The True Lies of Newspapers

We all have our individual political affiliations and the same fact can be extrapolated to Media Corporations. I have heard several times that the Times of India is a pro-Congress Media house. What I want to highlight here however, are a few articles in the times of India that caught my eye.  

Alok Nath might not have in his wildest dreams imagined that a 20 year old would be talking about him and his “Sanskari” attitude. His performance in movies and Indian soaps have made him the butt of several jokes; my favourite one being “Alok Nath takes off his chappals before he plays Temple Run”! Through his unwitting fame on social media, he made his way to the more traditional forms of the media. Alok Nath was the star of the show. But towards the end of the article, I found something interesting. 

Next, I opened another article. I was genuinely drawn to the caption. I don't even know why.  Now that I think of it, the word business might have drawn me to it.

The article spoke of a business owner who collects Indian currency notes with special serial numbers. Fair enough. As a matter of fact, I got engaged last year and my uncle presented me with a note with the serial number of the day in question. It took me a while to figure out why he handed me a 10 rupee note. My fiancee was the first to spot the serial number. Well, as fate would have it or should I say the Times of India would have it, the article had an innocuous bit of information.

Call me a paranoid freak, but I can't help but notice why the same name keeps showing up in seemingly unrelated articles. You might say that Arvind Kejriwal is the most popular man in town today; which is indeed the case, but there's one fact that I know to be true. The media and especially the Times of India does not give you such visibility  for free. Either you pay them, or the media outlet itself has a certain ulterior motive. In this case, my guess would be a certain political leaning. I've said this earlier that through a cursory glance of the TOI, you get the impression that it is a Pro-Congress media house. Political opponents do get coverage, albeit bordering on the negative. Or if a positive article is published, two negative articles might be published. Or as in the case of the two articles in question in this post, negative commentary can be slyly inserted into totally unrelated articles.

We are all familiar with the theory of subconsciously being affected by the information flashed in front of us. Companies and governments don't spend millions of dollars on Billboards and tv advertisements if they didn't have an impact on our minds. I'd like to point readers to the following article titled "10 Corporations Control almost everything you buy"

http://www.policymic.com/articles/71255/10-corporations-control-almost-everything-you-buy-this-chart-shows-how

Why then is the Times of India surreptitiously supporting the AAP when it has always been pandering to the Congress? I can only wonder why!

Believe with caution!

In one of my previous posts (Let’s be mavericks), I said that “We live our lives and do things the way certain other individuals and entities want us to”. I base this latest blog post on the concept of propaganda. Propaganda is the science of “make believe”; of influencing the way you look at the world, a way of insidiously controlling your thoughts. Why am I harping on about propaganda? I watched the evening news on television and news reporters were excited about the fact that Kim Jong-Il, communist dictator of North Korea had been “proclaimed” dead. Cause of death? Korean state television announced that he “died of a heart attack caused due to the immense pressures of running the state, he sacrificing his life for the general public of North Korea”.

I never really knew what the whole deal about North Korea was and so after watching the news, I decided to update myself. I watched a National Geographic documentary called “Inside Undercover in North Korea”. The situation was pretty similar to what the Taliban are up to in Afghanistan and the Pakistani North West frontier province. Repressing people and their freedom is the forte of these regimes and the North Korean government under Kim-Il Sung, and later his just deceased son, Kim Jong-Il has been literally controlling every aspect of life of the North Korean public. Privacy is probably a very alien concept to these people because government officers routinely just march into their homes for whatever reason. Even worse is the fact that the Government it literally controlling their minds.

The North Korean people have been made to believe that their ruler is a God, just as the idiotic rulers of pre- 1789 France made their people believe that they were chosen by God to rule. Kim Jong as well as his father before him, had people hang pictures of themselves in their houses. This is something I have come across myself during my stay in the Middle East. In the Middle East, it is mandatory for business owners to wall mount pictures of the kings of the land on their premises. What is more appalling about the North Korean custom was that people had to do so in their houses as well and routinely bowed before the portraits. Elderly women, held hands of their children and made them bow as well. Naturally, being exposed to such nonsense at such an impressionable age, an age where a human has no concept of self, these children have grown up to believe that Kim is indeed a God.

