Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God!

"I was an atheist......before I realized I was god" these were the words that the t shirt of a "just out of his teens" read. He was tall..had a dark complexion...had earphones in his ears probably listening to some heavy metal band...had three of his fingernails painted black..which affirmed my doubts of his listening to rock, was wearing his jeans way below his inner garments....had his hair: Mohawk style...I from all this deduced..that the guy dint know what his t-shirt meant...he was just trying to make a STYLE STATEMENT!! I for a moment forgot about what I had seen and concentrated more on those words i had just read on his t-shirt...I was an atheist before i realized I was god..well I am a self proclaimed atheist..not arrogant or prude...just that I don't find a reason strong enough to believe in him. People have bombarded me with sayings like "Maybe the atheist cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman". But, if tomorrow some one comes up with a reason as to why god exists, and one which is quite believable..the first thing I will do is to rush to a temple. GOD is one of the fav topics of mine. I can discuss endlessly on this one topic. I used to believe in god when I was a small kid..but as I started growing up...science got the better of me.


No matter how much I prove and prod,
I cannot quite believe in God;
But oh, I hope to God that He
Unswervingly believes in me.
~E.Y. Harburg, attributed

Questions always used to come up in my mind...why do different religions have different gods...why different prayers...why different forms of worship. When better sense prevailed I realized it was nothing but idol worship. It is the innermost fears of humans that has led to the creation of such different idols. Its nothing but human fear that makes them believe in god… some small incident caused due to the ever mysterious nature that led them to believe in evil spirits… now all they wanted was someone to protect them and so they “created” GOD. I am purposely putting created in quotes coz this is what I believe. I may be wrong too. But isn't it basic human psychology that when fear prevails , so should a savior. Like suppose when we are going by road for a long distance journey many of us have road sickness(that includes moi), which includes vomiting, stomach upset, giddiness. Many people advise us to take deep long breaths which supposedly cures the sickness. But if we look at it the other way round, isn’t it also the case that when we are taking deep breaths our entire concentration is on the breathing part and we temporarily forget that we had road sickness. So the power of the mind says that unless and until you are not concentrating on something, that something should not bother you. Here the road sickness is the fear and the deep breaths …your savior. Similarly in the case of god, evil spirits your fear and god your savior.

So isn't it that it is entirely in our mind as to what we think, what we believe and what we KNOW. I am not here trying to publicize my beliefs or make people change their ideologies, I am just assessing two sides of the same coin. There have been ample proofs present which do prove the existence of god. There have been miracles and incidents which have made me get goosebumps. And numerically if we look at the number of people who believe in god and who don’t…the latter would turn out to be a very very very small fraction. Its not that since I don’t believe in the ALMIGHTY(pun intended!!) I don’t take part in all the rituals. I do sit for all the pooja-path that takes place in my house. But that is only because I don’t want to hurt my parents by my beliefs. And the day I myself get to see and sense god’s presence I would be his strongest believer.

But what surprises, rather irritates me the most is the stupid rituals that are associated with the beliefs. The n number of fasts, the week long maybe sometimes month long barefoot walks, the piercings and pain associated in the name of sufferings, the numerous sacrifices……does that impress god? I don’t think so. So God minus those rituals is the idea that I would like to accept!! Hmm so all I can do now is send a message across to all those people who think I am arrogant or a fool by not believing in god. I request them not to loathe or despise me … I am just an ATHEIST… waiting to realize GOD!!

I don't know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn't. ~Jules Renard

LIFE AT ITS BEST!!!

I got up this morning, and got the shock of my life when I was told that I have been removed from my engineering college....I was shocked, flustered and what not!! Before I could even realize as to what was going on...my parents threw me out of the house for the same reason I was thrown out from college. I had apparently tried to rape one of my female professors in my college...OH.....MY......GOD!! My friends had deserted me....family disowned me...college thrown me....n even the lame puppy at the road was barking at me. I went to a roadside bar.....disheartened.....ordered some of the finest original vodka...and me like a bacchanalian was drinking away to glory when suddenly the police raided the bar...looking at my appearance they mistook me for a P.I.M.P and arrested me...I reached the police station...amazed at how bad a day can it be...and it was only turning out to be more worse!! The inspector tortured me to no ends....trying to make me confess my crime...how do I make him understand....that he is questioning me for the wrong crime!! Many different and horrid thoughts crossed my mind....why is life being so unfair to me...why am I being targeted for each and every other thing that is happening in this world.....quick....quick....I reached for the panic button..Where is it...damn..cant find it too.....HELP!! HELP!!
“Raj, Raj…….What happened? Why are you crying for help? Is something wrong?” I opened my eyes….the assuring face of my mom….brought me back to my senses…IT WAS JUST A DREAM!!

