Please take out a few minutes and read this

Click HERE

Here are a few things that you can do after reading this

1. Post it on your blog that a larger number of people read
2. Contribute if you can
3. Pray hard and with your heart !

Change

Time for a bit of change...




1. Seat moved from the 13th to the 7th floor

2. Need to share the cubicle now... so much for being the vendor and not an employee

3. Will take a while to adjust to the new seat... different height of the keyboard, monitor, docking station

4. Will miss the view of the MAM and the lake...

(चाय और चम्पी ) Chai aur Champi !

Kshitiz had a post on flickr a couple of days back which was something about why he was going back to India, and his response was that he does not get the roadside tea here !

I could not agree with him more...

If there were a few reasons why I want to go back to India, not being able to park my car and have tea/food in a dhaba would be in the top 5... What a blessing it is to enjoy a different kind of food and tea, every 100 kms in a open air dhaba... and here, all you get is Subways, Wendy's, McDonalds and so on and so forth... sab kuch ek jaisa !


Another reason and very silly one that is, would be not getting the proper hair cream... I have not been able to find any hair cream that I like so far here in the US.. my biggest issue is the huge number of options for almost every issue for your hair, and not one which says non sticky hair cream !!! aargh...


Anyway, this weekend I managed to find something from Garnier that looks and feels like my favorite Parachute After Shower... though this one does not smell as nice as Parachute... Monday morning when I used it, I was so happy !!! finally !!!!

Oh and one more... the 10 rupe ki champi that I get at my hair dresser !!!


I going to move out of my comfort zone and path of least resistance at work soon... It is for doing the right thing, so hoping it works !!!

शोले - भाग १

पिक्चर : शोले
सन : १९७५ (1975)
निर्देशन : रमेश सिप्पी
निर्माता : जी पी सिप्पी
कथाकार : जावेद अख्तर, सलीम खान
संगीतकार : राहुल देव बर्मन

अब मैं क्या बोलूं? मुझे तो सब पुलिसवालों की शक्लें एक जैसी लगती हैं...

शायद खतरों से खेलने का शौक है मुझे...

लेकिन ! भागने की कोशिश मत करना !!!

वीरू से टक्कर !!!

मैंने कहा था... भागने की कोशी श श श ... क्या बोलता है? भाग तो सकते हैं ! इससे इस हालत में छोड़ कर?

खाना पीना साथ है, मरना जीना साथ है.... सारी ज़िन्दगी...
ये दोस्ती .......

अरे उठाओ अपनी लकड़ी और निकालो पैसे

पैसे ! ऐसे कैसे पैसे मांग रहे हो?

वो नोट तो दो रुपे का था !
अरे तो ये लकड़ी दो रुपे की है !
दो रुपे में इत्ती सी लकड़ी !!
और नहीं तो क्या दो रुपे में आप सारा जंगल खरीदने निकले थे?

सूरमा भोपाली, हम जेल जाना चाहते हैं !
अल्लाह आपकी तम्मना पूरी करे !
भोपाल होता तो हम वैसे ही दो मिनट में आपको अन्दर करवा देते ! हमारा नाम सूरमा भोपाली वैसे ही नै ये!

क्या के रहे हो आप !!!


अगला सीन है जेल का... वहां से कहानी बाद में !!!! इंतज़ार कीजिये भाग २ का !!!

तब तक शब्बा खैर !

ओह, और हाँ ! यहाँ पर सिर्फ़ मजाकिया भाग पेश किए जायेंगे॥ कृपया और किसी तरह के भागों की अपेक्षा न करें।

OverDose

I was doing this fun quiz on Blogthings and this is what it had to say about me..

"You shine brightly and are best in small doses. Too much of your company can be overwhelming and even dangerous."

How so very true !

:D I love blogthings !

and its cricket time today... Gawd I suck at it !!! Lets see how big a fool I make out of myself on that ground !

The bridge and bus of Orchha!

A few friends went on a trip together to place they had never been to... Prashant, Deepak, Priyanka, Kavita, and Anjali...


The train journey to Jhansi, and the bus trip from Jhansi to Khajuraho was great(9 types of horns that bus had, and the driver was more than happy blowing them to amuse us all the way)... walking around in Khajuraho was great... realizing that Khajuraho is not only about Kamasutra was great...


taking an unplanned jungle safari was great...

realising that Poha, some local chutney, aalu tikki, pineapple dahi, could make a trip memorable was great...

And then the gang reach Orccha... and on this orccha evening something happened...

