Today was surprisingly cold, and it felt like the old Poona ive was so used to.  Its April n its getting hot in the afternoon like mad, but today the weather kinda changed completely & as usual the met dept didn’t give us a clue abt it.  This is the way Poona used to be but since the Tsunami things have changed drastically, earlier the avg rainfall in Poona was 400 mm n for the last 3 yrs its been raining more than 1000 mm.  Summers have got hotter n dry.  I feel like im in an alien world – Coz this isn’t wht im used to.

Office guys r planning for a picnic this weekend or the next, lets hope we get a good weather then n get to njoy!

Im feeling like im on a high today, its one of those days when u feel alls going perfect!  I was zipping ma bike on the roads in camp area, & trust me it’s the best thing u can do early in the morning – No traffic n a beautiful weather, wow! I sure did enjoy that.  Maybe I say that cos Poona has the highest no of 2-wheelers in the world!! n when u get an empty road, it feels like heaven

I guess the same applies to everyone around the world, people love the place they’ve been born n brought up in, & although I wasn’t born n Poona, my familys been here for the last 4 generations, so I do have a strong connection with this city – I SIMPLY LOVE IT.  I love the area I stay in cos, ive seen other places in India n abroad, bt my conclusion is that Camp is THE most convenient place on this planet cos u can get anything here, or rather all that u get here is just too good.  Im indicating abt the food majorly!  Seekh kababs, burgers, shawarmas, chicken rolls.hmmm ice creams, faloodas, I can go on forever.  & the best part is that I know all about where to get what at which time !  haha well im a total foodie n im used to having delicious food, I read on a blog some guy in Pakistan eats Seekhs with Biryani… & ppl were commenting like “hey what a strange combination” & all bt then that suites me.  That’s what I like, & I guess ppl like me will not mind having Seekhs with anything, if its biryani, wow its all the more better, & ive tried it several times, I njoy it.

Well in short Poona does rock if u live here, and Id invite all the bloggy frnds to Poona, Im sure u wont be disappointed!

Ive always been interested in cars (most boys are ~ ) I love driving them as well.  As a kid I never drove any car, just watched in awe The taxis in Dubai were soo damn cool, I used to stare at the gearboxes n the speedometer, wanting to hold on the steering n ask the cabbie to move out..  Neva happened then

By now I’ve probably visited sites of all the major carmakers in the world, once u join an Software MNC in India that’s wat u do most of the time – surf the net !  So ya I can say that ive learnt a lot on my job, Ive learnt which model no has how much Bhp, n isn’t that a wonderful thing to know!

Nowadays my favt pastime is to ask my family n frnds for a ride in their car, so I get the feel of diffnt cars.  I really do get a high driving these mean machines.. The Skoda Octavia was an awesome experience for me cos I have a 800cc Daewoo..hheheheh  But tht helps in the funny roads of Poona, cos its so small, I can park it at will anywhere n also maneuver it arnd the city, with the way I drive, its tough for me to get stuck up in a traffic jam!!  Infact it was yestday when I was heading towards a bridge, which was jam-packed for abt half a km n somehow I got rt in the middle of it, n that’s when I realized that I shudnt have come upto there (big fool me), what then I took a turn n started to go go back, n all the motorists laughin arnd me said “u wont be able to get outta here, its imposs, stay where u are”.  Wrong thing to say to a Pathan, ofcourse I turned n came out easily err rather to the discomfort of all the others behind me.  Sorry guys!

When u are driving always remember the safety of others is more important than yrself, so take care of others while driving, if u wanna speed, make sure u have good control of the vehicle, brakes n steering r the basics.

So happy driving all, drive safe, Njoy !

Ive nothing to do as usual, so Im listening to the songs I have on my cell!  That’s strange for me, cos until a couple of years back, I never was interested in music.  Id stored some songs on my comp, but then I hardly listened to an entire song, probably I didn’t have the patience or I just had better and more interesting options, like playing cricket or flying kites, playing cards !!  When I look in hindsight I feel that im not used to being alone / lonely, Ive always stayed amongst my family people, all my cousins have been around most of the time.  So I think that might have been the reason why I didn’t wanna sit in one place listening to music, cos that’s what Id had to do alone, I never go for movies alone, I don’t like to eat out alone, basically I don’t enjoy alone, Id rather not enjoy if im alone.  Isnt it better to be with friends / relatives ?

