damn! i am back!

• 1 weekend
• 3 days
• 1 car
• 2 people
• 650 kms
• 2 states
• All weathers... hot, cold, rain, sun, hail storm, almost snowfall
• All terrain... road, no road! hills, plains, village, town, city, national highway, state highway, no highway!

• 1 feeling!

When am I doing it again! :)

I am afraid!

of death!

Not mine! no!

but of people who I think I will be death without!

I get tears in my eyes every time I think of it!

Mark Sloan and his intern

In Grey's Anatomy, almost every intern who is assigned to Mark Sloan, the awesomest plastic surgeon, has to fetch coffee for him in addition to doing a lot of tasks which are not related to surgery!

I do not want to be that intern, and I do not want to be working with a Mark Sloan ever, even though he is the best that one can get!

good ideas

Jim Corbett plan postponed! no issues! good idea infact!

Looking forward to a training and another certification! good idea again!

Spending the weekend at home, not doing much except watching a movie! good idea!

Getting the tires aligned and balanced! very important idea!

Preparing an additional spare tire for long drives! good idea!

Google Apps for AndPictures

For the ones who did not know, if you have your own domain, you can use Google Apps (Gmail, Calender, Docs, Chat, and some more) for free, in case your users are less than 50.

It takes a bit of effort to configure everything, and I have been trying to get Google Apps up and running for my photography portfolio website : www.andpictures.net

All settings have been done, configurations completed, and all I need to do is to wait for the back-end sync to complete and I should be good to go! Being google, it should also work nicely on my Android, which makes it nice!

Seona

Some photographs from a recent shoot in Singapore!!! Was staying with Aseem and got an opportunity to take some photographs of Seona, Aseem and Mala's daughter who turned 1 on the 19th of January this year!!!

ज्ञानचंद दोहेवाले

साधू संत सब कह गए, दिल को रखिये साफ़ |

जो करेगा सो भरेगा, आप कीजिये सबको माफ़ ||

Prashant Bhardwaj, Feb'2011

Don't say TATA to TATA!

Why So Serious!!! This is the tagline of Honda that I did not like, because they have picked it up straight from Knight Rider! Now apparantly after someone buys a Honda, they would not be serious anymore! And rightly so, Honda cars are a pleasure to drive! smooth, silent, efficient, and so on!

On my way back home, last friday, I saw just the opposite... a gentlemen in his mid 30s, extremely serious while his driver was at the steering wheel of the brand new red Jazz! his discomfort and total lack of confidence was oozing out of all the windows of that otherwise comfortable car! I really wanted to ask him "Why so Serious?" , record it and send it to Honda!

All of that was beside the point though! The point here was that I was driving a 12000 kms old Indica Quadrajet! and was I pleasently surprised or was I?

The Quadrajet is a FIAT engine, and is expected to run extremely well, however that engine in the TATA body is making that car feel like a different animal on the road for sure! As soon as you rev up the engine beyond 2000 rpm, the car really transforms into a different avatar! The build quality is quite alright of the Indica, much better that the previous versions, though it still looks and feels very plastic as compared to cars in the similar category! AC is alright! Space is NICE, and the legroom at rear is very comfortable for 3 adults!

I was driving the fully loaded version which comes with a CD player and integrated bluetooth telephony system! it basically sucks though! I can do without it!

The ABS would come handy as the car seems to have a more than adequate amount of Body roll!

There is very little engine noise, thanks to the refined FIAT engine, and the throttle response is more than pleasing!

Let's come to a few thoughts keeping in perspective, the closest competition for this car! A fully loaded Swift VDI!

None of the two have a set of Alloys with the fully loaded version... Swift VDI has better build quality for sure, however that comes with a premium of about Rs. 70000 as compared to the Indica Quadrajet. Is it worth it? Not really sure till I drive a Swift VDI, but for now, the Indica Quadrajet seems to be a good value for money!

I also feel that things like

- Tachometer

- Digital Clock

- High mounted rear lamp

- Follow me home headlamps

- Delayed cabin lights

- Headlight on warning

and a few more! Don't see why these have to be included as "features" anymore in car brochures!

9 2 11 (नौ दो ग्यारह )

Have been trying to find the origin of 9-2-11 since morning... have asked a few colleagues at work as well!

but no go!