I got up...had some water...while my mom was trying to make me stay calm...I again thought about the dream...rape...crime...ouster from coll...thrown from the house..bar...P.I.M.P...jail..police..torture....boy what a nightmare that was!! After my mom was done pacifying me she went in to make some coffee, after having a refreshingly hot cuppa coffee...south indian ishtyle...I was left gazing at the coffee cup...what if I wasn't served the refreshing and endearing hot cuppa coffee every morning....what if life had really been so cruel....what if my dream had come true...what if my life was not the way it is now....WHAT IF?

I quickly got up....washed my face..and went out for a walk (thats the time when I do most of my thinking). I started to look back at my life...how beautiful it had been....no problems..school and junior college passed on very fast...had the time of my life there..made some of the best friends at that time....and then I ended up where I am now...S.F.I.T!

Engineering was the best thing that could have happened to me. The past three and a half years were a roller coaster ride....with life having its own share of ups and downs...but am I complaining? Okie I agree I have not been a very bright student...was never among the top 20...have got my share of failures...I really hagaaoed(college lingo!!) in CAT 2007...and still I maintain the big and bright smile of mine..LOL!! But the time I spent chitchatting in my class...ogling at all the new chicks in college..working my ass out for the college fests..hanging out with my friends daily in the canteen or outside...fighting and then patching up with friends for silly reasons....pulling each others legs..."cupping" each other endlessly.....passing small chits in the class to pass on a message...all this is what actually defines my engineering life! To sum it up....life has been pretty decent.


There is so much more things to look forward to...like the upcoming trip to goa.....yaay!! GO GOA!! Then the last semester of my engg....after which I will miss all my friends...(seriously guys!!) Every morning I used to get up and think....oh god yet another day....have to do all the stuff..again and again....but after having a nightmare like that..I sure have learned to appreciate the small and insignificant things in life...

So tomorrow morning when I get up...I surely am gonna have a big and bright smile on my face....thinking that I have got yet another day in my life..to meet the people I love....to do the things I always wanted to....to eat stuff I have craved for days...and to enjoy my life as it throws up new surprises and challenges at me. As my friend joey from the tele-serial F.R.I.E.N.D.S had once stated in the first season of the serial....Ice cream is not just vanilla...there are so many other flavors..there is chocolate...there is strawberry....there is sundae...then there is black current..all you need to learn is to grab the spoon when given an opportunity to eat it!! So I am now gonna learn to grab the spoon....and live life at its best!!

Dune buggy!! Full on!!

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Kyunki is Kahaani Ki Kasauti Kahin toh hogi!!

Well Well Well, I had all this time thought that the one thing I would refrain from writing about would be about all this K-serials! But, the almighty had something else in store from me (ya i m getting inspired by them!!) and I now am writing my take on them!!

So well to be honest my mom is fanatic about such serials!! She watches them day in and day out, her expedition of all these serials starts right in the afternoon and finishes way past midnight!! And I end up getting more than a glimpse of such serials. I am simply amazed by the way this producers have been fooling the indian audience, time and again. The same "brought back from dead", "sudden bout of amnesia", "marriages and divorces by the weekend", "values and tradition", "mein sachchai ka saath dungi" are all repeated, tried and tested formulaes which actually has the indian audience hooked on to their TVs.

And what do they do when they have exhausted their bank of ideas..or tried the tried and tested formula way too many times..they "creatively" give a twist to such ideas. Like the other day there is one serial in the afternoon slot "karam apna apna" where the main protagonist dies. Now as they have officially shown the dead body and not thrown the body into a river or something they cant bring him back from the dead. So they pay a fat cheque to his "aatma" and get the aatma to work..who under the power of lord shiva is able to communicate with his younger brother and get revenge!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! !! Or when they have lost out on ideas what do they do? They simply repack an old serial..and present it in a fresh format!