The government controlled media has people believe that North Korea is paradise on Earth. It routinely lists Korea as being the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the planet. You’d think people were not dumb enough to believe that. But in the case of North Koreans, they are not allowed to leave their country at all. If people remember, it was with great difficulty that North Korean football players were allowed to participate in last year’s FIFA world cup. What to speak of foreign travel, going from one place to another within the same city requires a permit; unless of course you’re a high ranking government official. They have no concept whatsoever of the kind of life people outside their countries lead. Television and radio are obviously Government controlled and broadcast only government approved programs. There is no internet access whatsoever. Yet, majority of the people are blissfully unaware that they are suffering which indeed they are. That is a way of life for them and they know nothing else. In spite of these strictures, Kim himself didn’t follow his rules. North Korean “nobility” is evidently above the law of the land. Kim’s son has had an education in Switzerland and is now the de facto leader of his country after his father died, 2 days ago. Kim owned a massive collection of 20,000 VHS tapes and DVDs of Hollywood movies, James Bond and Rambo being some of his favourites. Kim was a cigar lover; yet on being advised to quit smoking to prolong his miserable life by his doctors, Kim outlawed smoking all over North Korea, calling it one of the three worst vices a man could have.

What I would like to put into perspective is the fact that though our minds are not controlled to such an extent by our governments and media, it is nevertheless happening. And like the North Koreans we believe what is being put before us. Western governments and media outlets can obviously influence us to their way of thinking. However fishy and shady a piece of news may sound, just the fact that it was on TV or radio lends it credibility. Real news is routinely euphemized or blown out of proportion or worse, completely supressed to toe the “being politically correct” line.  

Weeding out such misinformation is obviously incredibly difficult. However, I believe that we can at least try to choose what we believe and what we don’t by being active watchers and listeners than passive ones. By passive watching, I mean turning on the TV because we’re bored and just listening to whatever is on or watching TV while peeling potatoes. By being zombies in front of a television or radio, I think we literally give complete control to whoever is putting information in front of us. Even though we are seemingly in control of our minds, information gleaned passively does affect us subconsciously and sticks with us. We may not be willing to admit it, but it’s true. Active watching thus means consciously making an effort to choose what to believe and what not to.

For those interested in the NGC documentary about the horrors of life in North Korea, here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_268_pBvPs

It's just not cool, folks!

“Justin Bieber’s a faggot! ShahRukh Khan is gay! Mahendra Singh Dhoni sucks! He’s just lucky!!”

I hear this kind of talk way too often. And I find it ridiculous! I mean, these guys are superstars. Whatever you say, nothing is going to change that. They have a lot more respect and standing in the world than you and I, and I just don’t see how that makes one a faggot. On the contrary, making statements like these make you a sore loser. The argument that people have given me in their defense is that being celebrities, Bieber, Khan, Dhoni and others are in the spotlight and getting some venom from the public is part of the game. But does that mean you hate them? Some of the comments people make are downright ugly!

Justin Bieber. Well, I’ve never listened to a single song of his YET. And I’m sure more than half the Bieber haters out there haven’t either. Yet, Bieber bashing is a popular sport. Why? That’s because everyone else says he’s an idiot. You won’t hear a single Bieber track for fear that you’ll be branded a homosexual for life.  And you know what, it’s perfectly normal to not like his music. Hear something else for God’s Sake! And as far as him being gay, he’s dating Selena Gomez. If you haven’t seen the chick, check her out. That should shut you up. The guy is seventeen. Cut him some slack. He’s a mega star and multi-millionaire before he’s an adult. Can anyone here even say they’re a star in their town or city? Do any of you have the guts to get in front of a thousand people on stage and (this isn’t just it. Anyone can go stand in front of a crowd) “KEEP THEM ENTERTAINED? “. That take’s balls and I respect that more than anything else.