These 5 to be good photographers were clicking at the banks of the Betwa River, which has a bridge connecting the two sides... one side is populated by Orchha and the other by I don't know what... This bridge is not too wide a bridge, maybe good for two scooters from either directions, or one car and one scooter approaching each other from opposite ends, or a few cycles together... bring a bus on the bridge, and she is the queen of the bridge.. there is no space for anyone else...

Priyanka was clicking on the other side of the bridge and started walking towards Orchha slowly, she had covered just about a quarter of the bridge when she saw a bus coming from orchha towards her... the option was to walk back and wait for the bus to cross, or to run towards the bus and cross the bridge before the bus comes onboard...

Priyanka chose the latter, and decide to run towards the bus...

No points for guessing that the bus was a bit faster than what it was expected it to be! and it reached the bridge while Priyanka was still on the it...

Now because the bus was packed, and there was no space to climb it either, Priyanka had to walk all the way back towards the other end, with the bus following her slowly...


We did not realize this had happened till she told us about the incident later in the evening and we all almost died laughing... The bus above is the same bus, and I was wondering why did it stop on the bridge :) Now I know :D

I still smile at this incident...

I also remember this trip because this was my first trip with the dSLR.. and I had gone crazy taking pictures, and most of them were rubbished by my photography guru and friend Gaurav...

p.s. Priyanka, if you read this, its not to make fun of you or anything, its just to remember that amazing trip we guys had and because someone had commented on the picture of the bus recently and I though that the bus event deserves a special mention here...

Oh, and how did I forget mentioning about that Auto Driver who brought us to Jhansi from Orchha... what a singer... phew !!! :D

Check out some more pictures from that trip here.

Original post about the trip here.

30on30 Updates

30on30 Updates, originally uploaded by ~OM~ ॐ छाया चित्रालय.

The 30on30 Project got an overwhelming response from friends all around. Here are some of the highlights so far:

1. Reached the initial goal of raising Rs. 30000
2. Decided to not stop there
3. Revised the goal to Rs. 50000 and are about 5K short of it as of today
4. Even if we reach 50K we would try to continue raising some money till 30th April and do as much as possible

Thank you everyone who has participated, appreciated, purchased, promoted, and wished for the success of the project.

And like I said, its not over yet !!! There is still more than a week to go.. please do spread the word around if you have not yet done that.

notes

One fails as a consultant if (s)he is not able to bring value to the table. I get very disappointed when I have to work with people who only fill spaces...

p.s. don't need comments on this... just had to take it out of the system !

To be or (K)not to be !!!

I kept thinking about it, and at the end of the year, I had "TO BE" 30 years old... could not do much about it... so here I am on the other side of the decade... in my "Thirties" now :)

The photograph is not really relevant except that the the title of this post is the title of the photograph as well :) But in case you can get some analogy going with the shoes, the knot, the years, you are more than welcome... but please don't come up with the "tie the knot" thing... its too predictable !!!

I like quiet birthdays and on the contrary when I was a kid the birthdays were FAR from being quiet... Mom used to invite all my relatives home and the mornings used to be Havan time and the evenings a cake cutting ceremony... I used to love it, mostly because that was one day of the year when the entire family used to be together... all my chachas, mamas, grandparents, cousins... fun times !!!

But over a period of time, things changed, the way birthday was celebrated changed, the family gathering reduced to phone calls, SMSs, Facebook and Orkut wishes, and ecards... Friends became more important than relatives, and evening dinners with friends took the priority over family dinners...

and then another phase kind of took me away from these as well... as of now, I like quiet birthdays, silent, peaceful, with either my parents or with just the friends who understand how I feel within... and not driven by social networking obligations... I like those few calls from "parts of my life" far away from me, and I like waiting for them too... and Aro you ass, you did not wish me this time !!!

This birthday was different and full of loads of fun !!!

• Midnight drive to search for Perkins and have pancakes
• Not finding anything open at 1 in the night
• Cutting a Apple Pie instead of a Cake
• Conversations that were put to a forced stop at 4 in the morning
• Getting late for all planned activities
• Driving to 3 different key "what to visit when in Milwaukee" locations and not getting inside any
• The amazing poori, matar paneer, aalu sabzi dinner... Thank you Deepak, Sapna for that effort, and ofcourse Deepali for the utensils :)
• Me driving Pritam's SUV for atleast 150 miles in 3 days
• The live music at Mo's Irish Pub
• Deepak's confession, which is now recorded on the camera :)
• Some conversations to laugh about for a long long time ! including what happens to a deer if you hit it with a car in Wisconsin :P
• Getting Choclates and a CD from Canada (Thanks Jas)
• Getting Tea cups from India (Thanks Swati)
• Tricking Pritam into giving his iPhone to me when the new version comes out sometime this year (Thank you Pritam ;) )
• Gifting myself a flash(not sure how much I need it, but I am sure I will put this to good use) and a macro lens (finally)

I have a lot going on in my mind these days... need to get some thoughts out, some things done, some tasks completed... one at a time !

side notes...

