It's time to bid Good Bye! :-(

This 31st of December is gonna be a special day...I think I will remember it forever.

No..not because this would be an end to this year, but that would be my last day in my existing orgainzation. I have resigned from Satyam and am moving on to a new role in a different organization. I had joined Satyam on '27th Dec 2004' with a group of 130 other associates who were recruited through off campus interviews from various parts of the country. I remember it very clearly..It is one of my favourite days of my life :)...I think I was the Happiest person on earth on that day! :) We were told that there would be a bond period of 2 years after we join Satyam and we will have to stick to this organization for that time. But we did not know then that there will be a more stronger bond of emotional fibers, friendship strands; laced with onsite opportunity which would be strong enough to tie me to this organization for another two years even after the bond period was over.

Most of my friends have moved out of this organization. May be there are still 10-15 left of those 130 batchmates; but I don't know the left ones very well. But I know many people here now, who are not from my batch and there are many people who know me. There is this comfort zone with all your managers and their managers that lets you feel great! I know whom to put in cc in case my work gets stuck somewhere ;) There is some extra respect that you get automatically from people around you, even when you are meeting them for the first time. There are situations when you don't need to introduce yourself to strangers and there are these times when people themselves come to meet you and take advice for issues that they are facing in their project. There are fellowmates who see your ID card and say with exclamation "Kab join kiya tha yaar!! Mera id to tumse bahut aage hai" :) Yes that does make you feel old sometimes... :D

But I still feel that it would have been harder to leave Satyam after 2 years than it is now. When you see your friends moving to greater heights with higher pay cheques... you get that feeling of moving on. After all emotions can't fill your stomach at the end of the day...But I can't imagine the feeling of handing over my Id Card to the security personnel at the end of my last day. That card has been my identity for the last four years...I think it will feel like parting with a small portion of self...parting with your corporate image that you have developed over the last few years in this company.

What about the F.R.I.E.N.D.S that won't be there in the new organization? It would take some time before you can casually ping on official messengers and say "Coffee? :)" It would take some time for you to develop enough rapport with people to let them know you would be coming late to office today and if they can manage with work till then. And who can guarantee if I can get good friends in new organization?? It would take some time for me to be enough comfortable to drag one of my colleagues to cafeteria even if he already had his lunch! It would take a lot of time to.... actually a lots of things! :(

I wish there was an option to move all of your friends with you to your new organization! We can name this concept as 'CMS - Corporate Mass Switching!' ;-) I am still not sure if I would be continuing in the same city or would I be joining in another city. Just in case I need to move from Hyderabad, that would further add to this list of "It would take a lot of time to.." Still some more days to think about all this before I actually start experiencing it..Lets see...The countdown has begun...

OMG! Its my B'day tomorrow! :)

I was sitting in Gurudwara when my cell phone buzzed. It was Ramindar veer from Soch group calling me and he had Jasprit veer in conference%2C who was speaking every alternative line in the conversation and I was totally confused for who was there on the other end! ;) It took me some time before I was confident that it was Ramindar veer...and also Jasprit veer :-D.
It was 8th Dec and it was a holiday next day for Bakreed in most of the MNCs including Oracle and Microsoft. So the Soch group which has majority of Oracle members was planning for something...atleast that is what I had thought initially...but I was soon to be proved wrong. :-O
Veere kal da ki program Hai?
Kuch khaas nahi ji...mera taan working hai kal…Satyam vich taan chhutti nahin hai
Koi na....svere milde haan kal…nitnem de paath layi..dasso je possible hai taan...
Haan Haan sure....Main aa jaunga.
Pakka aaoge na...Eh na hoye tussi aao na?
Nahin ji..Saturday vi aanda haan.....kal vi aaunga..othon hi office nikal jaunga main
Program kithe karna hai
Khalsa House vich hi...Jithe tuhanu theek lagge...Main ki kavan..Dekh lo jiven tuhanu theek lagge..Agge vi tussi hi plan karde ho :)

These many questions and specially a conference call from two veers together was enough to give me a hint that something was cooking...but may be my sense of smell isn’t that good to judge what was that! ;) These guys have always been the best in doing whatever they do...From arranging Bharbat Pheri to Nitnem Path or Kirtan at someone’s house. Why did they need me for fixing a program and why this sure shot confirmation for my presence?? After disconnecting the call I was pondering on all these doubts when suddenly I realized...next day was 9th Dec ‘My Birthday’ and I had completely forgotten about it! :-)
I had to literally beg Hardeep (my new roomie) to accompany me to Khalsa House (Soch House) as his office is exactly at the opposite corner of the city from the Khalsa House. But he had to listen to me ;) after all I was the B’day boy! :-) We reached Khalsa House at 5:30 AM. After being greeted with Fateh and birthday wishes we started with the Nitnem Path. Normal Saturday routine...Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, Tvaprasad Savayiye, Chaupayi Sahib and Anand Sahib. Just that we didn’t do Asa ki vaar today but recited Kirtan.
Thanks to Jasprit veer for reciting ‘Poota Mata ki Asis’

