India or Bharat????

Over the past week, there has been clamour across the news channels about India, Bharat, etc. There were some really vociferous debates among some seemingly menacing activists, political commentators, news anchors and politicians. I thought why don't I too join this debate and put forth my views on this. Although I may not be as vociferous as they were but then let me express my views on this so-called 'debate on India and Bharat'...!!!! To take this debate forward, I need to go backward... FLASHBACK...!!!!

Once upon a time, many years ago, to be precise 29 years 5 months 5 days 6 hours and 21 minutes ago, a messiah was born in the heartland of Deccan Plateau. He was courageous, valorous, resplendent and radiating. The shine in his eyes was nothing short of ethereal. The calmness in his actions was nothing short of divine. The sharpness in his intellect was nothing short of perpetual. He was born in an year when India had just won the Cricket World Cup. 

Hang on, I was just kidding, everything mentioned in italics above is all fake...  It is just a figment of my over-worked and zealous mind... :P

Let's get the suspense out on who was born on that felicitous day. Well, I am sure you must have guessed it. Yours truly, Manish as I am known to the world, was born on this day.... :P Also, born on this day was Rinku.

Rinku had similar traits, behaviour and beliefs as Manish. Rinku had similar emotions like Manish. Rinku didn't like things which Manish didn't. Likewise Manish liked all the things that Rinku liked. There was an uncanny similarity in the way Manish and Rinku thought, envisioned and executed their plans. Well, all this is bound to be because Manish and Rinku are both the same individual. Yes, my nickname in my home is Rinku.

They call me by that name even today. In fact, many of my relatives still do not know that my real or official name is Manish. They all address me as Rinku...!!! What difference has that made to me? Even if someone addresses me as Manish or Rinku, I am still the same. I react the same way. I talk to them the same way. But why this fuss when talking about India or Bharat????? Isn't it something worth pondering over???? Or is it???

Rowdy Rathore was one of the biggest hits of 2012. It was said that this is a movie which catered to the masses. It catered to the rural belts. It catered to an audience which wants masala.  Rockstar, which released in 2011, requires a good deal of concentration and imagination to understand. Likewise, a Hollywood flick like Inception needs remarkable amount of concentration to understand what is going on. I enjoyed a Rowdy Rathore as much as a Rockstar or an Inception.

So, based on the logic of differentiating between India and Bharat, I am both an Indian as well as a Bharatiya. But my point here is - Is this sort of differentiation really needed?? Even if India was named as Hogsmeade, I would have still loved it with the same fervor and passion as I do it now.  Our country already has so many divisions based on language, caste, religion, etc. Is this sort of new differentiation really necessary?

This reminds me of a dialogue from the movie - Khatta Meetha (2010). It goes something like this -

Yahaan pe Indian kaun hai??
America mein jaao to American milenge... Germany mein jaao to German milenge...!
France mein jaao to Frenchman milenge... England mein jaao to Englishman milenge..!!
Aur India mein jaao to aapko milenge Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Malayali, Bengali... Indian kahaan hai..???

Well, although at first sight, this may not appear to be true but honestly I think this is true. Sometimes, I feel that if the British had not invaded India, we may have been a group of 28 different countries...!!!! I think the anger of Angrez ruling us brought out the nationalism within us.

Everyone wants this country of ours to be prosperous, happy and full of opportunities for everyone. Everyone wants this country to be the best in the world. Whatever name you may want to refer - India or Bharat - we still want our country to progress...!!!!

Just as Manish is Rinku and Rinku is Manish.... India is Bharat and Bharat is India...!!!!! And that's a fact. You may use any name you want..!!!!!

Why did the world not end on December 21st, 2012??????

22^nd December 2012

When I woke up in the morning today, I was quite relieved to know that I was still alive and kicking. The previous night, I had visions of a huge earthquake causing a great hole sucking up all the buildings on its way. I had visions of a massive wave from the Indian Ocean gulping everything - ships, houses, towers - on its way…!!!! I had visions of the Three Gorges dam bursting away and inundating the Himalayas..!!!!! I had visions of a huge meteorite striking Earth and causing massive ripples and ripping apart buildings, flyovers…!!!! I was feeling a sense of déjà vu. Why did it feel as though I have been through all this? Was it that this is my new life and I had witnessed all this in my previous life?? Why did it feel as though I was party to all this before??? Then I realized that there has to be only one answer to this question - I had to feel a sense of déjà vu because all that I described above are scenes from the Hollywood movie, 2012. :P

Although I was totally relieved to be alive, I was perplexed as to why this world did not end. There must be some reason behind this. How could the ancient seers be wrong in predicting precisely that the world would end on the 21^st December, 2012? Was it a misinterpretation on our part?? Or was there some divine intervention??? Why did the world not end on December 21^st 2012???