I am going to stop commenting on posts, blogs, photographs where the writer/photographer conveniently writes "thank you all", "thank you folks", "thank you friends", "thank you peeps" etc etc... I have seen that there are times when people ask questions or have something specific to say, and even if not, they spend time, a minute or two writing a comment for you... and its unfair to not address that comment personally... spending any time on such pages is only a waste of my time... I don't think it matters anyway to the author

सब कुछ हो फिर भी सब न हो

जो अब तक होता आया
वो शायद अब न हो
ज़िन्दगी के लम्बे सफ़र में
दुःख भरी कोई शब् न हो

बचपना है प्यार है
यारी है दोस्ती है
हंसी है ख़ुशी है
उम्मीदें है ख्वाहिशें हैं

सपनो के टूटने पर
उम्मीदों के छूटने पर
उतना दर्द
शायद अब न हो

एक रास्ता था वो भी
एक रास्ता है ये भी
उस राह के छूटने पर
अकेलापन शायद अब न हो


नयी मंजिलों का इंतज़ार है
नयी राहों से मुझे प्यार है
इन राहों पर मिलने वाली मंजिलों में
सब कुछ हो
फिर भी सब न हो


प्रशांत भारद्वाज

अप्रैल २००९

note

There are days and people reminding you of home, make you miss it like crazy, and then make sure that you don't feel away from home as well !!!

Had such days and people here in Milwaukee this weekend !!!

of Amreekaa and of Indiaaa

I was reading some online news about protests in the US against steel made in India and advocating using "only" those things which are American.

I could not help but laugh at the thought of this... if overnight something of this sort happens, then most people in the US would run around "almost" naked, with "almost" no software to use, with "almost" no customer care, with "almost" no electronics and huge reduction in the number of vehicles... oh but where would they get the fuel to run the vehicles? well.. sorry about that !!! Add vehicles that do not have any gas to run...

While I agree to the thought that a nation's and its people's interest should be kept in mind when you are outsourcing or buying, I feel the "barter" system is something that we have lived with for ages... someone somewhere has a different skill and someone here has a different one.. both utilize it for a mutual benefit !!!

I have also been thinking that people who went on spending money like crazy, when they did not have any to pay up their credit card bills, must be the people who have played an important role in companies going bankrupt by purchasing dieing financial firms and dead assets... (Correct me someone if I am wrong here) and who gets thrown out first? The people who come from outside and save like crazy (another extreme, and I fail to understand why suddenly most desi's talk about how much they are able to save when they are in US; sorry digressing from the topic)

umm.. but that was it, I guess about the "America use only American" point of view...

Our second point on today's discussion is the Lok Sabha Elections... I am hoping and wishing and sincerely hoping and wishing that the people who had stood up for a cause after the Bombay Incident make a difference in these Lok Sabha Elections !!! AMEN to that ! this is a wonderful opportunity to bring the change a lot of us started to talk about !

I hope we elect people who

- can make a difference in the country like Shiela Dikshit made to Delhi in the last few years (I personally feel that Delhi has changed from what it was 10 years ago, for both good and bad, but mostly good)

- can make a difference in the country like Lalu did to Indian Railways (I can see and feel the difference in IR which has happened in recent past, mostly because of improved audit mechanisms and accountability and privatization playing and important role)

- can lead the nation and bring it on top like Mayawati did to her party in the last assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh (The BSP won the elections single handedly in UP, with Mayawati leading the pack and playing her cards very carefully. While she has always and continues to advocate the lower casts fiercely, she made sure that her candidates were a right mix from all communities)

- focus on what is the USP of the country like governments did in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttaranchal (These three states I feel have understood that tourism is the key for them when it comes to revenue and the efforts to promote tourism are more than obvious... The lovely roads in these states, the availability of information, and a slight change in the attitude is something that you can notice if you have been visiting for a while)

I feel we have to move ahead of the manifestos that focus more on luring people to vote for a party instead of value they add to the country, move ahead of religion and see the country as one unit, focus on sustainability and .................... sorry... enough of this...

