New TV Days... Cable/Satelite TV

(continued from last time, click here & read this first...)

Then came the first Hindi satellite channel "ZEE TV" which was broadcasted only at prime-time and rest of the day you could see a big Zee logo on the TV with random songs. The new favorites were Zee horror show, Snakes & Ladders and some others (which I don't remember). And with this the cable TV started creeping on us with Sony & Star coming in picture as well. Although I remember a certain time when DD2 again was becoming popular with an array of new shows like Dushman, Kabhi Sautan Kabhi Saheli, Superstars & many others but it didn't last long. Also the quality of shows on DD has highly deteriorated and most of them are not even worth considering. But all we see on Cable/Satellite channels now is some boring/stupid TV Serials and Reality-Shows/Talent-Hunts. All we see is people dancing, singing, comedy & other arts and most of the time its those serial actors competing & forgotten actors/celebs judging the shows. The results of these shows are mostly disappointing most of the public, inspite of the fact its claimed that they are selected by public voting. Like Baichung Bhutia won Jahalak Dikhla Ja-3 whereas I thought that either Gauhar Khan or Hard Kaur should have been the winner. Or Salman Khan won Dance India Dance who didn't do anything more than circus & acrobatics; but Jai, Siddhesh or Alisha deserved it better. The worst was the show Pehchaan Kaun where the worst copycat Rajat Bahagt who used to mimic Salman in Asrani style won, whereas Raja Sagoo who was not only doing Salman act well but many others, lost. Then There's MTV & Channel V kinda youth channel's which show Roadies & V-Gyan kinda shows which aren't bad but, I am not sure if they are good for young kids. Our parents used to stop us from watching those DD stuff but imagine the kids watching what all they show on TV these days!!

So friends & foes... keep reading, commenting and promoting. What do you think about days of TV now & then? Wanna share any memories?? Waiting to hear from you... This is RAHUL saying Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

Old TV Days... DD Days

Remember the good old days of Doordarshan... the only channel you could get was DD and that's all you could watch. I think we would be the only bunch of people or the generation who grew up on those amazing & educational/inspirational sort of entertainment. Waking up early Sunday mornings to watch Rangoli (i hardly wake up before 10-12 now!!). And the next on list were:
- Ramayan remember Dara Singh speaking shudh hindi in Punjabi Accent, always felt like he would say "Satshriakaal Ramji" just any time. The streets & markets used to get empty & peopel used to worship thereTV before putting the show on. Ther used to be gathering of whole village or colonys on people's home who had TV.

- Mahabharat every charcter unique & etched in our memories, starting from Mukesh Khanna as Bheeshm to Puneet Issar as Duryodhan & all others. And the ultimate, "main, samay hoon".
- Chandrakanta taught us about 'Aiyyari' & 'Yakkooooo', Kroor Singh was actually cool singh with spikey hair at that time which has become fashion now. Heard there's a movie coming with Amitabh & Abhishek.
- and 'all that' (this comes from my recent reading of Inscrutable Americans).
Other kids-favorites were:
- Sigma (A sci-fi show which I don't remember now except that we used to imitate some guy Shakti in School & Games. I dont remember much except that)
- Jungle Book jungle-jungle baat chali hai pata chala hai, chaddhi pehen ke phool khila hai-phool khila hai; and ofcourse Nana Patekar's voice as Sher Khan
- Betaal Pachisi indian version of Phantom, I guess the first Indian superhero with underwear outside pants!!
- Shaktimaan The 1st and Best Indian Hero till now. Mukesh Khanna was the superhero Shaktimaan but was more aweosme as Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Onkarnath Shastri, i still remember it!!
- Captain Vyom Milind Somen as Captain Vyom was cool & the special-effects were quite flashy too.
- Disney shows including Duck Tales & Talespin who can forget Uncle Scrooge and his swimming pool of dollars. Launch Pad always crashing & saying Mr McD. And the sweet Baloo & Ritika Malaingam of Talespin...
Also were the afternoon usuals like HeMan, SuperMan, Samurai, Chhutti-Chhutti (hahahehe, ho gai chhutti) etc. Wednesday Evenings were exclusively for Chitrahaar ofcourse, being the only second song program on TV. Rest of the days had there own favorites of Nukkad, Fauji, Circus (Shahrukh Khan the TV star), Malgudi Days (Swami & his frineds, singing ta-nana-tana-nana-naa), Karamchand (Pankaj Kapur with Sushmita Mukherjee as witty Kitty), Chanakya, Byomkesh Bakshi (India's bengali take on Sherlock Holmes with Rajit Kapur), Tahqeeqat (another take on Sherlock Holmes starring Vijay Anand & Saurabh Shukla,'smoking is bad for health'), Dekh Bhai Dekh (Shekhar Suman & Waheeda Rehman with many others. have heard they are making a movie on this), Tenaliraman, Tipu Sultan (Sanjay Khan did a wonder with this) and many others. And remember Kille Ka Rahasya (all i remember is watching it hidden in rajai & being scared all the time), the only horror show on TV and Surabhi (I remember Renuka Shanhe, we sent answers to some of there contest questions but never got prize) was the most informative of the lot. The shows had there fixed timings without any repeat telecasts and so we had to be on time and if you miss some you didn't even get Recap or Forecap. I don't think there were many commercials either except those lovely message-ads like "Surajk ek, chanda ek" & "Miley sur mera tumhara", i just loved all those. Ofcourse there weren't any daily soaps nor was the channel a 24 hour show. And comparing to what comes on TV now, it was way better stuff. But still parents were so strict in letting us watch even these stuff and always had a NO-NO for most of them. "This is not good for you, TV watching is not good.. study, or better play outside". LOLzzzzzzzzzzz