The questions above rankle me no end. I am pretty sure this is exactly the sort of questions that you might have in your mind. To help myself and all you folks answer these bamboozling questions, let me try to unravel the mystery…!!!!

Before we go any further, let us first understand why there has been a talk about the world ending. It is said that there is an old calendar prepared by the Mayans. It is widely believed that the Mayan calendar ends on December 21^st 2012. There is no other date after that. This made everyone think that the Mayans must have unraveled something out of the ordinary to stop their calendar at December 21^st 2012. But who are Mayans? I would like to believe that Mayans are the descendants of Maya. But who is Maya? Wait a minute… I know who Maya is. I think I heard about her when I was a kid. And in fact, I now have the proof of who Maya is. Please watch the video below to understand who Maya is. (There is no point reading further without watching the video. To understand the mystery ahead you need to watch the video.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIZHkCbdLWg

Now that you have watched the video, I am sure you understand that Maya is a feeling – Ehsaas in Hindi…!!! Maya has no form or features. No one has seen Maya. If you ask me, Maya transcends the human feeling… In fact, Maya has not even entered the mind of SRK. Maya is still a Maya… :P Now now now, don't get flustered. Read on... :)

Since we have confirmation that Maya is just a feeling, the theory behind Maya having a calendar does not really have much substance. Ok, just for a minute, for the sake of argument let us assume that Maya indeed had a calendar. Those old calendars were inscribed on stones. It is a very time consuming process what with you having to chisel the stone to make those markings for dates. How much can a person keep on writing? The person who wrote on those stones must have got bored of writing the dates and must have taken a break. After taking the break, he must have forgotten to re-start the work or may be he lied to Maya that he completed the calendar but left the work mid-way by preparing the calendar until December 21st, 2012. There is a distinct possibility of this happening. :P

Let us think about some other scenarios that could have stopped the world from ending. I think even mother nature wants to see Sachin Tendulkar play. If the world had ended, Sachin's career would have ended abruptly. So, mother nature might have restrained herself from wreaking havoc on us. If this theory is correct then Sachin should keep playing on and on. I hope even my grandchildren see him bat. :P

Coming to the next theory, the world may not have ended because Mother Nature's baap - QuickGun Murugan did not give her the permission. Or may be QuickGun wanted to play cowboy cowboy for some more years....!!!!! 

The reasons quoted above are just some of them. There are many other reasons possible like mother nature might be waiting for Sallu miya to get married or Ramesh Powar to dance to the tune of Ganganam style or Lalu Prasad to become prime minister of India or Mannubhai to get his long awaited MBA...!!!!! There could be myriad such reasons which might seem unfathomable to some. 

As long as all these things don't happen, the world is not going to end. It will keep running day in and day out. That's why it is probably better for everyone to just stop worrying about all these frivolous things and enjoy every day like it is your last day...!!!!

TIMES COMES FOR EVERY DOGS...!!!!!!

I am sure most of you would be thinking that Manish has lost his senses as the title of the article doesn't really make any sense. Well, honestly speaking, I wanted to have the title of the article as 'Every Dog has its day' but I suddenly remembered about one of my old friends. This dear friend of mine was not too well versed with English and had the habit of creating his own indigenous words, sentences and sometimes, proverbs..!!!! The title here - 'Times comes for every dogs'  is one of his wonderful creations. :)

Now that you know the history behind the title, please watch the video before you proceed any further.

This is a video of a match between India and Pakistan back in 2005. It was the time when one of the greatest captains of India, Sourav Ganguly, began to have a downward trend. A few youngsters made their way through to the team in that year and one among them was Mahendra Singh Dhoni a.k.a. MSD.