Coming back to music, ive taken some interest in music off late, and the reason is that Ive become a “Software Engineer”.  The definition of this term is -  A person, who gets paid for finding new options of doing time pass alone.  There are some “jhingurs” who work hard and keep crying, but I don’t care.  I live to enjoy life and make new friends each day.  So sitting here doing nothing, I started listening to music and started to use Winamp more frequently @ home, honestly Im enjoying it

I like all types of music that feels good to the ears!  I remember when I was a kid there was a huge craze of MJ after “BAD” released and I saw every1 wearing the BAD Tees, I never heard MJ then though.  I like all MJ tracks, some singers like Aatif Aslam, Mustafa Zahid from Pakistan are too good … I like to listen to Justin Timberlake, Savage garden, Deff Leppard, Sting, Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Enrique Iglasias.  Some Iranian singers like Arash and Afshin(I love “khoshgel”), the oldies are the ones I love as well – Hasan Jahangir, Nazia Hasan, Mohammed Rafi, Abba, Bee Gees…

Lots of songs, and lots of good Music to hear from all around the world and theres hoards of talent out there.  The combination of good beats and meaningful lyrics make a huge impact, obviously the singer is the most important factor.  I don’t regret not listening to music seriously in my childhood, cos I enjoyed a lot anyways.

Bruce Lee is the man who reminds me of raw power, his physique was immaculate, and he had probably the lowest body fat in the world.  Many see Lee as a model for acquiring a strong and efficient body and the highest possible level of physical fitness, as well as developing a mastery of martial arts and hand to hand combat skills.  His speed was awesome and skills, well I don’t need to elaborate on that one, no one can match him, and at least so far no one has.  He was a philosopher, instructor and a martial arts actor.

His physical feats are mind boggling, he could perform push-ups using only his thumbs –ive tried doing push-ups with four fingers and all I can say is its kinda impossible to do it with yr thumbs.  His “one-inch” punch was mid boggling, he used to place his fist an inch away from the target and the punch that resulted from that one inch of distance was enough to send the fittest on the bed for atleast a day or two.            Unfortunately he didn’t live long, how he died is yet a mystery and there are lots of stories revolving around his death, for me he is a hero a true hero.  He completed only 4 films in his short lifetime, The Big Boss (1971) Fist of Fury (1972) Way of the Dragon (1972) Enter the Dragon (1973)Please do have a look at these movies, they are worth watching.  I feel so sad that successful and talented people are looked upon with envy.  We should all try and inculcate in ourselves the best that we see in others and try and become a better person, rather than getting jealous of others accomplishments / talent.  Its tough to do that I know but I stay that ways and Im very happy, you guys try it out too and you will live a better life for sure.  No jealousy, no war!

I love to enjoy life (who doesn’t?) & obviously that means I love all sorts of entertainment! I love to play cricket, football badminton, table tennis, pool … I mean all kinds of outdoor sports as well as the indoor games like cards, carom, chess, scrabble and god knows what self made ones I love playing on the comp as well, its so damn exciting, and the console games are something that gets me hooked on to it completely. I used to freak out on the XBOX 360 we had in our office, but now im in a diff bldg and a diff team, so all my frnds are away and I don’t enjoy without my frnds, so its kinda stopped rt now. What I do is that we cousins group up and get the PS2 at home and play all night long! My mum gets mad at me, but I just don’t listen to her! What technology offers today boggles me, I simply love it. The games are so realistic, and enjoyable. To top it u get to compete with each other, which is cool and it tests yr performance. I believe that everyone should be open to playing all kinds of sports, yes I do agree that sitting in front of the PC makes u lazy and its no kinda exercise for our body – infact it can affect our eyesight. But its enjoyable once in a while, so don’t miss it have fun! I miss the days when we all kids used to play tapri, lingorcha, 4 corners, catch-n-cook, hide-n-seek, dark-room… wow that gives me a glimpse of the great time I spent with my friends and cousins. I miss those days, but we haven’t lost the spirit, when we all are together we rock! So all the people reading this blog – go and enjoy with friends and relatives and keep gaming forever.

Humans have emotions and most of them express their emotions, but I don’t know whether we should do that or not.  Cos first of all if u are sad and feeling down, why the heck do u wanna share yr grief with others and make them feel more sad?  People say that by doing this, u will feel better that u have shared yr grief with someone and that person might understand yr situation and try to console u and ull feel better. Well for me that doesn’t work cos I feel we should only share happiness around, and all the sorrow and grief that we encounter should be for us and we need to learn from it, not cry and crib about it.  Now the problem is no one thinks like this, everyone tells me what I think is wrong, well it might be, but it makes sense to me, I don’t want others to feel bad just cos I went thru something.  All people have a right to their own opinion and there is a difference of opinion here.  This is my choice and it suites me.  So I don’t express my emotions – that’s what my cousins and friends tell me.  But do I need to?   I only share the happy moments of my life with others and I don’t bring forward the sorrow (if any).  Now what happens in this process is that Im always happy and cheerful, I never sulk or cry!  So Im the winner here right?  I mean everyone on earth wants to stay happy, and by following my formula, Im always happy

Now it depends on everyone whether to express their emotions and cry with a gang, or stay happy.