ਪੂਤਾ ਮਾਤਾ ਕੀ ਆਸੀਸ ॥
O son, this is your mother's hope and prayer,
ਨਿਮਖ ਨ ਬਿਸਰਉ ਤੁਮ੍ਹ੍ਹ ਕਉ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਸਦਾ ਭਜਹੁ ਜਗਦੀਸ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥
that you may never forget the Lord, Har, Har, even for an instant. May you ever vibrate upon the Lord of the Universe. 1Pause
My mother always reads out this Shabad to me on my birthday and it felt good to listen to it again even though I was away from my home :)

After the Kirtan we had langar. Saag!!! I don’t know after how many days I was having it! and it was mouth watering..just awesome! To all the great compliments which we passed on to Jasprit veer, he just answered it with “Nahin ji..This is just begineer’s luck!!” I am pretty sure he can never do anything wrong ever....He just seems to be blessed...I don’t think I should describe him much here for it would more of resemble a holy figure on earth :) but yes I admire him and respect him a lot for his knowledge in Sikhism and the way he is out there for all of us to guide us in all things.
Back to langar: Saag, Maa di daal (Black Daal) Roti and at the end was Cake!! The surprises that I had got till then were already too much for me to handle and here was another one! Cake was the least thing I was expecting in the Khalsa House. I know it must be eggless but still...I was just surprised and speechless! :-)
I was there till noon after which I moved to office. Though I did not want much publicity of my B’day in office but it seems like everybody had vowed to give me surprises. It was 7:30 PM when I was standing in Cafeteria surrounded by a team of around 50 associates who were wishing me Happy Birthday! And the credit for the second cake and celebration goes to Vamsi Krishna Vangala, Srinivas Chaitanya and Gunti...Thanks a ton guys! :) You made my day!!
I’ve turned 26...but I don’t think I have ever celebrated such a grand Birthday! I was not thinking about any celebration...In fact I was so occupied in my normal routine that on 8th it took me some time to realize that its my Birdthay tomorrow! Never ever have so many people gathered together in early hours and prayed for me..Never ever has anybody got up for me at 2:30 AM or before to prepare langar for 15 guys. I am still not sure if Ramindar veer and Jasprit veer woke up at 2:30 or even before that to make all the arrangements. And I don’t think anybody has tried to persuade me to celebrate my birthday in office as was done this year by Vamsi! This year there seems to be a almost a rain of good people around me :) I have been lucky in terms of real good friends...I think ‘thanks’ would be an inappropriate word to use here...As Ramindar says..How can you equate the love of your younger brothers with a single word which was was gifted to us by Britishers?? And I dont have any answer for him :) That is why I have not yet replied to his scrap in orkut...and I dont think I will ever have an answer…

A different 'Dhan' for this Dhanteerus...

I think I was too busy enjoying my Fruit & Nut flavoured ice cream for I could not see beggar kids sitting and staring at us across the road divider. It was Dhanteerus - the day when people buy metal (utensils or gold) considering it to be auspicious for the coming year ahead. I did not know about this and was just accompanying Sachin, Shashank and Neearaj for some shopping that Sachin wanted to do for this day. Buying something in Gold from Tanishq for his mother at the Paradise Crossing in Hyderabad. May be the extra rush on the road or me liking the flavour could be blamed for me not watching around whats happening...

Suddenly I could see a child in filthiest shorts and torn shirt, almost hopping towards us, his hands in air begging for some money. For those who have been in Hyderabad for a while would definitely know that there is abundance of beggars present in Hyderabad especially on S.P. Road. You can find a variety of them: Some being beggars just because of laziness, some with lost limbs, and some with crutchers which can be thrown away in a corner when they walk back home after the city falls asleep and is no longer watching them. So here was one of them standing in front of Neeraj begging for anything that could come out of Neeraj's pocket.

Giving a rupee or two doesn't really hurt anybody these days but the pain of paying it to next 10 beggars who would rush to you seeing you pay it to one of them, does give everybody a headache. He tried to shoo away the kid and finally handed him over the ice cream that he was eating. I am sure even if my vocab was best in the world then also I would have been unable to describe the smile that was there on that child's face. While I got entangled in that smile, the mother of that kid was busy in pushing the rest of her kids to us; as she could see potential donors standing on this side of street. Soon we were surrounded by alteast 4-5 kids all begging for money and eyeing what was there in our hands. We all handed over our ice creams to those kids who seemed to happy as if they had earned their Dhan on this Dhanteerus day.

One of us quickly pointed out..."Arre yaar...bache ko jhoothi ice cream kyun de di khaane ko??" Lekin every one of us pratically knew the answer that us bache ko fresh ice cream to shayad hi koyi leke deta. I am pretty sure those last few spoons of ice cream would have given him more happiness and content than 1 or two rupees which would have gone to his Mom's pouch. Though they would have been added in the Monthly Family Savings but it would have definitly not brought that smile on his face.

It was definitely a Dhanteerus day for us and for that kid, while we earned the Dhan of that kid's smile and a silent thanks in a language which we all could understand inspite of being from diff regions; and the child earned the Dhan of enjoying the flavour of a Baskin Robbins ice cream which he may not be able to afford.....may be not in this life.