It is quite ironic that this article is coming at a time when MSD finds himself in exactly the same spot as Dada was in back in 2005. Let's get back to the point of discussion here. Ashish Nehra was a fine young medium pace bowler and was relatively a senior bowler in 2005 when MSD was a newbie. You can easily see and hear in this video on how Nehra hurled choicest of abuses on MSD. My question here is - Would Nehra dare do it now if MSD drops a catch? The obvious answer is a BIG NO...!!!

Well, this shows us that every human has something called as a Golden period in his life. It is that period when everything that he or she touches turns into Gold.

But Life, like cricket, is definitely a game of glorious uncertainties. One day you might have the world at your feet and the other day the world may not even want to account your presence...!!!! There is no guarantee that a person who is on the pedestal today may not fall down and similarly, someone who is at the foot of the pedestal may not go to the top...!!!!

When you have the world at your feet and everything goes your way, it is imperative not to be too carried away because you never know when the carpet on which you are standing might be pulled away. If you are not ready for it, you will fall down and might even break your teeth...!!!!! Mind you, vice-versa also holds true...!!! You might be walking on the road today and suddenly might find the magical carpet which sends you soaring high..!!!!!! I am sure many of you must have experienced this in your life. But on a personal note, I had a steep fall when I was flying too high..!!!! But such falls are good, to some extent, because they teach you to be grounded and humane..!!!!

The fact of the matter is that definitely you will get a time when you are on top. Even the Dog, often referred, in old Hindi movies might have its day. (Remember the dialogue - Kutte main tera khoon peejaaunga.. :P)
But then you must also be ready to face any eventuality.It is all about patience and perseverance. You just need to hang in there. Times definitely comes for every dogs...!!!!!!

Some extravagantly unhappy, Some Happily subsisting..!!!

This is an old post written in May but I forgot to publish this... I never realized that it was still in draft status..!!!! Nevertheless, better late than never..!!!


It was a hot day of May.... 29th to be precise. In fact, the entire week had been unusually hot. Generally, Hyderabad becomes slightly cooler with some drizzles during this time but this year it was quite different. As a matter of fact, the entire nation reeled under an unusually hot summer. Naturally, many a news channel carried programmes showcasing the hardships of the oppressed denizens. One such piece was carried out by NDTV on the tryst of the capital's distressed citizens.

The reporter first took an interview of a family from the dingy by-lanes of Old Delhi. It was a family of modest means. The head of the family was a daily wage laborer. The family lived in a decrepit single room house. It was embellished with just a ceiling fan. In this oppressive heat, it is quite but natural to use the fan but more often than not a fan is not enough to cool our excruciatingly hot heads..!!! The reporter was inquiring about how the family beat the heat.. Well, since the family found it tough to meet both ends meet, there was no other option for them but to live in that small dingy room. But the family came up with indigenous ways to fight the heat. They drenched their bed-sheets in water and slept on them. This helped keep themselves cool.

I felt really sad and happy after watching this. Sad, because of the hardships the family had to endure. Happy because the family did not allow their deprivations to come in the way of their cheerfulness and happiness. They were happy with what they had..!!!!

Picture shifted to the next family staying in an upmarket plush colony of New Delhi... And they had a different tale to tell....!!!

The family in question had 5 air-conditioners in their house, one in each of the rooms. Apart from this, the family would hit the swimming pool both in the mornings and evenings to beat the heat... But still they were morose all through the interview. They looked so gutted as though the entire burden of this world was on them. There was not a single cheerful face in that family. I don't know if that was a bit of over-dramatization by the family, but it really irked me on ends.

This contrast of lifestyles once again brought to the fore the glaring differences between the haves and the have-nots. The differences between extravagance and subsistence. I am still nonplussed by the way life is... Someone who has all the material benefits with him is not happy whereas someone who is deprived of basics is cheerful...!!! This again shows that man's wants and desires are never-ending. The more we have the more we crave. This also inadvertently results in undue sorrow, gloom and distress..!!!!

But how would this world change. I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. Even I am one of those who is never satisfied with what I have. I am desperately trying to come out of this vicious and debilitating cycle of wants and desires... BUT HOW...????????????

Duty-bound Day, Honest Hour, Mirthful minute, Sinless second..!!!!