We used to have a BIG wooden box kinda TV (i guess it could actually fit in all the people used to show). Needed 2 people to lift it, but I was so excited when it came to our house more than 20 yrs back. The regulator kinda channel selector would have been annoying but who cared with just one channel on air. Beat it on the sides when it doesnt work and I guessyou may even use it as a couch or table, LOL. Anyways, remember the cool stuff from old DD Days which are etched in our memories, here's some which I remember:
- Nritya Ka Akhil Bhartiya Program biggest hindi sentence on TV- "aap to woh mengi wali tikiya... leti thi, magar wohi safedi aur wohi jhaag agar kam daamo mein miley to - koi yeh kyun le, woh naa le!!" & "Lifeboy hai jahan, tandarusti hai wahan"- Namskar, aap dekh rahe hain Hindi Samachaar like I tuned in to watch Michael Jackson Dancing, thanks for the information.- Rukaawat Ke Liye Khed Hai just AWESOME, could show up anytime!!

(to be continued, click here to read...)

More than 1000 visit...

in less than 5 months!!!! awesome... isn't it???? or you think it's too bad, not good enough... everyone has right to his/her opinion, but i am feeling HAPPY (not as when Santa & Banta were feeling Happy; Happy felt disgusted & he left!!)

It has been more than a year since I have been blogging; 55 posts till now out of which 34 have been written in this year in less than 5 months. I had put the visitor map on Jan 09, 2009 and since then I have had more than 1000 visits from 47 countries (yeah, I just counted it now). More than half visits have been from my country (its India & not US) and more than 200 visits from US, rest from 45 other countries... WOW!! I am like super popular, LOL. In a world where bloggers are getting more than 1000 visits per day I am happy to get there in 5 months. I have done a lot to promote my blog too, because I think just making a good product is not good enough but marketing/selling it the right way is highly important (now you get free management gyan, should have been on TRM Blog). I have attached the blog link to my status at all my communicators, IMs, social networking sites & just anywhere also; I was actually even appreciated by few people for my ideas of promotion (just to get certain clicks/visits I do soooo much, ugh!!).

Here's link to my posts which have been highly popular (as I say). Read them & (you have to) enjoy them ...

• First Time!!!
• Four Times:
• I got my American Driving License!!
• I did SKYDIVING!!!
• Happy Thanksgiving... & IITF-2008
• My village trip adventure...
• When Indians return to India from US...
• ॐ नमः शिवाय... Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire)???
• I am alone... मैं अकेला
• April Fool...
• When I lost my 5 rupees coin...
• Please VOTE... but I won't!
• Vodafone Zoozoo
• Rahul's magic worked for Congress/UPA... BJP/NDA pays
• Fight Against Max Hospital... just another chain-mail

I have asked you guys enough times to comment on my blog & all that, but most of you hardly do that (people call/msg me to tell me it was great but never comment. i have anonymous commenting enabled, so just comment people!!). I won't ask the same thing again this time but just want you guys to help me promote my blog too; spread it across & ask (force them... just go to there systems & open my blog, stand there until they read & save the link in fav too) others to read it too. Also read (& make other read as well) my other TRM blog too. So friends & foes... keep reading, commenting and promoting. This is RAHUL saying Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

Fight Against Max Hospital... just another chain-mail????

I just hate these spams, chain-mails/sms, & forwarded junks (like everybody else loves it, ugh!!). Everyday in our mailbox, we see tons of mails sent by who-knows-who making stupid claims & providing weird information. On top of that, some of them warn you that if you do not follow the chain something BAD will happen to you. Which world are you living in people... must not be the same as I live in, because bad doesn't happens by not spamming other's inbox. I never forward these mails/sms and delete most of them without reading (which is strictly prohibited as per those mails; maybe that's the reason I am not happy these days!!) or send a strict reply warning the sender to never repeat it again (or something BAD will happen to him, lol). Certain mails provide you with stunning information which are mostly hoax/rumors & we spread them by forwarding it further without validations and believing them too...

So I received another forward recently from one of my friends titled "Fight Against MAX Hospital" with an attached presentation too. It was from some Deepika Manchanda from Wipro saying that her sister Nitika Manchanda (who was a Genpact employee) was ill-treated carelessly by MAX Healthcare, Pitampura (New Delhi, INDIA) which resulted in her death; and she wanted to spread this message across to fight against it. As usual I didn't just believe it; but I didn't delete the email either. I replied back to Deepika asking her about the facts; and she replied back confirming the story (it was on Hindustan Times too, click here). That's when I opened the presentation & had a look and read further details. Honestly, it was not surprising or shocking.. but highly disappointing, inappropriate, painful & shameful as well. This has not happened for the first time in India or the world, but its still very unfortunate...

Please have a look at the presentation/blog by clicking here for more details. It is the unfortunate story of Dr. Nitika Manchanda's death due to irresponsible behaviour & carelessness of Doctors/Hospital and seems Nitika died due to negligence of MAX hospital & its staff. As per latest update from Deepika; postmortem done at Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, does not conclusively say anything except Patechial rashes and hemorrhages all over her body. Final report would come after chemical analysis of blood and viscera examinations is what they are saying. After pressure from the Police Commissioner Delhi, DCP North West, Mr.Bundela is initiating the action for further enquiry ,after 20 days though. A dedicated blog "Fight-Against-MAX" has been created for this cause. Many of us have been victims to others carelessness & ignorance however we have mostly ignored it too. This is the time we should come up together and ignore the ignorance and fight for the cause. Medical professionals & any other people sitting at responsible positions should understand the importance of there role and should pay due attention to it. Someones stupid fault can make someones life faulty and bring it to an end; lets try to make sure this never happens again.

