Typical Bhopali

After abeyance I am back to the blogging world with different background colour and a header pic.To be frank I was relaxing all this time at home and was too busy to write something but definitely was not short of thoughts any time.

Sem 5 has already started and in midst of deciding electives I thought of keying the masses I have seen evolving in front of my eyes .The word 'Bhopali' literary means someone coming from Bhopal but if you ask a person who has grown old playing and listening to verses of Urdu in congested corridors of this ancient city, he will tell you that this word carries much deeper meaning. Owing to all technological bugging the number of people for whom the tag 'Bhopali' suits best are dwindling at an alarming rate .



Masses which were once renowned for their austere ethics and conduct are slowing creating a new place for themselves which neither is fully drooled by the west nor is it ready to accept things which are quondam .

A typical Shaver residing in Bhopal would have his own bike or jeep which is modified ostentatiously and would shed loads of bucks to maintain it but surprisingly he would
never spend more than Rs.20 (well this figure may vary but not too great extent) to refill his fuel tank .A typical Bhopali is die hard Salman Khan fan and would take even extralegal means to watch his movies on first day of release as if it is a matter of pride .He would spend his evenings hovering around beautiful lakes or sweating in gyms .He follows cricket with scrutiny and would cheer for Pakistani team expect for their matches against India .

Apart from all this notoriety he acquires great knowledge of Urdu (something I regret not to have), great taste for music, is obstinate about religious beliefs and is connoisseur of tea and non veg food .Like a stooge he would never deny an offered cup of tea even if it was preceded by myriads of cups .I am completely unaware of
sources from which Vidhu Vinod Chopra borrowed the word 'Mamu' but I have been listening to this word since my stay in Bhopal and it doesn't refer to a clod as depicted in movie .In fact it is one of the inevitable tags you hear from a Bhopali when he is talking to his colleague or his junior .It is great to talk and explore a Bhopali and you would find him raving about almost anything and everything and will definitely be mesmerized with his accent (The one Jagdeep (Surma Bhoapli)used in Sholay).

Ps:- Those who know me will agree that I am not a typical Bhopali as I do not own a bike nor do I like Salman Khan and on top of it I hate watching cricket nowadays but I love this city and am proud to have friends which are Bhopali in true sense.

Gods do love Federer

Stakes were high this time . Being thrashed by Spanish Bullin Paris Federer had to bounce back to settle scores at Wimbledon .The finalists were more or less decided
even before the tournament started but may be there was slightest of doubts whether Nadal would make it to the centre court as wise men still consider him as clay court wonder but then having edge over Fed-Ex (7-6) in head to head combats is definitely not a fluke and I was certain that he would make it to the finals .Well there is no doubt that Federer is one of the most successful player ever to step on court and his sheer presence can benumb his counterparts specially on grass where he can play his shots at will .But fight put up by Nadal deserves accolades and for the first time in six years we saw Wimbledon final being stretched to 5 sets .It’s irony on part of sportsmen that despite of being talented they do not get praises they deserve not because they are not good enough but just because there is someone who is better than they are .
Umpteen spinners have constantly been knocking doors of Indian cricket team since past 18 years but all their efforts to fetch that coveted blue jersey have failed just because they were born in era when Anil Kumble is providing his services to Indian Cricket team. Achievements of Jimmy Connors were always overshadowed by Borg’s talent .The great Rivalado was considered only the second best after Ronaldo. My apologies from deflecting away from the topic but the point is who’s better of the two one who is blessed with talent or one who works hard to be a prodigy? Nadal puts in lots of efforts to achieve his points and this is visible from all the running he does and ooo’s and aaaah’s he extrudes while playing his shots .On the other hand Federer has his own class and it’s sheer pleasure to watch how he maneuvers his opponents moves as if it was all pre-decided. Twice in final set Federer was behind with score board projecting 15-40 and in front of him was a man who didn’t miss a break point just month ago and still at the end of the day Swiss boy was able to hold most prestigious trophy in Tennis arena. It requires more than talent to reach altitudes that this man has reached . Nadal might be a great player but he is definitely not the greatest whereas Federer is blessed and therefore churches near Wimbledon say –“Gods love Federer”.