Oh and I just recalled... there were two major campaigns the Lead India and Teach India... can someone help me know what happened to them... I am not aware of the current status... I know a few friends did register in the Teach India campaign but not sure what happened from there...

Dilli se kuch aawaazein !

Richa wrote a nice post about Delhi and it triggered a looooooong comment on her post from me...

I kind of like that comment so much myself that decided to post it here... enjoy..

and Richa, I have added a few more lines to it :)


__________________

Hello ji :) kaise hain?

aur canedda wala chachaji bhi theek thaa?

haanji meri ludhiyane wali mausi ka bangalore wala betta bhi theek hai ji...

oye aage aage bado... gate par bheed mat lagao...

gol chakkar, 6 7 9 10 11 12 22 ...noida noida noida

abe tu ja na...

bhaiyya thodi khatti chatni to daalo

yaar kya mast item hai...

2 tickets for the 730 show please




i'd like to have a super veggie pizza... ice tea for me and coke for the lady please

oye chotu, 4 chai de 3 number pe

abe kutte kahan mar gaya kab se horn baja raha hooon

pencho aa to gaya kyo ma chu** raha hai

ab bakwaas mat kar, waise hi pencho late ho gaye hain

sirji cosmopolitan 10 ki 4... le lo please

abe nahin chahiye

Ladis seat khali karo oye

ustad ji rok-ke

tere baap ka maal hai kya

achcha kitte dogi, aap hi bolo, bohni ka time hai

mataji, taaje hain ekdum.. abhi mandi se laaya hoon

pencho aaj to chu*iya kat gaya free mein...

saale meri gaadi ke neeche hi aake marega kya?

chutte nahin hain.. aage bado

tum to thehre pardessssiiiiiiiiii... saaaath kya nibhaogeeeee

yaar ye garmi maar daalegi aaj to

darling aa raha hoon.. traffic mein phasa hoon kya karoon

lets go to elevate tonight... heard there is some firang DJ playing there...


Gawd, I need some bisleri... my Gawd its too hot... oh gawd !

t-shirt paintees(35) nikaar paintees(35) ye bhi paintees wo bhi paintees

bhaiyya jantar mantar chaloge?

aage bada le isse

oh teri thulle...

main hoon aapka ulta pulta nitin

hum aakashwani ke dilli kendra se bol rahe hain...

aage ek red light padegi wahan se left le lena, phir ulta haath ki taraf dekhte hue chalna, ek neela makaan hai uske baad wala right le lena...

ye saale rikshey wale auto wale chor kahin ke...

Old Delhi? oh no. I have never been to Old Delhi.. its so crowded and messy... oh Gawd.. its so hot.. oh Gawd

abe music world se kyon le raha hai, Palika se le aa... sasti milegi

bhai kya crowd thaa party mein.. maja aa gaya... videsh ho rakha hai dilli to

tring tring... babuji zara dheere chalo.. pehli nazar mein pehla sasural genda phool pyaar ho gaya... tring tring...

yaar thulle ne pakad liya thaa.. bekar ke 50 rupe kharch ho gaye !

staff hai!

chutte nahin hai?

50 mein chalna hai to chalo... achcha 70 de dena.. na ! 60 bas... uske upar kuch nahin... sigh.. achcha baitho...

yaar bahut try kar raha hoon par pencho pat nahin rahi... kitne chakkar kaatun ab uske college ke... petrol pump mere baap ka hai kya

chotu chaaron tyre full kar de

sir aaj card wali machine kharab hai

ek navy cut dena

burp !!!

gadhe ke poot yahan mat moot !

gola gareeeeee

to aayiye diness se poochte hain unhone kya plan kiya hai apni girlfriend ke liye... to bataiye diness...

i want to dedlicate this song to all the viewers, my sister, my mother, my father, my brother, my brother's friend's sister, my friend's sister's brother and my girlfriend.. love you all

pencho gane bhi suna do... ad hi chalate rahoge kya

.................

I could have gone on and on and on... but I guess lets bring this post to a pause right now..

will get back to it sometime later :)

30 on 30 Updates

30 on 30 Updates, originally uploaded by ~OM~ ॐ छाया चित्रालय.

A week ago it started with a some emails, FB and orkut events, and some blog posts...