How about you, have you seen any similar cases? What do you think about this? Any other stories or views you might want to share... In the mean time, please keep blogging and keep reading & commenting on my blogs. This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!

(read the comments below & click here to read further...)

After 2 years, I am not celebrating Memorial Day as I am in India today. Do I miss it?? Honestly, not the Memorial day but I do miss US. More than a year back I wrote my 1st blog when I was in India & then 2nd blog after I reached US... Yaadein!!!

kya kahu, kya naa kahu... say what

I haven't written about myself lately, so some of you people might be waiting to hear that (or some of you might be even happy for it!!). But I am not sure of what to say, because it seems I have nothing. People ask me that why I seem strange, what happened; and I have to say nothing happened & that's the problem that nothing's happening. I have so much in my mind, so much I want, so much I need to do... but nothing's happeneing (lots of happenings but nothings happening). It's like those points of our lives when everything seemes to be halted (and the worst is other's seem to be moving). Seems I have no clue what's going on & what do I need to do for things to change. Am I happy? Definitely not. This is the 1st time I have started to hate being in Delhi/India. Looks like an overstatement but that's how I feel these days...

Someone told me that in every few years in our lives there comes a slump period where we feel lost & things don't move well (as it happens in our economies too & we have the slump period of recession going on). But that's not a big deal considering many years of success & growth. I understand it; however I still feel that we can't just accept it & let it happen. We need to feel bad first and get concerned (& take tension), because unless we get concerned (& take tension) we don't seem to act. I want to act & I am trying to act, let's just see how soon I can achieve it. Afterall I am responsible for myself; we are our own responsibilities & we have to atke care of it ourselves. I am still surprised that where's all the fun & humor of my blogs lost, it seems its lost in me. But still I keep posting some interesting & funny slides etc. I wrote an excellent post on my TRM blog regarding "Stock Market is not a Zero Sum Game", read it. Alright friends & people, that's it for now. Please keep blogging and keep reading & commenting on my blogs. This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!

And Enjoy this funny slideshow for some fun...

Time To Laugh... again

View more presentations from Rahul Tiwari.

Rahul's magic worked for Congress/UPA... BJP/NDA pays for what they didn't do

If you do not know, this Rahul is not me but Rahul Gandhi. Election Results swere declared today and Congress registered one of its biggest wins in recent times by getting almost 206 seats and UPA getting a clear majority as well. The youth leader in Rahul has definitely clicked well with youngsters and the Gandhi in his surname clicked well with the poor & masses. He does seems like an efficient leader and a high potential candidate for future PM (Prime Minister) as well. Although I think Rahul should wait for sometime to be PM, he should take some ministry & prove his credentials as an efficient leader & administrator. For a PM he needs more experience as well, PM is a big job afterall. Manmohan Singh is a nice person but not a great PM, we need to get someone better. However, I have a problem with this family politics, Sonia has clicked well because she's Gandhi & same applies to Rahul as well (till now). New people should get opportunity too... there are good people.. but they are not in politics as they think its too dirty... but someone has to get in that dirty ditch to try to clean it.

With NDA, BJP is still the second largest party which would be sitting in opposition but nothing else. They haven't done anything or any ground work in last 5 years, atleast that's how it seems to common people like us. As the second largest party you should do something for the nation and play a constructive/efficient opposition but they have been good for nothing. Also it seems there ground workers didn't work much for the party or the nation. Narendra Modi does seems like some hope for the party & may be good for nation too (but still I say that he needs to improve his image as a nationally accepted leader). I am glad that the 3rd & 4th front and the others didn't get much as it was quite important for us as a nation to get clearer judgement. This is a verdict against there bad choice of leaders & also towards hope for a stable government.

One last this which I have realised that I and many of us are not in favor or against any party and we don't need to be either. I am in favor of our country and whoever does well or is ready to try to do well is right for us. All I would still like is the right to elect leader of the nation directly; in such a big democracy we should be able to select & elect our Head of the Nation. That person should be the one whom we can proudly call our leader. Hopefully whoever will become leader (most probably Manmohan again though) now will try to do some good for the nation & not do anything like last 5 years. This is not the time to just sit idle & wait for something bad to happen & then try to correct it or just do nothing as atleast no bad happens. This is the time to step ahead & try to do something for the nation even if their are risks involved or anything. We have to become more aggressive & progressive to grow & become the BEST!!!

So what do you people think about direct elections for the Head of Nation? And how do you feel about Rahul or Modi? Any other views you might want to share... In the mean time, please keep blogging and keep reading & commenting on my blogs. This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO, JAI HIND!!!!!

Vodafone Zoozoo

I have the same post on my other blog so please click the link below... see & enjoy, its pretty cool & awesome!!
http://tradingandriskmanagement.blogspot.com/2009/04/making-of-vodafone-zoozoo.html

Applications invited for Girlfriend!!!!

View more presentations from Rahul Tiwari.

Lets make India better... & Best!!!!