Yesterday, I was sitting in my home doing virtually nothing when my mobile phone came alive and blurted out the message tone. It was one of my friends asking me if I was observing "EARTH HOUR". I bluntly replied that I was not. Well, I don't really observe earth hour just for that one day. I observe it every day, hour, minute and second of my life. It can be as simple as using a fan only when you need it. It can be as simple as switching off lights in your bathroom when no one is using it. It can be as simple as plugging leakages in your kitchen tap.

I really hate it when people just do lip-service and make a huge hue-and-cry about the so-called "EARTH HOUR". The celebrities have their twenty-minutes of fame by posing in front of the shutter bugs. Yes, agreed, there are some who are genuinely concerned about the environment but practically speaking, they are quite few and far between. I was amused to see the Page 3 of my newspaper today. Lots of wannabe celebrities were flashing their impeccably polished dentures holding rechargeable lamps..!!! If my basics of physics are still well-conditioned then definitely there has to be some source of power for these rechargeable lamps. From where does this power come??? Obviously, it has to be charged by plugging it. This is akin to clearing forests to plant more trees...!!!!

Let me quote you a small instance of my life when I was working with Infosys. I think it was somewhere in 2007. As most of you know, Infosys campuses are probably the best office campuses in India. There is lush greenery everywhere. The buildings are totally magnificent. Approach roads to the buildings completely spic and span. You would have to really concentrate with all your might and still you would not be able to find even a semblance of trash anywhere. That speaks volumes about the dedication and efficiency of the house-keeping team as well as the discipline of the employees. You would seldom find employees littering inside the campus. Once you are in the confines of the campus, you would feel as though you are transported to a completely different world. And I used to think all employees are really sensitive about keeping the surroundings clean.
Once on my way home, I was sitting in my office bus chatting with my friend. One of the employees, sitting in front of me, devoured a packet of Lays and without a blink of an eye just trashed the packet on the road. When my friend and I questioned her about littering the road, she gave a weak smile and said - "Chalta hai..!!" This is the sort of lip-service I am talking about. When educated individuals do such things, you cannot really blame others.

When we talk about changing the world, we should actually be talking about ourselves. The change has to come from within. First, we must try to change ourselves. The world will change consequently. What we need is not platitudes like Environment Day, Earth hour but it should all be about changing the way we live. Changing our perspective. If each and every one of us can strive to have a sinless second, a mirthful minute, an honest hour and a duty-bound day every second, minute, hour and day of our life that will go a long way in making this world a better place to live in. There would be no need of publicity gimmicks like EARTH HOUR anymore. I know it would be difficult to follow this but at least an attempt can be made. This reminds me of a dialogue from the hindi movie GHULAM -

"Leheron ke saath to koi bhi tair leta hai.. magar asli insaan wo hai jo leheron ko cheer ke aage badhta hai..!!!"

PENCHAR... PENCHAR... PENCHAR..

Teri Tirchi nazariya dil ko kar de PENCHAR.. PENCHAR... PENCHAR... PENCHAR...

When I heard this song for the first time, I did not understand the meaning of the word - Penchar. I googled the word and got myriad explanations about it from netizens. But two explanations caught my attention and both fit in here perfectly well.

The first one said that Penchar is a rustic and crude word used in Old Delhi for Puncture. When I tried fitting this word into the song, it made perfect sense...!!!

The second explanation said that singing aloud - Penchar, Penchar, Penchar multiple times would remind one of a very very commonly and routinely used expletive in the north of Vindhyas. This expletive is not so popular towards the south, but yes, with more and more songs like this, there is bound to be substantial followers and users of this expletive...!!!!!

Ever since Delhi Belly, with all its slang and expletives, was released, there have been numerous critics singing paeans about the so-called "boldness" in the movie. Using foul-mouthed dialogues seemed like path-breaking to them. No hard-feelings towards the makers of this film but it is the critics and media who seem to have enjoyed those dialogues more than anyone else.

But if you look at the Hindi movie industry, it definitely has become "bold" in the past few years. There have been movies with some crude and rather embarrassing dialogues. I remember a dialogue in Ishqiya which twisted the complete meaning and pronunciation of Sodium Sulphate.. Na2SO4.. if my chemistry is good enough. My chemistry professor is definitely bound to cringe at hearing Chh****** sulphate. It was just gross and obnoxious if I were to quote one of my friends.