My world last few weeks

I am almost absent from all the places where I could be found at and also not doing what I normally do in free time. It will actually soon be a month since I wrote my last blog supporting the fact that I have lots more to do these days! I am not online on messengers, hardly login in orkut...once in 2 weeks, lesser STD calls and no songs! In facts weekends have been busy to the extent that I now agree to the rest of the Soch members when they say 'Thank God its Monday!' ;-)

The last few weekends have completely been at the Khalsa House. Waking up at 3:15 getting ready and reaching Khalsa House at 5. And then the normal routine. Weekends are now completely at the Khalsa House, doing Path, Kirtan, discussions, preparing and having Langar, sleeping in afternoons, pulling each other's legs and cracking jokes, and learning lots from them. I think I have made a lot of good friends since I joined them. Though its a different story that my existing friends are feeling that I have suddenly vanished from earth and are unable to understand my sudden bonding with Soch.

The thing I am most happy about these days is that I have started doing Kirtan again & thats all because of this group! Thanks to them once again! I had last played Harmonium around 12 years back and to my surprise I could recall many of the Shabads I recited when I was a kid & learning music at my school. It will take some more time but I think I will be able to recall some more.

Actually last couple of weeks we were lucky to have Harpreet Veerji with us. Basically a Mechanical Er with specialization in Robotics from some abroad university, he actually is specialized and skilled in lot of other things than technical stuff. He stayed for around 5 years in Damdami Taksal and we were learning Gurbani pronunciation and some other religious aspects from him. So last few weekends have been extremely busy trying to learn whatever we could from him.

We used to have classes conducted by him where he started with ੳ ਅ ੲ (ABC of Punjabi) and learned pronunciation of each letter after putting 10 different matras on each letter. It was actually a shame when he asked how many of you remember ੳਅੲ and it was only one in our group. And then we learned and wrote all this and yes we had vivas and written tests too! :) But the best was his patience and his will to make people learn correct pronunciation. Anyone would be irritated with the number of mistakes that we made, or because some of the folks could not pronounce few letters at all. But any mistake would make him say 'Waheguru' in a very humble tone, instead of 'Offo' or 'Oho' which would have come out of our mouths had we been in his place while teaching all this. It was basically most challenging with the members who were not born in Punjab and had difficulty in pronouncing letters which are not there in Hindi like ਘ ਝ ਢ ਣ ਧ ਭ ੜ. But we all failed when it came to ਙ ਞ. Thanks to his efforts we all can pronounce all these letters now and we also have many videos from him which we will be watching in coming days to learn more.

There are a lot of his statements which I will remember for lifetime but the best one "Kutte nu kadi kise nu nahin kehna pehnda ki tu kutta ban te bhaunk, billi nu meayun karan layi nahin kehna painda, ik banda hi hai jehda rab di raza vich rehna bhul gaya hai...isi nu kehna pehnda hai ki banda ban ja!" :) Dekho hun bande banan vich kinni der lagdi hai...

But the office life is soon gonna kill all my plans! Got into a new project which is in high visibility mode with escalations and missed deadlines. So unfortunately I had to cancel my plan of going to 'Bidar' with Harpreet veerji and Soch group. They all are leaving this weekend and I know I will be missing a lot! :(

My first meet with 'Soch'

The countdown finally ended on Saturday and the day had come for me to meet the ‘Soch’ group. I had actually been waiting like anything to meet everyone. Having heard a lot about the group and members from the Path girl, it was time to associate faces with my imagination. We had booked a cab to go to other corner of the city where everybody was gathering in the ‘Khalsa House’ to do Path. The excitement could be judged from the fact that I was up by 3:00 in morning and was ready before 4 AM. The cab came and four of us started to a place which was going to be one of my favorite ‘to be at’ place from then on…

“Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh” The greeting was followed by exchange of names with those standing in the hall. I was introduced as the new member of the group. It was 4:50 AM and the small TV in the hall was playing 'ETC Punjabi' broadcasting live Kirtan from Golden Temple at Amritsar. There were soft beddings covered by neat colorful bed-sheets in the main hall, this was where we were to start Path in some time. As I washed my hands I noticed around 35 tooth brushes in the brush stand. Curious enough, I could not resist myself asking how many guys live in this house? “Officially 5, unofficially many…” answered one of them and we all laughed together.

There were mixed sounds from the Kitchen where Deg (Karah Prasad) and Langar was being prepared while reciting Mool Mantar. Soon we started with the Path. The number of persons were 5 at that time, but were soon going to increase. The best was the rhythm/Lai/Sehaj with which Path was being done. We all had formed a circle which went on widening as people joined us. I could see people getting involved deeply as they were reciting Path. Any pronunciation mistakes were corrected politely by other members. Everybody would take turns to recite the lines from the Pauri, and the rest would together recite the next two lines. It took little more than three hours to do Nitnem, which was followed by Asa Ki Vaar which was recited on Harmonium and Tabla. By the time we finished, the number of persons in the room was around 20. The Ardas was performed by Harman, Punjabi vich kavan taan ‘Rooh naal ardas kitti si ohna ne!’

Had I not known these guys are all IT professionals, I would have never guessed it that day! Saffron, Black, White Keskis with flowing beards and glowing faces; they were completely immersed in devotion & their voices echoing in the house, the atmosphere was all different with all this happening around. After Ardas Deg was distributed, followed by langar. And now these guys who were so good in religious aspects, proved to be good at humor; as we talked while enjoying the delicious Langar prepared by them. I was not at all feeling that it was the first time I was meeting all of them. So polite, so humble, so generous, so helpful, so knowledgeable, and lots of others so’s and these guys seemed to be full of it…I was speechless and so happy to be with them.

