Where do I belong?

I have thought about the whole regional biases before. May be a couple of years back when I wrote something about the affiliations and hence priorities being decided as per the linguistic abilities of the person. Fair. Whatever.

Raj Thakare recently blazed about the issues Marathi Manus is facing inviting a lot of sentiments, debate and mockery. I happened to hear the speech he made at Shivaji Park. Homework was thorough. He made statements with references. People reacted without any.

Which side of the coin is true? I don’t know. I only know either is not serving the purpose of development. And I am being specific to development of Mumbai as that’s where the major reaction has spurred from.

Area of Mumbai is 437 sqkm. That of India is 3287590 sqkm. 0.01%.
Population of Mumbai is 1.2 crores. That of India is 112.9 crores (as per 2001). 1%
Mumbai has 6 seats in the Parliament in total of some 545. 1.1%
Mumbai contributes to over 25% of national GDP. Opportunities and resources are plenty I guess.

Still the infrastructure sucks. I am at loss. Isn’t there space for everyone?

“That’s the reaction of masses dude” or are they?

I don’t think even the so called intellectual layer of Mumbai who drives the financial capital is any different. Being Marathi can mean (and I say can not does) being a sentimental fool.

For once try and set the priorities right. You are “learned” for god’s sake. For those who are not, tag of “Indian” is by default. But then again….as they say….to each his own….there are always the regional loyalties to consider.

Changing Times ...

Surprising that the Anniversary for Reliance marks the death of Journalism.

Yesterday Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. Today Times of India ran the front page advertisement of the Reliance Empire.

Did not know that the front page news cannot be changed at last minute if important enough news comes up. Not getting into the debate of what she did and what she did not, I feel it is not the way for anyone to die. For sure it bears some importance upon the political scenario of Indo-pak relationship.

Isn’t it the duty of supposedly the “best” newspaper to flash the more prominent news for the nation on the front page? The soul is not saved in spite of the poor attempt by the editors to print the “Times of India” on both the pages.

I think she deserved page one.

And what do we do? Celebrate the success of an empire? Feel sorry for Benazir? Or just mourn for the death of journalism?

I Did It My Way.

Recently I heard the once famous masterpiece by Frank Sinatra. I did it My Way.

Stoical and Inspirational. Someday as the end nears, let me be able to sing this song standing tall.

For those who have not had the chance of hearing it, here are the lyrics.

And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, Ill say it clear,
Ill state my case, of which Im certain.

Ive lived a life thats full.
Ive traveled each and evry highway;
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets, Ive had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, Im sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way.

Ive loved, Ive laughed and cried.
Ive had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that;
And may I say - not in a shy way,
No, oh no not me,
I did it my way.

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows -
And did it my way!

!?

As one steps into the second quarter of life, one word hits you quite regularly. And more it hits you, more you fear it. Commitment.

Last month I attended one of my closest friend’s marriage. He is only 24. Watching him there in that mandap all dressed up in bridegroom’s attire. (it’s a different story that south Indian males hardly wear anything for their marriage) But that was the “Eureka” time for me. Committment!

I mean I have already crossed the first quarter of life. I have no clue as to when is my turn for it. I am hoping it will be somewhere near 28. Age I consider nearest to ideal. What I fear is what Ragsi could commit at age of 24, will I be able to do it at 28?

Adjustment if the name of the game dude; someone told me. Ideally. Will I find someone? Hopefully!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

JuSt CrUsH iT…

Learning from relationships never seems to stop to amaze me. Only a few days back I was amazed to see how boys and girls can perceive the meaning of crush differently!

For me (and I am speaking on behalf of the male fraternity, call it self proclaimed spokesperson….well at least a very large percentage of it) word “crush” means that you like a girl. That’s it. Full stop. It does not mean that a guy is in love with the girl or he would like to have a romantic relationship or he wants to marry her or for that matter he is her fan! And yes, crushes can change many times in a day.

For girls (it comes from some of my well informed friends of fairer sex) it essentially involves a romantic angle in the whole matter. I don’t know if that changes that often but I am pretty sure in this sense they are not much different. So even if it changes, for whatever little time it exists, they got to perceive some romance in it. (And I have no clue why as even the dictionary points towards something destructive with that word.)

I was confronted by a friend of mine a few days back by a question “so….how is your sweetheart doing?” These are the times when I feel happy, confused, suspicious and mad at the same time. Happy to think I am capable of having a sweetheart. Confused because I did not know I had one. Suspicious because what on the earth this person wants from me and mad because that hardly the first sentence to greet a friend. So back to story and I had no clue who she was talking about. With all the politeness in the world I said, “well, she is doing fine…..by the way whom you are talking about?”

“Common now, don’t you know? The whole group thinks you are mad after her.”

“which group?”

she let me out on the information with a look similar to the one Alice must have had after tumbling through that tunnel. Piece by piece it came. And slowly but surely it fit like a jigsaw puzzle.

Suddenly I was able to make out the meaning of all the quick glances exchanged and small laughs shared amongst the members of the “group”. It was quite appalling to know that I can be thought of as a most loyal fan and nothing beyond that. Even a “label” of friend would have sounded better to ears. Not that I do not like someone but its quite different to be made fun of on entirely different imaginations.

So, just to make it clear, crush means only the fact that one likes a person as a friend and likes to spend time with her and that is all there to it!

His name is "Today"

Some lines I really liked....

Ours by Choice
We are guilty
of many errors and many faults
but our worst crime
Is abandoning the children,
neglecting the fountain of life.
Many of the things we need
can wait. The child cannot.
Right now is the time
his bones are being formed, his
blood is being made, and
his senses are being developed.
To him we cannot answer
"Tomorrow."
His name is "Today."

- Gabriela Mistral