I have nothing to defend or to offend anyone, but its exciting to see that youth does thinks about voting and wants to talk about it. I did not vote this time, and I am not proud of it. I really wanted to vote but could not; I have an agenda behind not voting. Voting is our right & responsibility, with every big power comes big responsibilities and we should know how to use it in the right way. I am not sure if I can do it right, because I do not have an option to do right. I did my homework of collecting information & details about the parties & the candidates as well. You can check the candidate details on MYNETA & rest you can do by checking some first hand information; I did it & trust me the information you get is not very fruitful but mostly disappointing. And political parties have been trying to fool us always. Congress has a puppet PM & a ruling history of last 5 yrs or 60 yrs which is not very appreciable. There may be some hope in Rahul Gandhi but he still needs experience & should prove his worth first. BJP has been confused itself & confusing the voters too by not being sure what it wants to do & what party it is. Have you heard the stupid promises of increasing tax limits or paying lakh rupee to all girls and all that, you need to explain that how are you gonna do that?? I feel that Modi is a strong and efficient leader, however he needs to improve his image in nation's eyes. I don't think I need to say much about leaders like Mayawati, Mulayam Singh, Laloo Prasad, Paswan & others. These are the people who think of themselves as future PMs and we cant do much about it. Is it acceptable in a huge democracy that at the time of election we do not know who is gonna be the Leader of the nation & we do not even get to choose him. It all depends on coalitions & some greedy/shrewd politicians who'll decide the leader of our great nation. Due to all these VOTING campaigns and all that, voting has become a col phenomena but still we do not understand the importance & responsibility of our right to vote. You need to make sure that you vote for the right party & candidate, but where are the right party & candidates? And you don't get to select the leader of nation, I don't like it either. We already have election for Villages, Municipality, MLA, MP etc for local development & all that; however in a huge democracy like India, we should get the right to select the leader of our nation in national elections. And we should get the right to not vote & select no one. These things Will force the political parties and organisations to bring better leaders. And if they can't then we should come up & try to become better leaders for our nation.

I appreciate everyone's interest & concern for these issues and comments here, really excited to see it. It is definitely good to express your views and share opinions so we can think together and make right decisions. We know that our country needs improvement & needs a change. By voting or not voting, but we have to think of those ways and we have to bring that change as it is our right & responsibility. We can do it & we will do it. Thanks everyone & All the Best, to all of us & our nation... Jai Hind!!

Please VOTE... but I won't!!

You must have been hearing this a lot lately (the 1st part) by different ads/campaigns etc & promoted by many celebrities, so I had to chip-in too (I have responsibilities too as to-be-celebrity naa). Please do vote as it is very important for you to exercise your right of vote as a responsible citizen. That would be your small contribution towards the development of our nation by picking the right leaders who can lead our nation to growth & prosperity. It's a truth that every vote counts; specially when people are winning by a margin of few hundred votes or even less sometimes. So it's time to use your vote as weapon to fight against corruption, poverty, terrorism and everything else; your right vote will take the nation in the right direction... this is your chance to make the difference!! If you do not know about the candidate at your place or want to check any other then you can visit MY-NETA. For any queries about voting etc, you may visit JAAGO-RE.

However, I know you guys are more interested in listening to why I say 'I won't'... If you guys remember that I didn't vote last time in Delhi Elections (read here) and I am thinking about not voting this time as well. The motive behind voting is to make a difference & make things better... but it doesn't really seems that I have any option of making things any better. Most of the parties & candidates are corrupt, shrewd, uneducated, uncivilized & worthless, are they going to make things better for us & our nation? I can go & vote for the best of the worst, but are we incapable of getting few good people out of more than a billion population? We can't select 545 good people out of this billion+ population? Actually we can't, because we do not have option available to select. And we do not eve have an easy option to say that we don't want to select, there is Article 49-O/Form 17-A but doesn't do much. I might try to do this if it works, however have heard that electoral officer are not happy to do this as it causes too much paper work & all that (why don't they make a button for it on the EVM). Lets see what I'll do....

Anyways friends/foes/others... do try to go out & vote; if you are confused like me then go out & try to do the "not/cancelled vote", but do it. Sp, what do you think about this? And what are you planing to do? In the mean time, please keep blogging and keep reading & commenting on my blogs. This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO, JAI HIND!!!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was Dad & Mom's 30th marriage anniversary today; 30 long years of a beautiful relationship which is the reason of my existence and being. 30 years is a very long time, I haven't even seen or experienced that (means I am way younger than 30!!). Some of you may have (older folks!!) so you may understand the significance of this time, or maybe it looses its importance for some after so much time. It is definitely a special day for me & so it is for my parents. For someone who gets startled by the thought of being married, this is a great example to watch. But I don't follow examples, I like to set examples!!

I have never been against marriage as an Institution & a social & personal entity but you do not have to be against something to not do it. And some things happen only at there right time, they can never get there meaning if done early or late (but better late than never, or too early). I don't understand why others (including friends & relatives etc) get more concerned about your marriage than you. But why am I talking all this... I guess the thought of marriage makes me paranoid, lol. Congratulations & lots of love Dad & Mom, tons of my best wishes for you forever!!!

When I lost my 5 rupees coin....

There is not much going on these days except Delhi being super hot & me being super tired/exhausted all the time; so I thought of writing something from past stories. Recently one day when I was going to the GYM (yes, I go to gym!!) my sister asked me to get a gel-pen refill and gave me a Rs 5 coin for the same. I put it in my lowers pocket & went on for the workout... I was in gym and I did my regular hour long gymming routine. Then I left the gym and went to the store to buy the refill. I asked the guy that how much refill was for and he said that Rotomac (remember, likhte-likhte love ho jaaye!!) is Rs 6 & Reynolds in Rs 10. I told him that my sis told me that there's a refill for Rs 5 & I need that one, turns out that the Rotomac was being offered for Rs 5 as well (I didn't intentionally bargain but it happened, it happens only in India!!). I put my hands in pocket to take out the coin & alas... its not there. I must have lost in the gym I thought, but who goes back to search for a Rs 5 coin & all that. But then I decided to go & look... I went back to the gym & couldn't find it where i was working out. Little disappointed but decided to look more... and yes, it was lying under a bench!!!