The tea was accompanied by discussions on pronunciation on typical words and burning copies of the CD of ‘Panj Kahaniyan’ - A film entirely directed, enacted edited by them for the Sikh Youth Film Festival hosted at Sikhnet.com. I have watched the movie now and it is awesome. A must watch! I couldn't remember the names of everybody I met, but I was already a fan of almost everybody I had met.

I wanted to stay there little more but had to come back as they all needed to move on with their weekend tasks. Before leaving I expressed my gratitude and promised them I would be there from then on for all the Saturday meets and also the next day when we were supposed to meet in the Gurudwara. Overall for me the meeting with all of them had given me lot more than I had expected – A new group to link me to Sikhism, A new reason to continue staying in Hyderabad and A new ‘Soch’ to inspire my inner self.

U-turn? : enlightened by 'Soch'

Not in a mood to sit in office for long today, I decided to leave early. 'Lets catch the 6:45 bus!' For a person who normally leaves by 9:30PM or 10:40 PM from office, leaving the office while sky is still orange in no less than winning a lottery! Finally found a seat in one of the buses in the long queue that would be going to Mayfair.

While I was eagerly waiting for the bus to start and move, I heard a soft female voice reciting Path. The voice was very clear, melodious and coming from a source which was very close. Removing my headphones I figured the source, a girl sitting in front seat was reciting 'Rehras Sahib' (An evening path done in Sikhism religion). I was surprised, impressed, startled, happy - all at same time. Had hardly met someone from my religion who was religious in last 4 years. But why is she reciting at an audible volume level and that too in the bus? For a second I thought what is this show off for? But the pace was slow which could mean she was trying to understand the meaning (not reading hurriedly like me with the motive to just complete the path), or was she trying to make the person sitting with her familiar with the pronunciation? My mind had generated lots of questions in the last minute....The girl sitting next to her seemed to be sleeping, but path was being done for someone...and I noticed she was wearing a headphone and was on a call!! The mystery was becoming even more interesting for me now! But I had to wait till the path was over!

I passed my time talking to Shashank, while checking at regular intervals about the path. Almost at the end of the Anand Sahib, the path would soon be over and I will get answers to my questions...Good! The wait times are always paining for me! She was neatly wrapping the Gutka (The holy book from which path is done) in the cloth (Rumala) when I interrupted her. She turned back with a surprise, but I think she knew this was coming. It is not easy to ignore a turban...specially if you are from the same religion. Hey...we had seen each other before. I remember seeing her in cafeteria, we almost making out that we were Punjabis but we had never talked to each other.

I started with an apology for interruption and explained my eagerness for the query which had soared its heights of impatience till now. I was told that she was doing path with her friend on phone. Now that still sounded bit hard for me to digest. Finally I got to know the complete story...about her, about them - the group called 'Soch' and their activities....

Abt me...I think I have changed, and I feel like I am standing at a position where I am very different from what I was when I was a kid. Basically brought up in a Sikhism school 'Guru Nanak Public School, Ludhiana' I learned how to do path and kirtan while I was in school. Being in touch with all that then and now being so away from everything makes me feel sad sometimes. I often get to hear from my Mom "If you had learned all that when you were you a kid, you should not forget it now." Of course she would be feeling bad about it, she taught me all that while I was too small to understand it but I still followed it, and now when I am grown up I have forgotten to walk on the same path when I can understand the significance of it...

There has been a kind of inner awakening in the past few months, when I have been feeling I should get back to what I was earlier. I somehow feel more at peace, composed, confident when I am connected to God. I had started understanding Bani and was downloading and understanding Kirtan form various websites like sikhsangeet.com and srigranth.org. Thanks to the online web which had made this so easy for me and thanks to couple of members in Sikhism community in orkut who had introduced me to these websites.

Just when I was feeling a need to get another ray of light to guide me walking on the same path, I had heard this stranger reciting Rehras Sahib in the bus...But believe me, it is not easy to strike a conversation with a stranger. But I could not have avoided it as well, thanks to the her laggan, pace, melody with which she was doing her path which had inspired to strike a conversation, and as we talked I concluded striking this conversation was not a bad idea! She was quite enthusiastic about the group and its workings and I was too eager to know about such a group which had been existing in Hyderabad all this while. I felt like asking "Where were you all this while?" but I knew the question had to be actually framed like "Where was I all this while when she and her group were so active in this!" :-)

We discussed about the group, its regular meetings in the weekends in a house which the group had named 'Khalsa House' for there were couple of Sikhs in the house and there used to be meetings in the house on early Saturdays. Reciting Banis and practicing Kirtan were the activities that were done along with the preparation of Langar, discussions about meanings of the Bani and clarification of the doubts. The Sundays meets were at Secunderabad Gurudwara where the group recites Kirtan. And this group had its members from all IT corporates - Infosys, Satyam, Wipro, Oracle...I felt like everybody was there except me! :(

I got to see a lot of snaps of the group for the various activities - Turban tying competition which included Keski worn by lot of girls, the ones clicked when they were finalizing the video which was submitted to Sikhnet Youth Film Festival, the others of the times when their group had gone to Maharashtra to teach the kids about Sikhism and to strengthen their faith and lots of other pics as well. We were talking non stop, me sharing my experiences but I was still falling short of what I could narrate as compared to her who almost had a world to reproduce in her own words. I like these moments when I feel I am not that talkative...there are people who can give me competition! :)

I was quite sure since the start of the conversation that I had to be part of this group, but the ending had almost sealed my decision and while closing the conversation I had to change her count of group members from 15 to 16...there was a new one joining them from this weekend. I am looking forward for the coming weekend when I would be meeting all of them and am hoping to learn a lot from them. Not really sure if the journey from here is a New start for me or A U-turn to a state of life which was left behind few years back...

