pressed the trigger, and hoisted the tricolour. Suddenly as if by impulse,he stood at attention and his right hand went up in an impromptu salute. It was the least he felt he could do for the country.

PS: The incident he narrates during the capture of Peak 4875 is a true-life incident during the Kargil war. Capt. Batra sacrificed his life while trying to save one of the men he commanded, as victory was within sight. For this and his various other acts of bravery he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra the nation’s highest military award.

Chaucer's March 32nd Day

It is APRIL FOOL's Day!

The title of this post is based on the origin of this holiday.

Here is the wiki explanation:

In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1392), the "Nun's Priest's Tale" is set Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two.^[2] Chaucer probably meant 32 days after March, i.e. May 2,^[3] the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia, which took place in 1381. However, readers apparently misunderstood this line to mean "March 32," i.e April 1.^[4] In Chaucer's tale, the vain cock Chauntecler is tricked by a fox.

So think of cool tricks if you are smart enough - in my case, I just need to not forget because my father and brother have an absolutely evil spirit on this day in terms of fooling me and I get fooled every year! Last year my brother convinced on the phone that my dog Charlie broke his tail. (the one on the left is Charlie and the one of the right is - I don't know;) I was pretty much in tears when mom called back to say he is an IDIOT! Oh - I wonder if I can pull something equally cruel on him. While I cook up something, my main focus would be to not let the bevkoof be able to revel in his glory after fooling me!!!

Good luck all!

Update: 4-2-2010

The evil troll (aka: my brother) got a few ladies at his work this year by leaving memos on their desks by requesting an important call back from Mr. Behr and Mr. Lyohn with the Zoo's phone #. Not as bad as what I got last year - this was quite funny!