Indian movie industry has been very conservative in terms of using foul language. In the olden days, it was just the Kutte Kaminey main tera khoon pee jaaoonga. Hearing this dialogue so many times in hindi movies makes me wonder if the protagonist in the movie is a human or a vampire???? If it had it's way then man's best friend would have sued the dialogue writers for using their names along with the villians... :P

I remember when I was in 3rd or 4th standard, a telugu movie, Bhadram Koduko had a few expletives in it and I was totally shocked to hear it on television...!!!!! But alas, the kids these days keep singing Bhaag DK Bose DK Bose DK Bose DK Bose DK. Although we too, in our childhood, must have used expletives but using them blatantly on screen was a big taboo... !!! Not now... Changing times????

Well, personally, if just using expletives makes a movie path-breaking then why not have it in the title itself... Or if one is a bit conservative then they can possibly take a cue from Amitabh Bachchan of Buddha.. Hoga tera baap.. They can name the movie as BEEP BEEP.. or BEEP KI BEEP..!!!!

Bottomline is that despite using the expletives in day-to-day life it still makes me cringe to hear it on-screen particularly if you are watching the movie with your family.. Using expletives or erotic scenes in the movies does not constitute boldness but baldness...!!! Baldness of thoughts and intellect..!!

A tale of two 'Manishs'

Here I come after a long long long self-imposed exile... !!! I don't know if it was lack of motivation or lack of new ideas that forced me into this hiatus... But I am back now with a new 'tale to tell'...!!!!

The title of this article is definitely bound to remind you of the novel - A tale of two cities by Charles Dickens. But trust me, this article has nothing in common with this novel..!! Or has it???

As is the case of most of my articles, let me take you back down the memory lane to the 90s when I was in my school... Precisely, let me take you to 1997 when I was in 9th standard. It was a cricket match again between the two neighbors divided by the Palk Strait - India and Sri Lanka. I am quite sure you remember those days when India was often whipped around by the Matara Marauder - Sanath Jayasuriya. It was one such match and India needed around 250 odd runs to win but as was the case almost always, as soon as Sachin got out, there was a big batting collapse and India was tottering and on the brink of yet another mammoth loss at the hands of our tiny neighbors... Two of India's all-time tallest cricketers were at the crease.. One a thin and frail individual.. Other a massive and intimidating individual... One known for his leg-cutters and the other, ahem, I am not sure if you remember his name even... No pun intended.. Well, let me take off the lid now, the two gentlemen at the crease were Venkatesh Prasad and Abey Kuruvilla...!!!! India needed around 70-80 runs to win.. The die-hard fan and the never-say-die individual named 'O-Manish' was still hopeful of an Indian victory...!!! But there was this other individual named 'P-Manish' who had predicted Indian loss the moment Lankans posted above 250 runs...!!!

This was well a precursor to the great fight that would keep on ensuing between 'O-Manish' and 'P-Manish'...!!! Let me represent these two as OM and PM respectively for ease of typing... !!!

OM always hoped for the best... PM always predicted the worse...!!!
OM always saw a silver-lining in every cloud... PM always saw spots on the moon...!!!

Let me now recount the story of OM and PM..!!!

- When I gave up cricket for the sake of education, OM saw a new opportunity in it. PM thought it was the end of the world..!!!

- When I could not make it to IIT, OM saw an opportunity in EAMCET... PM again thought it was the end of the world..!!!

- After my life's first ever interview with the erstwhile Satyam Computer Services, where I was rejected for being a bit too undiplomatic and forthright in the HR interview, OM was imagining job with a better company... whereas PM again thought it was the end of the world...!!!!

- After faltering in my first attempt to crack CAT in 2003, OM saw an opportunity in CAT 2005 where PM, as usual, thought this to be the end of the world...!!!

- After debacle in CAT 2005, 2006 and 2007, OM saw opportunity in CAT 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively.. But PM gave up any hopes of making it to IIM..!!!

- After making it to IIM and then giving up the seat, OM still saw an opportunity in software industry again.. but PM was just inconsolable...!!!!

Even today after some debacle or the other, OM finds newer avenues and opportunities whereas PM finds newer ways at self-destruction...!!!!

Well, reading this story, some might think about their own life-story albeit with different scenarios... I am quite sure each and every individual has two 'selfs' within. One OPTIMISTIC and the other PESSIMISTIC..!!!