Sat Sri Akal ji _/\_

It was raining very heavily since evening and I was standing at a local bus stop where my office bus had just dropped me. I was waiting for a local bus/auto that could take me home. A small private bus came and I signaled conductor to wait as I rushed towards the bus. "Aa jao Paaji" conductor replied back with a smile. As I climbed into the bus I saw a Sardar with flowing beard sitting at third seat, and we smiled at each other and greeted each other with Sat Sri Akal ji. Before you ask me...No, I didn't know this person and it was first time I had seen him. I was about to sit somewhere when I noticed him adjusting the arm rest and moving to the corner seat inviting me to the seat adjacent to him.

I wasn't like this before, I mean I never used to greet strangers. It has been almost four years in Hyderabad, a place where I cannot see many Sardars as I could see and meet in Punjab. Spotting someone with Turban/Keski (smaller turban) definitely catches my attention today. But all this changed gradually. I remember first time it was an old aged man greeting me with Sat Sri Akal in a local Gurudwara here, and I responded back with same. The first thought was he might have mistaken me for somebody else...but then I noticed every Sardar greeting each other like this every time they crossed each other. But I was still hesitant to wish somebody..what would it look like wishing a stranger in middle of the road!

But things started getting into my head when I moved to US. Spotting a Sardar in US specially in some cities was a very rare event. And I myself used to feel so happy when I used to meet one! Conversations started from a simple wish, to whereabouts, native place, current occupation and so on...Sat Sri Akal just used to be a starter to a whole meal! I remember going to Indian restraunts in Cincinnati and Atlanta where most of the chefs and serving boys used to be from villages from Punjab. And my glass of water used to served with a firm handshake and 'Sat Sri Akal Paaji' in a deep Punjabi accent. And I too used to respond back with same affection! I was startled when all this happened first time, but then I got used to this extra hospitality! :-) Of course I used to be pushed forward by my friends at billing time for extra discounts! :-D and the main chef used to walk out from Kitchen wishing me Sat Sri Akal, with turban on his head and his white beard complimenting his apron, specially to meet me - someone who was from their land, their home country, someone who could remind them of their life left back at their homes....

After developing this habit in US, I was still not sure if I would continue it in India, but I got my answer soon. It had been just few days me being back and I saw a Sikh boy, dude types....walking with his girlfriend coming from opposite direction on my side of road. I tossed the coin in my mind and chose 'No', he might not like to be disturbed. And this could be what I would continue with as well. But as they approached me, the guy folded his hands, bowed his head and wished "Sat Sri Akal Veerji" as if he had just read my mind and wanted me to continue with this practice. I smiled broadly (actually laughed at myself) and wished him back...and that gave me a hint of what I have to continue with!

If you have been in touch with Sikh families, you would know that since childhood the kids are taught to wish Sat Sri Akal to all those who they meet. And kids so sweetly fold there hands and mumble in their unclear words. But the practice just seems to get lost as they grow up.

The actual meaning of Sat Sri Akal, which is actually half of the complete greeting.

Sat = Sadeevi , Hamesha rehan wala (Always existant)

Sri = Respectful term.

Akaal = Beyond time, God is always associated with present (He is there), never God was or God will be.

So now if you fuse all 3 words into one sentence you get:
Jo bole so nihal, Sat Sri Akal = Blessed are thee who say, The Immortal God is truth from before time, till after.
So now it has become a habit for me to greet everyone like this. Of course I get startled expressions from some, but mostly it is gesture of bowing head, gentle wish and a smile.

My request to chat lovers, lets not abbreviate it! Stop using abbreviation 'SSA' in chats, we have already taken a lot of short cuts in our lives. We can chat for hours and sound crap in all those long sentences that we type, but lets not try to conserve our energies while typing these 3 words.

The bus had reached the bus stop close to my home, and the small journey had passed with a series of questions of my whereabouts, native place, work place .... and before I got down we wished each other Sat Sri Akal!

The 99 Club

Sharing a beautiful story of our lives...
Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content. One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy.

The King asked the servant, "Why are you so happy?"
The man replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much - just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies."
The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the King's woes and the servant's story, the advisor said,
"Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of The 99 Club."

"The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired.

The advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is, place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep ."

Done.

When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house. When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... So many gold coins! He began to count them.

After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were only 99 coins.
He wondered, "What could've happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!" He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive. Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.

From that day, the servant's life was changed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked. Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he sought his advisor's help, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club."

He continued, " The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented, because they're always yearning and striving for that extra 1 telling to themselves: "Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life."