But still my mom watches the serial as honestly as earlier Now before you guys get thinking as to how do I know so much about all these serials, let me make it clear that I have got all the info from my mom n her very deary bunch of lady friends who quite fanatically follow this serials!!

Well I would like to tell the producers please spare us from all this trouble and stop churning out such stupid serials and also save a million young actresses from doin child labour! But I am sure if I go public with my views, a million housewives would hatch a plot to kill me! Coz this is what works for them, this is what has made the television industry a stupendous success!!

So go enjoy your daily dose of drama , action, suspense and romance!!

Adios,
RAJ

Hope is but the dream of those who wake!!

Well to start off with this particular post has been inspired by Omkar parnandiwar's recent post(ya dude givin u ample cheap footage!!).. After going thru his blog I for a minute was left thinking as to what am i gonna do in my future! Hmmm..well i dream about getting a big shot marketing job somewhere!! Maybe end up as a CEO of a company!! But the problem is "mujhe lega kaun?"

I have been proved to be worthless time and again...have no capabilities whatsoever..m gud for nuthing..n the last thing i heard was that they were nominating me for the most lazy person of the year..well I m atlst gud at something!! Every cloud has a silver lining...and my silver lining is that I m pretty confident that i will not end up somewhere bad! I have various options open rite nw in front of me...have secured a job in infosys..(well who hasnt?..lol!!)...have given ma gre...and me and a degree in MS is just a TOEFL away!! I m giving CAT this year..followed by many of its clones..in the coming years..so i pretty much am a jack of all trades...but master of none. :(

The three and a half years i have spent in engg so far have been one of the best I have spent in ma life!! But as Omkar rightly pointed out..I cant be the careless dude i used to be all these times!! I know there is something in store for me..and i have to recognize that something and go for it..full on!! It may sound more like a self motivating essay but then everybody always does a bit os self motivation here and there!!

I have always been playing around with two words...HOPE and DESTINY. Destiny is something that is supposed to be in store for you...seriously i dont believe in all that shit..I like the other word..HOPE...Hope it is that gives you the reason to fight..Hope it is that gives you the reason to dream..and Hope it is that gives you the strength to realise all your aspirations!! Hope reminds me of a movie I had seen a few months ago..Its named "The Shawshank Redemption". It was hope that gave its protagonist the determination to dig a hole thru the prison walls for 19 years!! I mean doesnt that give you goosebumps...a man digging thru a wall every god damn night for 19 god damn years!! His hope was freedom..a chance to roam around freely..a chance to breathe fresh air!!

It is this hope that I have to capitalise on..My hope to get a big shot marketing job..my hope to become the CEO of a company...and my hope to Succeed in life!!

I dunno whether 10 years down the lane..when i look back at this particular post.. I wud have done done atleast 10% of wat i wrote! But one thing is for sure...that whatever 10% I would have done actually..I would have given it my 100%...

There is a maxim which says "Hope is for the weak" I would say.. " Hope is for the bold and determined".

Until next time...remember the following quotes,

Once you choose hope, anything's possible. ~Christopher Reeve


When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

There is nothing so well known as that we should not expect something
for nothing - but we all do and call it Hope. ~Edgar Howe

Hope is independent of the apparatus of logic. ~Norman Cousins




ADIOS,
RAJ

You dont win silver..you lose gold!!

These were the famous lines from an ad by NIKE.....during the 96 atlanta olympics!! The grand finale of the formula 1 season in brazil..quite aptly proved it. Raikkonnen by all means deserved to be the world champion. Hamilton came at a very deserving second(Championship) but i would have not minded if he would have won the championship.

What a dramatic end to an equally dramatic season!! Everything was going wrong for hamilton and mclaren..a faulty gearbox..a goof-up at the beginning of the race..and a horribly wrong 3-stop strategy!! And now Mclaren is crying foul by complaining against sauber and williams for irregular fuel strategy..so much for sportsmanship!!

At the end raikkonnen proved to everyone why is he called the "ice man". He kept his cool throughout the race..and held his nerve right upto the chequered flag! It was superb team work, out of the world strategy...and a bit of lady luck that favoured FERRARI!! I wish Hamilton all the luck for his next season..and many more to come.. What class he has shown in this season...a sensaional debut...being at the right place at the right time..and almost winning the world championship..this driver has miles to go!!