I was so damn happy to find my coin back, never thought I could find a lost coin. I'll tell you a ... there was this small kid of 7-8 yrs old whose mom sent him out to market to buy some stuff. He came back with the stuff and handed it over to his mom with the remaining balance, turns out that he's handing over 50 paise less and he couldn't find it anywhere. Seems he must have lost it somewhere on the way. The mom asks the boy to go back and look for the coin and get it back. The boy doesn't wants to go back all the way, that too in night but he has to. He goes back searching for the lost coin on road & everywhere but comes back empty handed. (now you would be expecting that he was beaten rudely & ferociously by his mom and all that, read further....) His mom was waiting on the door for him when he came back, he told that he couldn't find the coin and she didn't say anything. Nothing else happened but the boy still remembers the story and learnt something form it... he learnt the value of money!!

You must have guessed by now that the boy was me (you gotta be really dumb if you couldn't figure that out yaar). I learnt that every paisa/penny has value and it counts. Hard earned money should always be respected.. and you should always try to look for your lost money, lolzz. I remember when I lost my Rs 100 note at DTC Pass Center in Scindia House CP. I was so sad & mad, looking for it everywhere and couldn't find it. It was a big amount & was all my saving from my pocket money. I requested god to do something and didn't talk to him for days for not giving my money back (! literally used to not wish pranaam to god at temples for some days. afterall we think that he's responsible for all that happens, he must be doing it intentionally). Many other occasions I suffered some miscellaneous losses like these or others but hardly was able to recover it. But then you realize that winning & losing is part of the life and every loss makes your next win even more special & cherished. Like getting this Rs 5 coin back!!

So what do you think, giving importance to every penny is right or letting it go as a part of the experience & then blaming god... Alright friends & people, that's it for now. Please keep blogging and keep reading & commenting on my blogs. This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO (I recently heard the pussycat version of the song and its nice)!!!!!

Trip to Vaishno Devi

I went to Vaishno Devi past weekend (Apr 12), the trip was adventurous & fun but as good as a war!! I was with one of my friend, we left Sunday afternoon by bus from Bus Terminal at Jeeval in Jammu (click here to read about my Jammu trip) and it took us around 1.5 hrs to reach Katra. You have to wait in a line to get the 'darshan parchi' (visitor-slip) which you need to collect to get in, it's free. We waited around 3 hrs in line till 5pm but it turned out that they won’t give slips anymore till 5am next day as there are too many visitors for the day. It was quite disappointing but we thought of checking for the passes at the Defense Camp which is 1 Km ahead near Brhamakumari where you get special passes for defense people (my dad is Ex-Defnse Personnel). When we reached there we were told that since 9 months policy has changed and now the passes are not available for families of Defense Personnel anymore. Again disappointment, but we talked to the guy there named Naidu and ultimately he was convinced to help us by giving us the visitor slips (not defense though, but he had few general slips). If you are convinced and work hard, nothing is impossible.. Or may be Maa Vaishno was calling us…

Then the journey upwards began which wasn’t too bad. Just be slow & steady and keep taking short rests when needed. Half the way to the top, the way splits into two… one way goes through Ardkwari in between & then further up to Bhawan (mata Vaishno’s temple), the way is little tough as it is steeper and longer than other way. Darshan at Ardhkwari is not easy as there are long waiting, you have to take a visitor-slip again here for this temple and the waiting for us was 2 days. Then there is the other way which does not go through Ardhkwari and it is shorter by 1 Km, its easier as well (less steep & newer road). You can take a short tunnel through Ardhkwari to get on this way but you end up walking 1 Km extra. The Pony-Ride which keeps coming on to you is a big nuisance, but you don’t encounter them on this road which is good. It took us around 4-5 hrs in total to reach till Vaishno Devi Mandir. Just before entry you have to get your slip stamped and they give you a group number fro entry into temple which is displayed all over TV (but it is hardly followed, you cant go before it I think but can go anytime after your number has crossed. Doesn’t even gives you any priority in darshan line).

Then you have to take holy-bath at the snaanghar which is at the end; just keep walking past lockers etc. The water comes out of pipes from somewhere but it is very cold n chilling, however bath is kinda fun. Then put your shoes, leather stuff & belongings (including cam etc) in the locker & go for the darshan. Darshan are open all day-night except the Arti in Morning & evening. When we got in the line at around 2 in night the security guys told us that darshan are closed till morning… another disappointment but we decided to wait. The darshan were open in half an hour!! It takes around an hour or so to get till the Bhawan Gufa (or the cave in which there are the Pindies). There is no photo or idol but just the mata ki pindies…. If its crowded they don’t let you go in the real gufa but the artificial one which takes you near darshan place (I was told that if there is less rush you get to crawl in that gufa and get closest darshan). They hardly let you see anything and you can’t even stand for few seconds for proper darshan. They don’t take your Prashaad (offerings, you can buy those even downwards before starting the climbing which is better as you get nicer stuff but you have to carry it. Options are less & limited upwards). After darshan you take the halwa prashhad & then it’s done. Don’t forget to take your stuff abck from the locker though…

The next is the visit to Bhaironath & it’s said that darshan is not complete until you visit there (it's said that Maa Vaishno killed Bhaironath who was a evil taantrik, however while dying he asked for forgieness & Maa gave him this aashish). Its 3-4 Kms up and you can walk, take stairs or take pony ride too. We decided to use stairs mostly because it was faster but painful too. The temple was not open early morning at 6am, so I think it’s only open from Morning till evening/night. You can also get some nice pictures from the top spot there. Now you can take another route to return back to Katra which goes through Ardhkwari too. If you have taken the visitor slip to Ardhkwari while climbing, you might wanna check while going back if your number has come, its easier way than waiting there only. Or you can go back to Vaishno Devi and take a tempo ride from there till Ardhkwari which runs ant fixed times starting 8am. The walk back is really tough & painful… climbing up is tiring but if you have not taken enough rest or do not have great stamina, the walk down is very painful & strenuous. You might wanna use stairs to get down which is quicker but be careful as well. I was really collapsing the way back but managed to get down somehow.