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We aren't different from the King's servant...just that nobody needs to leave a bag of 99 gold coins outside our house to make us join the '99 club'. We are already part of it - struggling to get higher pay cheques, better homes, better life style, running from milestones of comfort to luxuries to lavishes! Most of the time I am amongst everybody running in this never ending marathon of life, but sometimes I do pause to give myself a breathing break, and say 'Will this ever end?' I am pretty happy and content with what I have but still the search for the last coin would never end in our lives...

Rishte yeh pakne do...Raakhi spl! :)

Rakhi (Rakhdi in punjabi) - No doubts for it being the most awaited festival for all girls! :-) Not just because they keep on waiting for the gifts that they would get, they like to get it from their brothers and its a special occasion to tease each other before gifts and Rakhi are exchanged.

I think Cadbury well identified the charm of this festival in Indian crowd and that explains their lovely ads that just come up some days before Rakhi - "Cadbury Celebrations - Bandhan" Ads and their Tag line "Kyunki rakhi par sirf shagun kaafi nahi..." is enough to tempt both brothers and sisters to buy them! The ads are available at Cadbury's site at
http://www.cadburyindia.com/downloads/ads-celebrations.asp
Check out the Cadbury Celebrations - Bandhan ones..The second one is my fav which came in 2004. There are two gifts lying on the table and the elder sister is tying Rakhi to the brother. The younger sister meanwhile swaps the order of the gifts so that she can get Cadbury Celebrations hamper while the other gift which is wrapped in a decorative paper (now on top) goes to elder one.

But the brother swaps it again and gifts the Cadbury one to elder sister. The younger one sadly ties the Rakhi, making faces but then is so glad to see the same but bigger hamper under the gift cover! Beautiful expressions, nice direction..
A must watch! :-)

I just watched it and I am still humming the song (written by Gulzar for Cadbury) that plays in background...

Rishte yeh pakne do..

Aankhon se chakhne do..
Dil agar dhadke to..
Seene mein rakhne do!

It has been almost four years I havn't been to my home on Rakhi. And my sis courier's it to me every time. I usually do my part online, a month earlier than the event..Thanks to ICICI Bank's online facilities! :-) The transaction normally used to be converted to what she wanted when she visited Market next time. If ICICI Bank comes to know this I am sure they would come up with some sweet advertisement next year...Transaction hone do! :-p

With a Rakhi that I get from my sis every year, I also get a nicely wrapped small packet of Dry Fruit mixed with elaichi (replacement for the sweets that she can't courier me) and a hand written letter in her beautiful handwriting where she almost says her heart out. She always writes and hopes that we are together at this occasion next time, but last four years have always kept me tied in my job and life, rather than to be back home at this time. Anyways going home at Rakhi meant losing my chances of getting leave at Diwali which again was not acceptable, so I chose to be guilty at this occasion.
Her letters/greeting card is what makes me feel special for this occasion...

I hope I would be actually getting my Rakhi tied from sis next time, rather than my right and left hand playing the role of brother and sister!
Rishte yeh pakne do...

The 'luxury' of paid leave

Have often seen friends discussing about the number of paid leaves that one gets from their offices. Attending personal chores and still getting paid for those days! Aren't we lucky?

Since I am on leave these days for my post-surgery recovery, I feel myself to be lucky for having them. Was just thinking today that we have enough of bank balances that we don't need to worry about anything when we take a off from office. What about a daily wage labourer? Can he take a leave and be paid for his day as well?

There will be so many of those in this world who need to arrange for their night meals on the same day. And so many out of them who even after working hard all day are not able to meet the bare minimum to support their family.

These two paras from two different Jagjit Singh's ghazals suddenly come into my mind:

Bhukhe bachon ko sulaane ke liye,
Maa ne bhi paani rijhaya der tak.
--------------
and the other one...
Ai khuda ret ke sahera ko samandar kar de,
yaan chhalakti hui aankhon ko bhi pathar kar de

Aur kuch bhi mujhe darkaar nahin hai lekin,
meri chaadar mere pairon ke barabar kar de.

The S-Day (Surgery Day)

Finally the day is here!
You must have heard the D-Day, but here is..what I call and will remember as the "S-day" - 'The Surgery Day' of my life..

7th August
11:00
"I have a surgery scheduled for today.."
"Please go to 4th floor from back entrance"
Various thoughts hustling through my mind as I move towards back entrance. Till now the surgery feeling had somehow not been able to creep into my mind. Had just been cracking jokes with my frnd Gokul who was accompanying me. We were thinking of asking the doctor to give me Sanjay Dutt's black color eye cover like in Khalnayak instead of normal green plastic one! :-)
Almost took a promise from Gokul that he would not rush downstairs to recieve a call from his fiancee, as there was no network on the operation theater floor. I told him..Doctor bahar aake bol dega ki yeh medicine la ke do abhi...aur tum nahin hue to??..Kahin mat jaana! Gokul got my joke instantly..and replied..Arre Amrit ji...aisa sirf filmon mein hi hota hai! and we both burst into into laughter, while I was thinking in my mind....Mujhe to lagta tha surgery bhi sirf filmon mein hi hoti hai! :-)
After making the payment, I was taken to another floor where I handed over my belongings to Gokul and from here on I had to be alone. Watch, cell, bag, wallet...I removed my 'Kadda' but instantly put it back on my wrist....didn't want to be operated without it.