Anyone knows when and how did the phrase 9-2-11(नौ दो ग्यारह ) originate?

Why this post today? Well! today is 9-2-11! that's why!

ज्ञानचंद दोहेवाले

छुट्टी ऐसे काटिए, के अपने खुश हो जाएँ|

ना कोई अनजाना घर आये, और घर के न बहार जायें||

ना रोटी की चिंता, न नाश्ते की फिकर |

साथ हो बातें हो, बातों से पेट भर जाये ||

Prashant Bhardwaj, Jan-2011

Upside to free falling

"No matter how hard you fight it, you fall! And its scary as hell! Except there is an upside to free falling. Its the chance you give your friends, to catch you..."

Grey's Anatomy, SE2E03

77899

Some of my most cherished moments have been behind the wheels of my Palio!!! 77899 kms strong, and still with years to go!

ज्ञानचंद दोहेवाले

जब भी दिल करे बोलने का, करो अपनों से बात |

अपने अपने ही रहे, न दिन देखें न रात ||

दिन देखें न रात, सदा ही सुन-ने को तैयार|

बात तुम्हारी एक हो, चाहे बात तुम्हारी चार||

Prashant Bhardwaj, Jan'11

ज्ञानचंद दोहेवाले

कॉरपोरेट जगत मूया, लगा राजनीती खेल |

पीठ के पीछे गाली देवत, सामने पड़े तो मेल ||

Prashant Bhardwaj, Jan'11

ज्ञानचंद दोहेवाले

ज्ञान वहां पर बांटिये, जहाँ मुनासिब होए |

ऐसन को ज्ञान न बांटिये, जो अब पाए तब खोये||

Prashant Bhardwaj, Jan'11

Grey's Anatomy S1E2

"Boundaries don't keep others out... they cave you in!"

Grey's Anatomy, Season 1, Episode 2

This is my second series related to doctors after Scrubs, which I absolutely adore! So far I am liking this one too... let's see how the rest of it goes!

Two other series that I totally love are

• Lie to Me (Have seen the season 1 and 2 already... 3 is on air these days and should be available on DVD soon)
• Hustle (Not seen a series as good as this one about long cons)

Happy New Year 2011

Minneapolis and the kabootar and the baby hunter

One of my fondest memories of all times would be driving around in sub-urbs of Minneapolis with Pritam, Deepak, Lakhan, and Sapna with Delhi-6 songs playing!!!

I remember this weekend where we must have heard Sasural Genda Phool and Masakali atleast 50 times or maybe more!!! I think this was the weekend when I met Pritam's baby hunter for the first time!

As per Pritam this was a hunter who was still a baby... not to forget that we are talking about a Nissan Xterra here! To accept that it was still a baby at that size was very tough for almost all of us... And somehow the title baby hunter, tilted towards the car being someone who hunted babies more!!

Nevertheless, the whole Minneapolis downtown gang and the cars, and the drives are some thing worth remembering for a very very long time to come!!

1.1.11

This year has been an year of deaths!!!

and no DEATH is not always bad... at times it is, however for a relatively short duration of time as compared to time itself!

I knew some who died this year, I did not know a lot who did! but irrespective of this, I grew closer to death, my own, of people who are close to me and mean a lot to me, and the concept of death as a whole!

DEATH always leaves a VOID... it was surprising how I felt when some friends lost their near and dear ones this year! I did not know this people except that I knew they were there!

People leave, and they do that for good! leaving behind an emptyness.. something that you feel when you are shifting your house after years of staying there... You do not see the walls, you see what was there on those walls... you don't see a corner, you probably see your favorite program which was on the TV last night...you don't see a door, you think of the last time you opened that door and walked into the warmth of your home... you don't see a kitchen, you see the dishes that were there which your mom cooked last week!!!

The year is also coming to an end! Its dying! we cannot save it either, and that's a fact... time does not stop, and there is no point trying either! My options being, either to welcome the new life in whatever form that its coming, or to cry about what has been lost!

While I am still not able to come to terms with the concept of death and its brutal existance.. ok... not brutal, but existance!! I am looking forward to 1.1.11

Point and Beep

I find it funny that a lot of people stretch their arms to point towards their cars while using remote locking!