Paraphernalia ~ Potli baba ki

"Igatpuri - A perfect place to be on your honeynoon" as eulogized by one my colleagues (he is from Orissa) and rightly so as you cannot except anyone to bug you here .A beauteous place surrounded by hills and lakes can appear to be a paradise during first few days of your stay but as time passes you land on pragmatic grounds and realize that this stupendous doze of natural beauty is hard to digest and you are desperate to make your way back to mortal lands .

An excerpt from E-wing DA-IICT community written by Maddy aka Abhinav Shrivastav with few modifications by me ...
Bhai logo.... E-wing mein aapka swagat hai....
yeh woh wing hai jiski charcha Korea se lekar berlin tak ki jaati hai....
is wing ke bade bade bakar yodhdhaon ne saare jagat mein da-iict ka naam roshan karne ka beda uthaya hua hai....
yeh woh wing hai jisme desi jaise aur PK mahan bakarbaaz aur rajeev ranjan jaise casanova ka niwaas tha/hai....
yeh woh wing hai jisme chappy jindal jaise soor vir aur babu jaise mahan neta rahete hai .Saath hi saath is wing ne is prathvi k bahar k praniyo ko bhi aasra diya hai(ajeet)
bhaiyon, is samay is baare mein poori tarah se comprehensive hona to thoda mushkil hai par yeh samajh liyije ki is wing ka ek-ek niwaasi ek tarasha hua heera hai....
is wing ke itehaas ka to kya kehna.... DA-IICTY2K1 ke mahantam chhatr isi wing mein pale badhe huen hain.... aur technically speaking yeh ek samay par ek co-ed wing bhi reh chuka hai jahan ek hi chhat ke niche purushon aur mahilaon dono ka niwaas tha....
to bhaiyon garv se kahen.... hum E-wing waasi hain!!

[The following is written in HUMOUR and should be taken as that]

Completely smitten by the above article I decided to dedicate few songs to past and present members of this great dynasty .

4 Maddy (Abhinav Srivastav) - "mehengi bahut hai sharab k thodi-2 piya karo,piyo lekin rakho hisaab k thodi-2 piya karo.."

4 Desi (Abhishek Deshpande) - "Aate jaate hue mein sab pe nazar rakta hoon naam desi hai mera kya sabki khabar rakhta hoon ."

4 Sharma bhaiya - "yaaro sun lo jaara apna yeh kehena jeena ho toh apun k jaise hi jeena ..."

4 PK bhaiya - "yahan k hum sikandar chahey toh rakh le sabko apni jeb k andar arrey humse panga mat lena meri jaan ."

4 IshBish - "I m the ishky i the bisky rock star superstar"

4 Mundra - "Mast baharo ka mein aashiq mein jo chahe yaar karu.....saara jahan hai mere liye haan mere liye ."

4 Ajeet - "jab tak suraj chand rahega Nadal tera naam rahega " arrey yeh gana hai i saphat himesh bhai k agle album mein aane wala hai

4 Shekhar - "Humka aisa waisa na samjho hum bade kaam ki chiz haan-2 baade kam ki chiz"

4 anurag (my roomie) - "nanha munna rahi hoon desh ka sipahi hoon bolo mere sang jai hind jai hind...jai hind... jai hind jai hind...jai hind"

and last but not the least for chappy jindal -"dham dham dham dham dham dham dhadiya re sabse badi ladiyaa re omkara hai omkara..."

well I think it's enough for now .I m leaving for home tomorrow after completing my internship .So, this post v'll probably rememebered as my last post from 10.5.4.82 (IP assigned to my pc) unless I have to share something really interesting and that too in next 36 hrs .
Goodbye! for now and if any of you want to dedicate a song for me well I am not going to charge a penny just drop it in as comments .

Dil ko tumse pyaar hua....

I was heading towards bus stop after quite an interesting day at work (something which is rare) when suddenly I started humming this wonderful song and inadvertently it brought smile to my face .I have quite fascinating bonding with this particular song .