11:45
As I was entering the hall I noticed a person in blue gown with cap on his head and mask covering his face, mending a door knob with a screw driver. And this was enough to give me jitters! and I thought.... Are carpenters doctors as well, or are doctors also working as carpenters with screw drivers!! Whichever way....none seemed to be comfortable!
Was instructed to wear a dull brown gown. I somehow liked the pale blue gown which doctors were wearing but then I would never be offered that one :-) After all they knew how to mend a door knob! :-D

12:15
Finally a nurse tied a 'friendship band' arnd my wrist with my name, blood group and MR Code (unique code to identify each patient) and pasted a green colored sticker on top of my eye which was to be operated. I really thanked God for this thought, which would allow doctors to know which eye to operate...just in case I fainted! ;-) and of course I kept on checking if the sticker was in place after every minute from then, to make it sure doctors are not confused!

12:30
The anaesthesia room was far below my expectations or rather my dream surgery. Tubelights!! I was thinking of round big lights as in Hindi movies...a red light outside the hall indicating that operation is going on..
Hi, I am Dr. ....., I am Anaesthesia specialist. We would be giving you local anasthesia so that you don't feel any pain during the surgery.
And the child in me immediately asked: And what about the pain after the surgery?
He laughed a little and continued...We would give you pain killers...Don't worry..
And that cruel fellow injected two syringes around my eye. A cap was put around my eye which had actually hurt at that time, but I had to bear it as I was told that that was the only pain I would have to suffer all that day.

12:45
All my imaginary drawings (expectations as well) of Operation Theater were coming alive as I was being shifted from Anaesthesia room to Operation Theater. Big lights, swarm of doctors all with their faces covered with masks, Nurses, medical equipment...'Perfect bad dream'...and irony was that ...I had paid for it! :-'(

13:00
I was covered completely from head to toe including my face, leaving just a hole exposing my eye for the surgery. I was asked if I am fine and if they could start the surgery. After their first stroke someone confirmed with me, if I felt any pain. The anaesthesia was in full effect giving them all the powers to proceed. While the surgery was taking place all I could feel was the voices of the doctors falling over my ears. They discussing in medical terms as they operated me..Doctor asking for medical equipments after every few minutes, with in between demands of cotton and buds.

13:30
I was feeling tensed...how is surgery going on?? Would it be successful? Me praying while it was happening...Trying to look for the voice of the main doctor whom I had met during all my appointments to make sure he was still there taking part in my surgery and had not handed over the task to his interns.
Finally the voice of a female doctor.."Room lights...Cotton...Eye Cap"
The surgery was over. The doctor said it was successful. Though it would take around 2 weeks for me to heal completely.

13:45
Gokul must have woken with a startle when attendant called his name in the waiting room. His sleep deprived eyes (the result of late night phone conversations) always confirming he will soon be married. But as promised he had not gone downstairs to attend his fiancee's phone call..not sleeping was anyways not part of the deal! :-) He instantly smiled at me for I was wearing the same green plastic eye cap and not the Sanju baba's Khalnayak black eye cover! That meant no Madhuri dance for us! ;-) Thanks a ton to Gokul for being there all this while, and help me stay cool on my S-Day.

I am at home these days, still recovering from the swelling and redness in the eye. Am glad it was successful...after all I lived a whole life in the operation theater. Will be joining my office on 18th Aug..Hope I am fine by then....

Request or a Greedy bet??

Since childhood I remember people praying to God, wishing for something and offering whatever they can as a token of their faith and respect towards him.
But the story seems to be changing when I hear people say...
"Mera yeh kaam poora ho jaye to main aake Naariyal chadaungi!"
"Main hazoor sahib de darshan karan jaunga bas meri eh dil di muraad poori ho jaye!"

Doesn't that sound like people trying to tempt God by offering him some materialistic thing which again is gifted by him to us? Does he really listens to us when we 'gift' him something?

Shouldn't the situation be otherwise:- A naariyal/ A trip to holy place, as a token of worship and praying for whatever you want, leaving for God to decide what he wants to do later on? :-)

Orkut...The new O in O2 for me!

I am really not sure about how many emails had I received from so many friends inviting me to Orkut, Facebook, Hi5 and what not! And finally I had to accept my defeat and give a try to these so called Social networking websites! But sometimes I get into doubt about how much have I improved on social networking since I joined Orkut...I guess the answer would be different from those who are now added as my friends, from those who are still safe from this virus! :-)

What seemed to be a beginning in improvement of social relations now seems to be the reason of why I have become lazy in giving phone calls to my friends - 'Jab scrap kar sakta hoon, to phone call kyun?' It would be even cheaper than Chota recharge! ;)
Call me selfish or smart.....but it didn't take much time for me to start thinking that people not on orkut or gtalk belong to some old civilization! And they are so unconnected because they chose so! :-) So...no fault of mine!