The other options to get up-down are using Pony-Ride or Paalki. Also you can take the Helicopter Ride which is very quick & takes you directly up from Katra near Vaishno Mandir (around 1 km walk away). But the fun is in walking and doing it yourself. Take proper rest while going up & coming down, you may even rest at Vaishno Devi for few hours before coming down. Also it’s good to have a larger group so you can support each other & enjoy the journey. Make sure you carry all the money you need before starting as ther are no ATMs on the way. That day, all the ATMs at Katra were not working as well (except one Axis bank ATM near bus-stand). There was too much rush to get the bus back to Jammu but we managed somehow. At the end I guess it’s all about your faith & will and nothing is tough. And as people say, you cant go until Mata is calling you.. And if she’s calling you, no one can stop you. Jai Maa Vaishno, Jai Mata Di!!!

Laugh and make people laugh with you!!!

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Delhi to Jammu to Vaishno Devi to Jammu to Delhi

This blog might be lil late compared to my previous quick entries; I have so much in mind but not getting time to write it. BTW, I am coming back from a trip to Jammu & Vaishno Devi this long weekend (Thu to Mon). The trip was damn tiring but fun as well. I went with my friend for his cousin’s marriage in Jammu. It was a very long drive of around 600 Kms, most of the road is okay but around 150-200 Kms stretch before Jammu really sucks as most of it is one way and under-construction/broken. But ofcourse most of the people suck in driving on such roads as usual...
We left Thursday night and were in Jammu by Friday afternoon. We tried paranthas & lassi at 2 places on the way but they were all bad, not as you would expect from a Punjabi road -side dhaba (my experience from Ahuja da Dhaba in Karnal has been always good but we didn’t go there this time). I attended Mehndi ceremony of the bride on Friday night & then the marriage on Saturday night/Sunday morning in Gurudwara, Punjabi marriages are nice with lots of Punjabi music & Punjabi food too (both could be overdose though, lol). Also we wandered in Jammu city which isn’t very cool, the biggest mall called City Walk was just too small & not god crowd; the crowd was better in Gole Market where there is Pehelwan di Hatti which wasn’t too cool either. Then we went to Vaishno Devi Sunday noon & came back Monday evening (would be writing separate blog for this, click here). After rest on Monday night we left from Jammu Tuesday morning & reached Delhi at night, but had to wait 3 hrs in traffic Jam on Rohini to Janakpuri route.
So this trip was a WAR & I guess we managed to win it, feels good to be back. Would be writing a lot more soon, all of that is in my mind. BTW, have you guys been to Jammu or nearby & how has the trip been? Share your experiences as well here… Alright friends & people, that's it for now. Please keep blogging and keep reading & commenting on my blogs. This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

Fun at Call Centre!!!

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You are LIFE of the Team...

My manager Parasu said this for me in a Casual 360 Feedback we had yesterday, I did expect something good but not something so awesome. How did I feel... Amazing & very-very Happy! of course!! Others had there own views about me... like I am very sharp person, I am smart, I am cool but intelligent and intellectual (i guess people expect Intellectuals to be uncool & boring, I am not). I was also told that I am very friendly, quite approachable and have solutions for almost anything & everything for the team. Also that I am the coolest, most efficient, amazing & best person they ever met and all of them love & idolize me (yeah-yeah, I might be exaggerating at a few places. but so what, its my blog yaar!!). Feedback & Appreciation are very important in Life, not just at work or outside but in our personal lives as well. It's important to get and give the right feedback to your friends & family and make sure you know how things are going and how you are faring at it. It's nice to say a few words of appreciation at the right moments for your loved ones & let them know how much you appreciate them being in your life & how thankful you are. Thanks a lot everyone, Thanksss!!!
TRM Training was a nice experience (had to be, how many times you get paid to get trained & study!!) & I really learnt a lot. I put a lot of myself in these trainings and really worked hard (to not sleep, lol). It was a great team and I would definitely miss it; my manager is a nice guy & I really admire him too (he might be reading the blog so had to say this, lol... ohh, hope he's not reading this!!). It makes a lot of difference if you have the right kind of team & leadership around you, it gives you the right opportunity & energy to perform & grow. And ofcourse it's important to love what you are doing (atleast you have to not hate it...). Now we would be moving on to a new project & looking forward for good times in future (urgh, this is what TRM training does to you and you start talking of Forwards & Futures... grrr!!). Everything else is just cool, nothing special happened. I was on Navratri Vrat which got over on Friday, did all days fasting this time which was cool, Jai Mata Di!!. Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENT to let me know of your views). This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

April Fool...