In my case, O-Manish was always Optimistic with life... P-Manish was always Pessimistic with life...!!! But time and again, OM was always proved right. His belief in good things always brought about good results. He never let PM get over him..!!!

I feel when we are born, all of us have 50% optimism and 50% pessimism within us... It is up to us to ensure that the P-component reduces as we grow... The more the growth of O-component the lesser the influence of P-component..!!!

Now then, even as I write this article, OM says people would love it but PM says they would despise it...!!!! To this OM says - Even if people despise it, I see an opportunity to improve my writing skills..!!! And the battle continues...!!!!

SLAP STICK

July 2010

A school student commits suicide as his teacher slaps him in front of the class.
Media raises a hue and cry… Breaking news for 3-4 days…. Astounding and articulate arguments on live TV with all and sundry pitching in with their ‘expert’ comments…. Human rights activists ready to pounce..

A school student again attempts to commit suicide as his teacher reprimanded him for coming late to the class.
Media raises a hue and cry… Breaking news for 3-4 days…. Astounding and articulate arguments on live TV with all and sundry pitching in with their ‘expert’ comments…. Human rights activists ready to pounce.. And the story continues……!!!!!!

PICTURE REWIND

July 1995

A 12-year-old nondescript boy was struggling with the Chakrasana in his Yogasanas class in school…. He was not able to do it properly… He was trying hard but somehow was not able to manage it…. Suddenly, out of the blue moon emerges the PT sir… pulls the boy’s belt up and tries to lift him up in Chakrasana…. The boy, unable to bear the pain, falls down… The Sir slaps him then uses his trademark stick and bashes him on his buttocks…. Fighting tears, the boy tries again but does not succeed…. After the Sir goes away, he shares a joke with a fellow friend about how mean that Sir was…. Both have a hearty laugh and that was the end of that…!!!!!

The 12-year-old boy did not attempt to commit suicide just because his teacher beat him… Neither did his parents bother to inform ‘media’ about it…. Although there was not much choice at that time with only the good old Doordarshan being the only channel broadcasting quality news…. !!!! But nevertheless, the boy never informed such trivial things to his parents at home… He was too preoccupied with other wonderful things in life to complain about it to his parents…. Once when he did, his parents just told him that it was part and parcel of school life and one needs to just get on with it… And that’s exactly what the boy did every time he was beaten up …!!!!!

Just imagine what would have happened if this incident took place in these times… Channels would have had a field day…. Because there would have been a suicide every day in a school like the one mentioned above where students were beaten with a stick on their buttocks…. !!!! Now let me not overemphasize on the beating part in this old school… Yes, children were beaten up but only as a last resort…

I am quite sure that people of my age would have been slapped or beaten in their schools at least once… None of us ever had any qualms about it as we never allowed that slap to affect our heart… The slap on face was never assumed as a slap on our hearts…!!!!

But things are entirely different these days…. Children just don’t listen to kind words… More often than not, they tend to misuse their freedom…. And parents have to take a major share of blame for this… I have seen many a time parents coming to the rescue of their children and fighting with their neighbors although knowing that their child is at fault…!!! This somehow creates a sense of invincibility in the minds of children…. They know that they can do bad things and still get away as their parents would be there to shield them.. !!! This creates some sort of a false sense of invincibility around the child. This makes him/her feel as though no one has a right to scold him or her…!!

In every classroom, there is bound to be a section of students who are extra-sensitive and some who would be totally thick-skinned… And it is these extra-sensitive types who are more often than not overly protected by their parents…. Parents do not allow these children to be tough… They don’t allow them to get out of their shell as they keep on being extra-protective….!!! When such children are out of their comfort zone they tend to feel that the entire world is conspiring against them… They grow suspicious of the good intentions of their teachers as well… !!!

It is up to the parents to ensure that children don’t really get bothered by all the beating that happens in the school… Yes, agreed that even the teachers need to restrain themselves from resorting to such treatment… But then, there are circumstances where it is imperative to use the slap or the stick…!!!

Even the media needs to be slightly restrained when reporting such issues… It should highlight only genuine cases otherwise people are going to misuse their power… A case in point being the innumerable cases of small kids falling in the open bore-wells… It all started with PRINCE and it just went on and on….!!!!!