The other missing ingredients of making me so socially (pls read as virtually) active was added by my relocation to US, which made me so addicted to Orkut. Result: uploading photos, adding hell lot of 'You tube' videos and being 'in touch' with friends through scraps...Did I miss the word 'only' at the end?
Thanks to Orkut, I no longer have to think of explanations! Kudos to the person whoever introduced the concept of 'Upcoming Birthdays'...he must have been a forgettable person like me! Good thought..I salute him! He helped a lot of guys like me...even a scrap before the day ends at mid-night can save you! :-p

But I was still safe until my friend Pawan introduced me to Orkut communities. The first one I joined was "Punjabi by Nature". Continuous games, threads - Rate the DP (Display Pic), Let the person above eat something you like, Slapp..and give a stupid excuse, Change letter, ending in y and what not!! And the result...the owner of the community made me moderator of the community because I was very active during those days and community needed a new Mod!

Finally the days have come when I prefer to give a scrap to Ashish asking him if he is free for a Coffee break and he replies back in an instant 'Yes' while we may be 'Away' or rather in 'Do not disturb' mode in our office messengers! This is what I call Professionalism and Dedication....to Orkutism!!! :-) and we are champs in that! :-D

Call it a slow poison or addiction! But these Social Networking Websites here finally are in my life and would be there till I get a big one from someone in my life!
Your feedback is most welcome..if not here, at my profile in orkut! ;-)

Losing someone close...

I lost my Maternal Grandfather (Nana ji) yesterday night...He was very ill for past few months and we all knew this could be coming...but it hurts so much when you lose someone close.

I still remember the golden time spent with him. My Maternal uncle runs a school and Daarji (as we used to call him) was the person who used to take care of stationary and canteen business of the school. I have a pretty big family from my mother's side and we used to be almost a gang of 17 children when we all used to visit Mamaji's place during our school summer vacation. Mamaji's house was just in next plot to school and we all used to attack the canteen just before the break time....Helping Daarji laying out the boxes of sweets and stationary piles before the school children could come rushing for their shopping.

He was a Railway Engineer. Being an engineer meant a lot at his time...Not like today when I can see plenty of engineers hovering everywhere. Jalandhar, Ferozpur and Ludhiana and couple of other cities were under his supervision. A huge bungalow was given to him where the big Nanke family stayed with their 10 bedroom house which had 4 servant rooms and gardens and what all...Have just heard the stories of the greatness and royalty enjoyed by the then family from my Mom, Massis and Mammajis.

Over the past years I remember talking to him on phone...Though I would be calling to get to know about his wellness...But he would hardly let me ask him, and always kept on saying...."Don't worry about anything..everything is fine here...You just take care of yourself..and come back now to a place closer to your home." and I would reply back "Yes Daarji, would look for a change in job and come back soon" Guess I am too late now :(

My maternal grandmother expired when I too small..Have heard it from mom that she wasn't very ill but had to be shifted to hospital for some treatment where some strong medicines and 'The Hospital feeling' costed us her life. All these years after her, Daarji kept on saying...."How much ill I ever may be, never take me to hospital. She was not that ill, these hospital guys made her away from me". Was just discussing the same with my friend Ashish today, and had my full agreement with him when he said "Can't say for sure where I can find this kind of bonding between couples today in our generation. I don't think we need to blame hospitals or death for termination of much of relations these days...."

Still remember me in a snap sitting on Daarji's lap when I was hardly 2 yrs old. He was sitting straight, in a white kurta with a turban on his head. The same kind of turban was he wearing just 5 month back at my sister's wedding. Though he was so ill, but we were lucky to have him pay a visit to us to bless the couple. He was so full of values...I always feel it to be a great loss for any family when they lose an aged one. The presence itself of an old one in family makes it sure that there wont be a wrong deed happening in the house. Their scolding to the grand kids, constant advices to the their own kids, the experience of their lives being gifted to us in small suggestions can never be compensated with anything. No matter how much lifestyle has changed and will keep on changing, the truth of life is that the elders will always have a simpler, better, accurate and a long lasting solution to every problem of life.

Got a call from my sis in the morning at 5 when she told me about this. My emotions were all frozen since I heard the news, but I can see my screen getting blurry now...
Missing you Daarji...

A day or Just Another Day

Beep...Beep...Beep
My alarm buzzing in the morning and me wondering again who the hell set it in place! :-D

Another day...and the same thought creeping in my mind...would it be the same as have so many passed by, or does it have something new for me as I expect everyday in morning. :)

As I look back in my life, there have been so many times when I have thought that I could have dealt a situation better, had I faced that situation now - after 'x' more years when I have 'y' levels of maturity added in me! Though I am still trying to balance this equation of x and y in my life.
But then I also feel that the added experience which makes me confident and more thoughtful today is all because of these added years and the wrong judgments I made in my life all this while.

Sometimes I wish I could rewind the the clock back to an earlier time, and take my words back..But again second half of my mind which is more practical (though he likes to be silent most of the times - specially at the most needed times) asks me....Does is really affect you or the one whom you said so, today? And I find myself smiling at me for thinking so much some times!

I feel life is about making mistakes...though preferably small ones. I definitely love the change in me that has all come from all these years, isn't this the outcome of mistakes I made earlier? Would have I been a better person had I not made them at all? Would I have met all those new persons without losing the old ones? and I get disturbed in my thoughts again with my snoozed alarm which is now back to wake me up once more! and I wake up to a new day, all set for making some new mistakes which I might regret after some years....

And I conclude....A just another day could be 'A day' for me, but it might take some years for me to see this change...