The story goes back to Synapse'06 when I was in my first year .Five of us Su du,Rathi,Anurag ,Sana and urs' truly being inspired by Sharma bhaiya decided to participate in footloose .It's still a mystery for me as how Rathi was able to convince me on this (may be I was doped).So, here were four newbie and Rathi as somewhat decent dancer under surveilliance of dance Guru Sharma bhaiya practised day and night to get the steps right .Rathi was the one for whom the task was a cinch but for rest of us it was like climbing a ben .It was not as if we had no experience of tapping our legs previously but it was more or less confined to DJ parties and shaadis .

After all the hard work came the big day .One thing good about all of us was that we all were well aware of our limitations and knew that we didn't even had the wildest chance to put up some kind of competition .And organizers did help us by allowing us to start the proceedings .Actually It really was a boon cuz by that time cameras weren't flashing (so there is no legtimate proof that we actually danced :Yes!:).Well I wasn't nervous that night but it was more that I wanted to prove something but to whom is what I haven't found .Special thanks to Rathi cuz of his impeccable movements he generated most of the attention and my awful performance was more or less unnoticed .After my horrendous show was over I did receive all kinds of comments from "Well Done!" to "Kya gand tha be" .The song "Dil ko tumse pyaar hua.."will remain special for me and will remind me of biggest folly in daiict(so far)...

Finding Nemo

Start of another sulking day in Igatpuri with even cozy weather outside not able to motivate me to be optimistic about next 11 hrs at work .I get up from bed doing routine things and rush to the gate only to find that I missed the bus .Doesn't matter I was anyway not in a hurry to go to my cubicle .With one of my friend heading towards the club to have breakfast I decided to accompany him as there was quite some time before the next bus arrived.

Sitting with a cup of tea, surrounded by guys having their breakfast I had nothing much to ponder about before my eyes were fixed on small aquarium placed at the corner of the room .It was matter of nanoseconds and my mind was overflowing with thoughts about four fishes strolling in that closed container .I stated analyzing their movements and somehow got the feeling that everytime they were near the glass they tried to push it in hope to achieve amnesty but all their efforts were futile .




Being a movie freak my thoughts inadvertently focused on the animated movie "Finding Nemo" .I remember that after watching that movie I started to hate those sophisticated tanks filled with water containing pisceses, employed only to add beauty to their surrounding .

Coming back to the topic, Finding Nemo is one of best animations that I have ever seen .An austere story presented in most sorcerous manner compels you to hold on to your seat before Nemo is eventually free .The movie actually makes you realize the importance of freedom which seems so trivial for us that we feel short even to imagine our lives without it and hence are incognisant towards plight of those who are deprived of it.Apart from this the story efficaciously potrays father-son relationship .Expression of too caring father for his incapacitated son and Nemo's desires to pursue daring acts reminds you of time when you weren't even allowed to venture to the shop at stone's throw from you house alone .Ignoring his foster's words and trying to be at par with his mates Nemo is caught in net and his future lies in peril .But then comes the twist .With his indomitable spirit to achieve freedom and his love for his fathers he is able raise the exit bar to meet his father who has come all the way riding on the pacific currents and travelling a poignant but courageous and adventuruous journey only too see his son fit and fine.

If you haven't seen the movie yet I hope I have been able to instigate you enough to get hold of this one and for those who have seen it you all must be aware that it's worth watching it again and again and again....

changingG Guards

I have never been a great follower of Tennis but past few months have witnessed my interest burgeoning towards this wonderful game .The reason for my hosility was not that I didn't had any intrest in the game but it was more to do with my passion towards cricket .But now slowly but surely my interest towards cricket seems to be dwindling .There are so many reasons behind this and one of the primary reason being that of India's debacle in recent WC.I haven't played since quite some time and I hope to see myself sprinting in the fields soon ,bending my legs and kicking the ball but then I am not sure whether I will be able to do this cuz in past I have seen my plans being thrased quite brutally .