It will be quite exciting to see the two drivers fight for supremacy in the coming seasons..while alonso's future being quite questionable..but one thing is for sure ..the next few years in formula 1 will be a thriller!!

All said and done..at the end it is that one point that matters...that one point that gave raikkonnen the championshup, that one point that snatched the championship from alonso, and it is that one single point that constantly makes hamilton think..."You dont win silver..you lose gold!!"

me getting CATastrophic!! HELP!!

Okie so i am blogging after a long time!! Things have kept me busy...and how!! It may sound a bit exaggerating but CAT has made me go nuts! literally! No matter how hard i try i am not able to tame it. Numbers seem to get jumbled inside my head.... words no longer make sense ..no matter how simple they are. I am more interested in doin things other than studying for CAT!

So its official now...i am by no teeny tiny way gonna crack it this year..and maybe the years to follow :) One thing good about it is atleast it has succeeded to keep me at my toes. I shud be honest here and accept that i have not been slogging my arse out now..but cmon..cant i get a gud percentile..without having to slog. Well it makes me very sad to everytime see myself in that 89 percentile region. but i also have been able to consistently maintain it..hehe.. anybody listening??

I have in the past few months (weeks actually!!) of preparing seen people craving for that one extra percentile.. whereas i sitting here..am very content with my 89 percentile. Sometimes..i end up doubting myself..do i have it in me...wat it takes to crack the cat..and enter that esteemed institute..known to a layman as IIM. Sometimes it feels..y take all the pain..y not opt for the easier route..have a job in hand..join it and make sum gud money..and then move to greener pastures as and when the opportunity strikes me! But then i feel a little undermined..y cant i do that 2000 people every year succeed in doin.... wat does my future hold in me. Seriously i give a shit about destiny.. you can never get into an IIM unless and until u slog ur arse out!! All said and done..i am still at square one... i dont think i will eva get to say the saying "back to square one" coz i m nt moving ahead. Okie that was a bad one!!

Well for now...all i can do is try to work a little more hard in the month that is left..and then conviniently push it off for the next year..thinking i will crack it the next time...

Well till next time...hope to write in some good progress!!

Adios!!

Raj

The REALITY BUG!!

Well, m just sitting here now and watching the 'GRAND FINALE' of one of this popular reality show for singers! It amuses me to see the frenzy among the people that have been created by this reality shows! I mean, who is gonna benefit from all this.. the person who becomes the Indian idol will walk away with a kewl 1 crore cash prize…a maruti SX4 car(no I m nt advertising fr them!!) and many more such goodies. The companies that we are sending all the sms’ to are laughing their heart out..they are pocketing so much money..which would take most of us more than a lifetime to garner!!

We on the other hand are shelling out money from our pockets in the name of choosing our fav contestants and promoting talents. And its not that the real talent is being promoted…people are voting for contestants who belong to their respectful region…or for reasons as stupid as the person looking good, so much for talent! There were so many contestans who were much more talented but gt voted out jst bcoz they couldn’t get enuf votes!! It was better in the earlier times when the results of such shows were decided by professionals who not only excelled in their fields but also had the knack of spotting talent!!

It just doesn’t stop here…there are so many other ‘clones’ that these shows have…some of which have found there way rite into the bathroom!! There was one laughter champions on a particular channel…1 season was a hit..n now we have an overdose of comedy not only on entertainment channels..but news channels.. radios..sports..devotional…n wat not!! Be it dance, music..singing..stand up comedy or for the matter business entrepreneurs….the WEST comes up with an idea….which we create N copies of..where N tends to infinity…literally!! Just the other day I was watching dis particular reality show on star world ‘Beauty and the Geek’ on star world… was a real cool idea..and m desperately waiting to watch its Indian clone.. Thou we do have a few original ideas..like the great Indian laughter challenge..which I suppose was a new concept.. but then you never knw the source…:)

The only thing good about this reality shows are that they provide a welcome relief from all those K-serials and also help some people become millionaires!! So Whoever wants to be a millionaire….all you need is a bit of talent or knowledge..a bit of luck..some good looks….n a large section of the society ready to support you and cast those very precious votes!!