I am neither a proponent of the philosophy – “Spare the rod and spoil the child” nor am I totally against it.. But only thing that is needed is a bit more tactfulness and restraint because not every kid is like that nondescript kid beaten up for not doing Chakrasana properly…. Needless to say, that nondescript boy is none other than Mr. Manish…!!!

UNDERDOG UNDERWEAR...!!!!

Well.. Well.. Well… I guess most of you must be curious about the title of this article. People who are reading this article just because of the title are in for big disappointment. That’s because this article is going to stress upon the ‘Underdogs’ rather than the ‘Underwear’.. I had this dubious title just to grab your attention…. All those filthy minds who want to read about underwear can better switch on their television sets. There you can see Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan flaunting their chiseled bodies whilst brandishing Dollar Club, Amul Macho, Macroman, etc etc… Others read on….


India won the cricket World Cup in 1983… When the world cup started, no one in their wildest dreams ever gave a chance to India… But miraculously, India pulled it off… Same was the case with Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup…. And may be, who knows, Netherlands might pull off an upset over a rampaging Spain and be the new World champions in Soccer… I am sure during most of the matches people would have wanted the weaker team to win in their heart of hearts… At least I did… There is a certain sense of romanticism associated with seeing a weaker team pull it off against the stronger team… Everyone wants to see a timid David pull it off against the mighty Goliath….!!!!!


Extrapolating these examples from the sporting field into real life would bring up some interesting observations. What is it with these underdogs that fascinate everyone? What is that extra something which catches the imagination of everyone?? What is it that makes everyone root for the underdog??? Well, the answer is pretty simple. In the heart of hearts, everybody thinks that he/she is an underdog. It can be any field. Some people consider themselves to be underdogs in studies. Some consider it in the sports world. Some consider themselves underdogs as far as financial matters are concerned.. That’s the fact of life.. Some of you may not agree with me forthrightly but I am sure there will be a tiny pulse in the smallest of corners of your heart which would agree with me…!!!! This holds true particularly with us Indians… Most of us are more emotional than practical… Let’s take the example of Bollywood.. Great superstars from Bollywood have something in common… Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan… All the three have one thing common… All the three were underdogs when they entered the industry… And look at where they are right now… Not many would have as much mass appeal as these three great superstars of Bollywood… Even down south, two of the biggest superstars Chiranjeevi and Rajnikanth were underdogs when they entered the industry… Agreed that all these individuals had immense talent but the biggest asset that these five individuals had was the support and goodwill of the masses… If it was not for the fans these superstars would have been anonymous individuals… What made the masses support them? It was the strong desire to see the underdog succeed..!!!


Most of you who are Harry Potter aficionados would appreciate this scene from the second book, The Chamber of Secrets… When Harry Potter goes to meet the Principal of Hogwart’s, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, he sees the mystical phoenix, Fawkes. Before his eyes the phoenix gets burnt and dies… But in a matter of seconds, it rises again from the ashes, ready for a new life…This is exactly how we wish an underdog to be… We always wish someone completely despondent to win against all odds just like the phoenix rose from the ashes…!!!!!


But there is a flip-side to this entire romance for an underdog… What if the Goliath is us? What if it is our team??? Well… honestly in such a scenario all this romance about underdog will go out of the window… I am sure no one will support Bangladesh to win against India in cricket.. That’s the fact of the matter… We would never sympathize with the underdog if we are at the receiving end. We would like to believe in the adage – “Every dog has its day.”. But equally true is the fact that we would never want this dog to have his day against us. So, what we can understand from this whole thing is that this basically depends on the situation. Situation is what dictates terms to us and we become slave to it and change our perceptions accordingly..

Underdog is good as long as we are not the “Overdog”…!!!!!

TRAVAILS OF A TRAVELLER....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

‘Hum jo chalne lage… chalne lage hai ye raaste… ‘ – Humming this wonderful tune from Jab We Met, I embark on my rollicking journey to my office. Off late, I have been feeling more and more like Kareena Kapoor… now now now don’t get it wrong… What I mean is I feel more and more like her character Geet from Jab We Met… The reason being that in the movie she always dreamt of missing her train… And I too have been dreaming the same these days.. Only difference being that I dream of missing my BUS..!!