Coming back to my growing intrest towards Tennis the credit goes to Mr. Ajeet Singh Sekhawat and his droolmaal Federer .It was fun arguing with him .Arguments started with any small talks or his patent actions but then they needed some weird counterpoints to survive for long and in midst of all this bak going on ,mention of his madness towards Fed-Ex was mandatory .Well this might not be convincing reason to follow Tennis and fairly so I mean you don't need any reason to watch Sharapova play (playing is not an important part).After watching few games I was gaining interest in the technical aspects of the game .When should a player charge at the net or why it is impotant to rally or player's position on court while playing a volly all these questions existed before but may be I wasn't aware of them .And thanks to my encounter with Bjorn Borg's autobiography which only aggravated my affection towards the game I decided to keep track of The French Open and though I wasn't able to follow all the tennis action but I certainly was enthralled by few matches that I saw .It was great to see Henin playing some extraordinary backhands and in the final Federer being crucified by the Spaniard(well may be I am exaggerating it a bit but then it's ok when you have Ajeet as one your blog's reader).Now ,I am desperately waiting for the Wimbledon to start and more importantly I want to be at home during the tournament so that I can catch up with all the action .Competition at Wimbledon as always would be tough and with Fed-Ex desperate for vengeance against Nadal we might expect great Tennis.I would like to see Carlos Moya advancing atleast to the semis .I saw one his matches and he was simply outstanding .As far as women's category is concern I definitely don't want the Russian gal to lose before the finals and sincerely hope to see Sania Mirza forging into 3rd round .This is my first post related to game other than cricket and I hope to come up with few more in near future.

Bo 10.12 F00

C 10.15 F3,V 10.17 F5,N 10.25 S13 these might appear to you as indecipherable codes if you are not a mumbaikar.These actually are the variables specifying timings for the local train and their destination .

Let me tell you the algorithm to decode this .The first alaphbet points to the destination of the train,the second place is for the time of arrival,the alphabet following it specifies whether the upcoming train is fast or slow .Fast train halts only at major stations till second last major station and at every station then onwards till the last station whereas slow train stops at every station between the starting and the final point .The final coloumn indicates no. of minutes left for the arrival .

I was smitten by the local train's working pattern when I tripped in it for the first time and my admiration for it has only grown as time has passed .I remember throwing challenges to myself as to learn the itinerary of locals from Borivali to Churchgate .Though it seemed to be a clinch but somehow I used to forget it everytime my tenure in mumbai ended and I had to start the whole exercise from ground zero next time I came to the city .But time has made me wise and now I even know the routes for the central line .

Nothing much has changed since my first interaction with the locals except for the introduction of grills in windows and setting of loud speakers in the compartment which are meant to yell out the upcoming station (this is futile cuz of the cacophony going in the compartment) .The sudden rise and fall in no. of people on the platform just before and after local has arrived may surprise a newbie .But this phenomena is contiguous from 4 in the morning till 1.40 at night till the last local departs for it's destination .The most amazing part of travelling in local is that unlike normal trains where you find experts raving about each and every thing from politics to cricket and from panipuri to hajmola, such highly qualified intellectualls sit(or stand most of the time) secluded from the strangers and most of them utilize this short journey for taking a nap.

Passengers travelling in locals are master in laws of mechanics and use their skills to the best .Running couple of meters while catching the moving train and coursing along the platform just cuz you aborted the journey before train came to a still so as to avoid the voracious herd running on to you to start their journey may seem obvious but if not done with perfection can be precarious .Travelling in locals may be an austere task but there are couple of things which makes it complicated and troublesome .First of all it is the change of tracks that you have do if you have to travel from a station in western line to a station in central line and vice versa.Lack of knowledge might lead you in unwanting circumstances.Secondly ,long and aeonian ques might exasperate you and you actaully decide not to travel in locals unless it is matter of life and death.Despite these minor obstacles you still tend to enjoy your ride til you get bored of it with frequent encounters.So, next time you visit this glam-sham city and if you haven't yet taken a ride in local, go ahead and enjoy it....