In a week's time
- More than 15 blogs have the 30on30 tag or a related post
- I have written at least 150 emails responding to interests/queries on 30on30
- Have received about 40 "I am interested in buying this photograph" emails
- Have collected about Rs. 10000
- Placed 5 print orders out of which 2 have been received
- Have been overwhelmed by the encouraging words everyone had to say about the project
- Touched by some of the responses from friends known and unknown


Next steps
- Follow up with friends who have showed interest, to complete the orders
- Ensure the prints are ordered and shipped on time
- Spread the word around
- Be thankful to everyone who has participated in the project
- Reach much more than 30K... 50K maybe... or more... lets see

Thank you everyone !!! In the last week, we have done very well and are hoping to carry on with the progress. Thanks again for your support and wishes

Cheers,
30on30 team
Prashant Bhardwaj, Swati Seth, Bhumika Udernani, Subhadip Purakayastha
30on30

getting there...

Slowly but surely I am loosing my patience for the weather here in Milwaukee... It continues to stays cold.. under 5 degrees Celsius... with rain and wind and occasional snow...


a week back thinking about the Spring was easier, and now its just getting build into a desperate cry for some warm(er) weather !!!

And this weekend was a movie weekend... well almost..

Saw

• Monsters Vs. Aliens (Beautiful animation... my favorite being the character of BOB... there is so much that you can see in the eyes when you are watching an animation movie... loved it.. )
• Straight (Vinay Pathak needs to get out of roles that focus on self pity... he is getting boring and very very predictable... Need a helping of Bheja Fry to get over this one ! I felt it was slow movie... at least the first half was very very slow)
• Alu Chat (A lot of people have not really liked this one, but I really enjoyed the movie... some dragging parts here and there, but overall a decent one time watch.. even laughed out loud at a few scenes... worth it... felt that Saurabh Shukla should have been in the movie, though Manoj Pahwa is an excellent actor, I still missed Saurabh Shukla)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Though I have seen these, but I want to see all the Harry Potter movies again... and then will watch the Pirate's of the Carribean series followed by Matrix)
• and a lot of episodes of Scrubs (Season 3... I really like JD and Elliot... there is something about them that I relate to so well.. and Dr. Cox and the Janitor are lovely characters as well)

I wanted to watch Fast and Furious, however I am not going to see it on the laptop... it needs a big screen.. for that matter almost all firangi action movies do.. and animations as well.. I am hoping to watch it next week and then Transformers-II is coming as well... need to find an iMAX for it.. not watching it on the regular cinema screen by any chance...

and she...

It had been raining all night... literally !

She had not slept for a second ...

The sound of the rain drops, the sound of the wind passing through her windows, and her tears kept her awake...

The morning came... it had to...

And as she walked out of her house...

the cold breeze greeted her and said good morning...

the warm sun came out of the clouds and said a shining smiling hello...



some birds flew past her chirping all sweet nothings into her ears...

and she... she smiled !

and moved on...

... and before you reach any conclusions... I was not crying the last night :P I have been very very happy with the way 30on30 has been received ! Have responded to over 40 people, must have read/written at least 150 emails in the last three days about the 30on30 project... Have placed the first order for the the prints.. have a commitment of over Rs. 10000... have Rs. 4000 transferred as well... The month has started on a brilliant note !!!

Introducing Thirty on Thirty

I would be lying if I say that I have been waiting for this to happen... but there is nothing that can possibly stop it...

I am talking about turning 30 !!! No it's not my birthday today, though its just round the corner not too far in future !

I had planned a rail trip for myself originally but that really did not work out and I have no reason to complaint, but then I don't like not being able to travel like I thought I will... anyway...

I guess at the back of my mind I was troubled by the fact that I going to turn "old" and this birthday is not memorable... and then lightening struck ( somewhere in this world) and I had an idea...

First lets go through the thoughts !

Not so random thought 1
I am turning 30

Random thought 2
April has 30 days

Random thought 3
I have wanted to do some fund raising

Random thought 4
I would like to sell a few photographs

Random thought 5
hmm... so?

Random thought 6
Wait a minute... why don't I sell 30 photographs to raise 30000 rupees in these 30 days on my 30th birthday...

The thought seemed fine... the next evening I put a few thoughts together and sent it to some friends... next morning to the next evening most of them responded with very encouraging words... I realized this can work out.. and a small team was formed...

Me, Subhadip, Bhoomi and Swati got together through emails and build something together... its been a li'il tough to meet the April 1st deadline but looks like we are good to go... Need to thank Arvin David for helping out with the logo and Ashish Goel (from iTasveer.com) to help with the printing and shipping needs in India...

please do check out http://www.30on30.net

Its my way of making this month of 2009 memorable for me...

Hope you like it !!!!