"April Fool banaya, to unko gussa ayaa" (I made April Fool, she lost her cool), its a lovely song (one of the very few Indian songs for april fool; actually only one I am aware of). Today is Fools Day & I saw a weird dream... Himesh Reshammiya was performing outside my Colony in front of a small crowd in his new short hair look singing 'lut jaun is karzz pe' song from Karzz. Himesh singing on streets may be a happy thought for few people cuz they think this is what he deserves or maybe again painful to hear him sing. But I don't hate him, he may not be great he's an okay singer and i like some of his songs. (He's definitely a terrible actor though and he should just concentrate on music; he was looking okay in short hair though, lol!!). However we need to appreciate the importance of Fool's Day & fools in this world. Afterall they are the ones who let others feel smart; if there are no stupid people in this world, who would we look down at and feel good about ourselves. I am not kidding here... everyone plays there role in this world & so does the so called fools or stupid people (they could be damn irritating & PIA at times though!!!). And what about the tons of jokes & unintentional fun they add to our lives :)

I remember April Fool day as those nice days when it used to be tough to believe anything what friends told you because didn't want to be fooled, and always try & devise ways to make others APRIL FOOL. And not just on April 1 but the game used to continue for the whole week or even month (and the silly pranks used to be like 'ur shoe laces are open' or 'ur shirt is stained' etc, and we didn't even used to believe even if it was true). As a kid you are cheerful and excited about everything and try to enjoy it, but things change as you grow up and sometimes it becomes tough to be even excited about happy things or life anymore. Nothing special has been going on in past days, just usual stuff. Even the TRM trainings were off for 3 days (which was more than awesome) & are going to get over next week. BTW, I heard a news that US is going to give $1.5 Billion every year for next 5 years to Pakistan as aid; i think its too bad & it sucks!! You want to handover money in hands of an irresponsible country which cant take care of even themselves, just imagine how will that money be taken care of... what do you ppl think? Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENT to let me know of your views). This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... HAPPY FOOLS DAY, HAPPY NAVRATRI , JAI MATA DI & JAI HO!!!!!

Happy Navratri... जय माता दी!!!

The past week has been quite uneventful and so has been the weekends, nothing special happened. The weather was nice many times and I was mostly doing nothing. The boring TRM training was still going on in office part of which got almost over (would be totally finished in a week or two). My shoulder is getting better but i m still in lil pain. I actually showed to a 'zarrah' or 'maalishwalla'desi medicine as well. He said that its a muscle pull claimed to cure it in 3-4 days. It is not totally cured yet but its is feeling better, maybe because of the painkiller tablets he crushes & mixes in his medicine (i did see painkiller tablets lying on his table). A new experiment, lets see how it goes... On following one of my office friend's advice and he gave me some oil massage & tuesday I went towards Noida for some work and had to take Greater Noida Express Way. It's a nice road but goes on so straight & long without any proper directions/pointers that its very easy to get confused. I drifted kilometers away from Sec-127 where I had to go and then had to come all the way back. Another FYI... I was looking pretty cool that day wearing half-shirt & nice formal wear; that day I was standing outside this building just waiting for someone to come out & there were some cool girls standing/sitting outside from one of the offices there. They were looking at me very interestingly n nicely & kinda smiling too, then one of the girl sheepishly took out her cellphone pretending to be talking & tried to click my picture secretly. I am not kidding or boasting ppl, it really happened... she looked that I have seen it & after that she was really coming to talk to me; but by then the person coming to meet me from the building came out & I had to leave (still wondering who the person was, it was my DAD). Not very sure what's all going on & what should I do, I just hope it's all for good and brings some good!!

Navratri have started this week & I have planned to keep fast for all the 9 days, i used to fast for first & last day earlier. I have also been keeping fasts every Monday (not Solah-Somvaar for a good wife as ppl think... Monday is considered Lord Shiva's day) these days; but its not out of any blind-faith or something like that. It's for many decent reasons including healthy dieting (& practicing to fast & remain without food when needed if i need that in future sometime, lol) and just as a self-enlightenment process. It feels good... Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENT to let me know of your views). This is RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... HAPPY NAVRATRI , JAI MATA DI & JAI HO!!!!!

I am ON... Oye, it's Friday!!!

It was Friday & was a nice day today (the days when u really dont wanna go to work/college/school but still end up going, urghh!!), I mean the weather was just so great in the morning & evening (i was in office whole day so don't know about the day). I was wearing my cool black T-shirt in which I really look awesome, the effect of gyming is showing well in this summer now (it has already started getting hot in Delhi) with cool clothes (FYI... I went to office in morning & was standing outside the lift waiting for it to come. As the door opened there were 2 nice girls already in the lift and they literally gasped when they saw me & looked into each others eyes. I literally kinda blushed too, I know I was looking great in this T-shirt & my nice body/personality & smart me & all that, but didn't expect this like this. WOW, enough about me I guess!!!). This week was very tiring with continuous full day TRM-sessions going on where I was learning a lot in my so sleepy state (falling off my seat & reading about 'how to keep awake'; my easy way is to keep asking questions, but be smart like me & know what u r talking about). I really wanted to go out and have some fun, but seems everyone else is busy except me. This week has been nice though... however my shoulder is still in lot of pain since Holi, it sucks!!

'Oye its Friday' ended today with Shilpa Shetty (I don't like her much except Phir Milenge, there should have been a better guest for Finale... like ME!!) as the last guest in final episode. They might come up with more seasons in future but this season was pretty good too. Farhan Akhtar is a funny guy and his show has been nice too, he makes lots of PJs but they do sound funny on him. He's got a weird sense of humor but that has kept his show different from other chat shows by making his guest chit-chat comfortably on the show & show a different side too. With all the performances & gags there, it does reminds me of 'Saturday Night Live' or 'Mad TV' too. So with the show over, Friday might get more boring... or they might turn interesting too, who knows!!! BTW, I went to PVR Priya (it's one of my favorite movie-theatre in Delhi & very few of the single screens left now) to see 13B last Friday but it was not there, still wanna see it. Also waiting for Aa Dekhen Zara & New York. Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (& COMMENT to let me know of your views).RAHUL saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... This is JAI HO!!!!!

tera na hona jaane, kyun hona he hai...