They don’t call someone King of Bollywood for nothing. Maybe you don’t like his movies. Maybe you don’t like his acting. But to spew venom to show you hate the guy is retarded. I’ve heard statements like “Let’s show this faggot his real place”. I say to you, Let me see you handle a simple event and make a million bucks. Then talk. Let me see you in the Forbes list of the most powerful people and then talk all you want. If you’re a lame middle class guy/ girl, with nothing to show but just a college degree shut the hell up. Achieve something of substance and then talk. If you don’t like RA One, just say that the movie was bad or horrible or whatever else you want. You didn’t like SRK’s acting, fine. You think he over acts, fine! But saying that ShahRukh is a faggot is not cool. Next time you fail an exam miserably, let your friends call you a faggot for failing and see how that feels.

Somebody finishes a world cup final with a six apart from a match winning innings that saves India the blushes. Someone has won just about everything thrown at him, except for the recent tour of England. He leads India to the top of the test rankings, something no one has done before, he wins the world cup final singlehandedly and more recently, finishes unbeaten in every innings he played in the ODI series against England and is the man of the series. Talk about leading from the front. Yet, doubters abound, and pass lame statements every day. Face it folks, MSD was the best thing that happened to Indian cricket after Tendulkar.

When we participate in those low budget competitions at school or college and win, we scream and believe we’re the kings of the world. If we don’t do well, we just say we tried our best and move on. What if people around said, “HAH! You couldn’t sing at all. You’re a douchy faggot!” Trust me, no one has ever said that to you, but when someone actually does tell you that, you won’t even be able to handle it!

To an elephant, a few dogs barking don’t matter. In fact, the elephant barely takes notice of them because he knows he can squash them if he wants. It continues on its way, with dignity, not taking notice at all. 

Ancestry Blues!

I’m not quite sure how I feel about my mixed Aryan and Dravidian origin. Sometimes, I feel it’s pretty cool to be a hybrid: hybrid seeds are better, hybrid cars are more efficient and so it goes without saying that a hybrid human is “awesome”! But then I begin to have mixed feelings just like my mixed ancestry.

The name’s Iyer. Anirudh Iyer. According to Indian ethnic classification, that puts me among those coming from the state of Tamil Nadu: yes the state with the shape of a man’s face, spitting on Sri Lanka. I belong to the people who take McDonald’s ‘finger licking good’ campaign to a whole new level; for them, their food is ‘fist and hand licking good’. The protagonists in their films look like goons in a Mithun Chakraborty movie.  But I barely resemble one of these goons. In fact, I look just fine! Thanks to my Gujju mother who comes to the rescue. Anyway, it's kinda hard being in this position, and its difficult to relate to a particular culture. On the brighter side, I have a choice many other people don't have and I have exercised it alright. I don't identify myself with any of the communities I belong to; sure I could pass off as a Gujju but I prefer my choice. Being born and raised in the city of Mumbai, I identify myself as a Mumbaikar and with the free mingling of communities that is on the rise these days, more people like me are going to be produced! :P I sure won't be lonely. 

But weirdly, I have been identified as a member of several communities: Gujarati for obvious reasons, but Punjabi, Marwadi once in a while. After these, I begin to go global. I once met this Hungarian girl who I stopped to ask directions. She helped me out and then asked me where I was from. "India", pat came the reply. "India?!? Really? I thought you were either Spanish of Mexican." Well, I sure was thrilled to hear that but the only reason I felt she guessed wrong was because I had long hair back then which was slicked back; as far as it would go. Anyway, this was just a one off incident. Most other  people in Canada call me Asian; more specifically, I'm a "regular Brown guy", as one drunk Halloween-er called me on a bus. But these past few months, I have been confused with an entirely different race of humans. These days, I am being called an Arab. Not just by the Arabs themselves, but my fellow Indians as well. Last month, I went to a Pakistani salon to get a hair cut. The bugger bored me to death with his endless barrage of questions about what I did for a living in Bahrain, which I was patient enough to answer. Anyway, while I was leaving, an Arab, in full "al habibi" attire, walked in and looked at me and started jabbering away in rapid Arabic. I didn't know what to say. Finally, the Paki intervenes and informs the Arab that I was in fact an Indian. With a crestfallen face, the Arab begins in broken English and bits of Hindi as well, " Tum India se? I thought you Arabic, you look like us." I mumbled something to him and walked out of the shop. But then, a few weeks back, an Indian walks into my office. He engages a colleague of mine in conversation, while I go grab something from the workshop. As soon as I return, I hear the conversation has turned to something about an Arab. I was further surprised when I realized that the Arab was apparently me. And this crazy old fool was an Indian; A MUMBAIKAR. I can smell a Mumbaikar when I see one! I corrected him that I was a fellow Indian and Mumbaikar but he was profusely apologetic about calling me an Arab. He said, your hair, your skin color and your stubble remind me of an Arab. And I've been called an Arab a coupla other times as well. It’s official now. I can pass off as an Arab with ease. CIA officials, if you're looking for a mole to infiltrate deep into Al Qaeda or someting, I'm your man, unless of course, the terrorists check me downtown, if you know what I mean. :P