We spend lots of time watching TV everyday, ever wondered if we would not have a TV, what would we do?  How could I watch the cricket matches???  But then we could be more active without the TV, if we spend half of that time exercising, no need to go to the gym!  Fitness levels have dipped considerably due to the TV, I’ve been to places where people don’t have vehicles to commute - so they walk, and that makes them so much more fit than the urban youth, who use the 2-wheeler even to buy a biscuit (I’m one of them).  I think youngsters can do without the use of elevators, at least in poona cos most of the bldgs have 4-6 floors.  But in office people wait for 5 mins so that the can get carried to the next floor !! now that’s ultimately gonna make the person himself lazy.  So if Shahrukh can develop abs @42 why not we youngsters make an effort to be fit?

So with all these technological marvels - are we getting less productive?

Foods an essential part of our lives and for a person like me, well all I love to have tasty food, ok who doesn’t but then Ive seen people who don’t eat that tasty food at home. My mom cooks lavishly and I binge outside as well.  I guess everyone thinks like that.  We are a big family, all spread around the city and we have regular get-togethers, and what do we have?? Biryani / Daalcha / Kichda(Haleem) / kababs and all.  My favourite dish is Chikken Tikka, I also love khichdi… and Tomato chutney with thesa and ghee  - I can have that for lunch & dinner for days together, but my mum doesn’t make it that often she thinks its not nutritious enough for me????  When we have get-togethers in the family, guess what we all are taking about?? Food what else, and I wonder how much time is wasted in that, we could have rather played some games instead (we kids do play dumb charades, Dog in the bone and four corners haha).

But then every time we have a “daawat” should we have biryani?? Why not Khichdi and tamatar ki chutney??? I love that man

The elders love Methi and Palak, so that can be made for them.  This will help in reducing the cost involved in the daawats and also it’s probably easier to cook than biryani.  Anyway if I tell this to the elders they say “You are absolutely right, but then daawat mein chutney-bhaji dena acha nahi lagta”  Arrey wo kya khana nahi hai kya?? And daily these people eat methi and palak, they love it, then why make such tedious dishes so often? I don’t mind, cos at the end I get to eat those lovely dishes.  But I had an opinion.  Oh did I forget to mention the sweet dishes??  We usually had gajar/dudiye ha halwa but then I started the trend of Ice-cream and it’s a hit now.  Sometimes we also get custard / ghas ka halwa  / gulab jamun.  We have a wedding in the family next week and guess what we are gonna do for a couple of days at the brides house?? Have daawats man!! Lunch & dinner.  Lets hope everything turns out to be good.

One thing that’s important in these get-togethers is planning.. the seating arrangement, crockery, lights and all.  I can say that Im an experienced person in this area, cos weve had sooo many daawats & marriages and Ive always been available for help.

How about having one good daawat for all the blogger-friends??  Let me know who all can come to Poona, Ill be more than happy to meet you all.

Presentation for quest

Lets see, if this pathan can earn some money

I’ve never counted things in life, so I don’t know how many times have I seen RAMBO.  Seen all three parts over and over again and I simply love them.  Rambo is a saga of popular action films starring Sylvester Stallone, based on the characters created by David Morrell in his novel First Blood.  The films are: First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and Rambo III (1988). A fourth film, titled John Rambo, will be released on January 25th, 2008 – I’m looking forward to that one.  Stallone plays “Jon James Rambo”, who is greatly skilled in all aspects of survival and guerrilla warfare.  And what a physique he has, wow!

In popular culture, the name has become an eponym for a tactic of military aggression or, alternatively, a person demonstrating heroism through extreme violence.

Yeah it is violent, but then it’s manly and it depicts the raw power that a human has.  My mum can sense when RAMBO is being shown on TV, she simply used to switch off the TV cos she couldn’t understand when I’ve seen it several times earlier, what I used to see it for again?  But now its different she knows I’m passionate about the movie and she lets me see it provided there’s no sick Marathi cookery show going on TV.  For me RAMBO Rules!