The most vivid memory of my day after I wake up is that of me dashing towards the overflowing road at Koti which unfortunately happens to be a Bus stop…!!! It is not surprising to find the entire road in front of the bus stop crowded with myriad people having myriad ways of ensuring that they catch their bus. Some people are waiting as though they are waiting for an impending enemy and ready to pounce on it. Some like me wait for it as though waiting for girlfriend in a park… As they say in Urdu – “Badi Nazaakat se hum intezaar karte hai…” But then this Nazaakat generally gets lost in the melee and we tend to be part of the marauding enemy more often than not…!!!!

After a Herculean effort, I board the bus. I think that my war is finished but hang-on. A new war has started now. I need to find a seat for myself. Otherwise I would just be crushed by a pummeling and intimidating crowd. But as fate would have it, I am left gasping for breath as I don’t find myself efficient enough to jump through the window or reserve my seat by throwing a handkerchief from the window…!!! Left with no other option, I stand there balancing myself on one leg and perilously hanging from the support-bar as I sense precociously closer to being trampled by a rampaging crowd…!!

Amidst this entire din, I notice two young boys, probably eight years old, trying to cling on to the bus near the foot-board. It amused me no ends when these guys were shouting chants of Jai Telangana…!!! I am pretty sure that they might not have an iota of idea about what they are shouting about but they seemed to be oblivious of it and just did things their way. This is the beauty of childhood. You do things which you like without any inhibitions… I was rudely awoken from my thoughts by an abnormally over-weight and obnoxious idiot who stepped on my foot. Ouch…!!! The fatso didn’t even bother to apologize and stomped away like an elephant trampling everything that dared come his way….!!!!

As I stand there writhing in pain, I notice a clutter of confused engineering students mugging up the program to print numbers of the Fibonacci series…!!! This brought to life the wonderful memories of my engineering life.. The time of exams… The gadbad to revise everything again… Well, I think I should write about the memories of engineering in some other article as I am pretty sure that one page won’t be sufficient to showcase the showbiz of our gang…!!!!!

Just as I feel happy about the sweet memories, the feel-good factor somehow helps me attain a seat…. And I finally assume my seat… I am almost half-way through my journey to office…. The moment I sit down a guy requests me to hold his bag… As I keep it on my lap, another guy comes out of nowhere and requests me to hold his bag as well… In a matter of a few seconds, I have three bags firmly placed on my lap…. !!!!!!

”Saar… Konchem Madhapur vaste cheppandi” - requests the guy sitting next to me. I oblige. Madhapur… This name is rarely used these days… It is now Hitec-City that is used for any place near to this village… Yes, it used to be a village some time back but not anymore…. I still remember my engineering days not long ago when we went to Durgam Cheruvu (Secret Lake) and there was absolutely no traffic…. Now we need to search for ‘Cheruvu’ in the concrete jungle… It has receded drastically over the years… Encroached by the gluttonous real-estate mafia, it is a sorry sight now….!!!!!

I am suddenly jolted as the driver slams a sudden break and the bus comes to a grinding halt… What the heck.!!!! Well, it seems like some stupid moron who in polite terms is referred to as an ‘Auto-driver’ suddenly swerved right and came in front of the bus… Nothing new for a Hyderabadi… We are used to the whims and fancies of these rulers unto themselves….!!!! A barrage of swearing followed in chaste Hyderabadi language… The bus-driver and auto-driver enquiring about each others’ mothers, sisters, etc, etc…!!!!! Finally, after the intervention of some good Samaritans, Bade babu as they say in Hindi movies, going on the road my driver decided to resume the journey…!!!!!

As the bus catches speed on the undulating roads of Jubilee Hills, I too try to catch a short nap…!!! As I wake up from my sleep, I notice that the bags on my lap no longer exist… Probably, the guys may not have thought it prudent to wake me up from my deep slumber…!!!! I glance outside and notice that we are almost nearing Madhapur… I inform the person sitting beside me that the next stop is Madhapur… He thanks me profusely and rushes towards the exit…!!!

A lot of people scramble to get down the bus at Cyber Towers … The bus is almost empty now… I feel like a king in this near-empty bus… I sit lavishly on my seat albeit for a few minutes…. I prepare to disembark from the bus as my stop Kothaguda approaches…. As I step out of the bus, a smile and a frown both appear on my face thinking about my impending journey back home later...!!!!!! Hum jo chalne lage, chalne lage hai ye raaste....!!!!!