i am feeling happy (not as in... Santa & Banta were feeling Happy, when Happy felt disgusted & left; lol), i am feeling good!! why... i woke up in time for office; i didn't sleep in the TRM session today; office day was fine; had a very nice evening & coolest was 'i had one of the best metro rides today'; and onto a great night!! what else... could be nothing much or just too much. not in a mood to right a poem today however i might later. but as i said... tera naa hona jaane, kyun hona he hai (even your not being here, is like you are here & everywhere!!!); i just luv this song & need to learn guitar chords for it..... and no speculations (or hedging) please, lolzz

I am alone... मैं अकेला

हो खुशी या ग़म मैं कुछ भी ना कहूँगा, मैं अकेला था अकेला ही रहूँगा...
रात काली है ना दिन में है उजाला, मैं गिरा मुझको किसी ने ना संभाला,
सोचता था चाहने वाले कई हैं, क्या पता था दिल से सबने है निकाला,
ना कोई उम्मीद ना ही है सहारा, है यकीं ख़ुद पे की सब कुछ मैं सहूंगा!!
है हज़ारों ख्वाहिशें दूर है मंज़िल, हो न हो फ़िर भी तो डरता है ये दिल,
सोचता हूँ तू जो मुझको जाये मिल, देखे रस्ता मेरा, है कितनी मुश्किल,
मुश्किलों में बन के दरिया मैं बहूँगा, मैं अकेला था अकेला ही रहूँगा!!!!!

बुरा ना मानो होली है... HAPPY HOLI!!!!

I really just love Holi and being home this Holi was great. Last year I was in DC and was really disappointed that nothing haapened all day on holi (we didn't even have an off ofcourse, US should have Holi as a holiday). However I went to a holi party in evening at a desi club which was fun. To see that same Indian flavor of music, dance & mast people was awesome. The usual guys dancing lunatically in groups, throwing colors & celebrating was cool to see (and in Indian style, the girls were either dancing with their partners only or just chatting in a corner). There were few americans as well & they were enjoying it too. Maybe it was not as good as my Indian Holi celebrations but it was lots of FUN. I remember my days as a kid when we used to celebrate holi in our Airforce Camp. the whole place is a family & we used to celebrate all day by making a group of our friends & visiting every home to play holi & eat nice sweets. Also we used to hide on roof-tops or terrace & throw colors or water balloon on people walking by (once an uncle got angry & came to roof chasing us, all of us had fled away except one of our friend & the uncle put hm in a water tank). That was awesome holi & I really miss that. Then we came to Delhi which is different but I still managed to catch some of my friends & try to celebrate with whatever few people I knew around. And that also has been nice. I did miss that last year so tried to do it this year; I also spent the remaining half of my day afternoon in Fun n Food water park with friends (its damn expensive though for a small water park, 450 bucks. And that too you have to pay 50 bucks more for a stag entry, thats really nice way of making money in India. either come as a couple & pay for your girl or just pay more as a punishment for being single). I also hurt my right shoulder/neck & left foot on a slide which is still in pain, but it was really lots of FUN!!!

I also consider holi as a day when you forget all enemies & woes to make friends and spread love. I had this nice friend in college whom I fought with & were not friends for almost an year, but holi came & we became the same cool friends forgetting all useless crap. That's the true spirit of Holi. And the next important thing is SWEETS: gujhiya, gulab-jamun, dahi-vada & lots of other awesome stuff (just forget the calories & say YUM. I almost lost one pack of my new found 2 pack due to holi sweets, the target is still 6 pack!!). My mom is definitely the best cook & best person in this world, whatever she makes is just awesome (me too!!)!! This holi was really an awesome experience, lets see what comes in future now. Anyways boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (do COMMENT to let me know of your views too). This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!

FUNNY QUOTES

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dad is back home from hospital

As you might know that my dad was hospitalised after the accident; he's back home now and resting & recovering. Hopefully he'll get better soon, thank god!! I am thankful that my friends Sheshadri, Praveen & Jaswinder were there for help & support, that's what real friends are for... Things have not been going great for me lately, this was one more addition to it and was really a severe one. This was the worst till now and I pray & hope this would be last, I wish the good & great times are there for us further now... AMEN!!!

I have been very busy & tired since a week. I could not sleep all last weekend as I was at the hospital. And the week has been busy again with some tension & lots of TRM Training at work. I was actually falling off my seat during training session on Monday, partially because of tiredness & rest because of the boring session. Its not a new thing for me to sleep during classes, I used to do it a lot in college even sitting in the first row. I am a test to know how interesting a class is, it takes a lot to keep me awake during any session and if I am up it means its good. Like some of the TRM sessions I have been attending where I hardly slept (it gets really hard to sleep on the uncomfortable office chairs).

Lots of dad's friends & others are coming to see him now. Visitors who come to see someone who's/was not well is a very critical issue, I mean if people don't come its like you don't have any real friends or well wishers & if you do have many visitors then it means pain again. Keep on explaining them the same story of how & what happened (dad should refer them to my blog & ask them to leave there comments there, lol) and listen to same usual sympathy stuff and there past experiences. And on top of that my mom does the usual khaatirdari (sweets & then tea/coffee with snacks etc) stuff with guests even on these occasions, which she feels is her responsibility but I find ridiculous & painful in these times.

I watched Dilli-6 and it was not bad but weird, like me I guess. The movie was not as catching & stunning as Rang De Basanti or even Aks at all, but tried to make a point of its own. The performances were nice but the storyline & direction+editing was not as crisp. The Dilli they showed looked nice but movie should be named Purani (old) Dilli because all they showed was Old Delhi & that's not really how our Dili & Dillwalas (Delhites) are... Alright boys n girls and dear friends, that's it for now. Please keep blogging & keep reading my blogs (do COMMENT to let me know of your views too). And hey, click if you wanna know about Crisis Credit . This is RAHUL again saying, Good Bye & Good Luck... JAI HO!!!!!