Anyway, I must remind myself to look as Indian as possible, by shaving and wearing an "I love India t shirt", lest on the flight back to Canada, officials at the airport detain me. Incidentally, the day I'm going back to Canada is 9/11 and it's the 10th anniversary of the attacks and I hope some of the dumb westerners don't scream, "OH MY GOD, NO!" on the flight while I try to remove my wallet or something. 

Let's be Mavericks!

We live our lives and do things the way certain other “individuals” and “entities” want us to. The way we respond to situations, the decisions and choices we make in life and our beliefs are not really our own, and amazingly all of us aren’t even aware of it!

Right from the time we’re innocent children with no concept about life in general, we are made to do our parents bidding; things which, at that point in time appear ridiculous. A child probably hates to take a bath but he is forced to do so by his mother. It probably hates to eat healthy food and prefers a packet of potato chips; but I’ve seen parents spend hours on end trying to force feed their children. In these instances, not being in control of the situation is a good thing; a parent undoubtedly has the best interests of his child at heart. Years pass, you grow more mature; your understanding of how the world works deepens. You’d think that you know what you’re doing and you’re not really doing or believing things because someone else is telling you to. But is that the truth? Not quite. Apparent control is worse than knowing you’re not in control.

In the grown up world, there are more sinister and insidious forces influencing our choices, beliefs and actions. The media is one such force. The media is such a powerful entity that it can make you believe just about anything by subtly twisting facts. Celebrities, claiming to be misquoted, are about as mundane as the weather now. By changing a word here, deleting another there, a certain something can be made to sound like something entirely different. And we are made to believe. Such influencing is not important in the grand scheme of things. But sometimes, a perfectly honest and self respecting individual’s entire reputation can be destroyed as the general public is willing to BELIEVE most of what the media prints. And let’s face it, we know that certain papers are sensationally motivated, but what they write and print does affect us subconsciously.

Another instance is that of the concept of credit. The basic idea of credit is quite powerful: you borrow today and pay back later. However, practically living off credit is not something considered very smart. Yet, governments in North America and around the world encourage you to use credit all the time. These days, businesses sometimes don’t even accept any other form of payment except credit cards. Also, unless you use your credit card and repay your debt, your credit rating will always be low; if your rating is low, you won’t be able to get a home loan or a car loan; in other words, the government is cleverly making you borrow, even when you probably don’t want to. One of the major “entities” we left out in the discussion is our “friendly bank”. The banks are probably lobbying hard to keep such laws in place. It sounds outrageous and we may never agree to it, but all this is done behind the facade of a hot teller at the bank and we accept whatever she says! :P Clever marketing always influences us. Also, tomorrow, if the banks file for bankruptcy, you won’t even be able to see YOUR OWN money. Are we in control at all?

I feel that modern education is also a business and is sold to us. Basic education is important, there’s no doubt about that. But just think of the number of years we’ve invested in our formal education: for most people reading this post, 16 years at least. Most of what we’ve studied is no use in our line of work. Then was putting in almost a quarter of our lives sitting in class a good idea? Maybe, maybe not. Again, we are made to believe that without being formally educated, we wouldn’t get jobs. In the case of middle class Indians, education is a necessity to get married sometimes. Again it has become something someone is forced to do, although it is seemingly our decision.

And let’s not even get started with peer pressure. Though the term applies generally to teenagers, it is applicable to people of all ages; even the oldies. At every stage, we are forced to do something because someone else is doing it. Many of us have completed graduation, but because everyone else is doing an MBA, we need to too, or else we’ll be out of the crowd or won’t earn as much as our friends. Clearly a case of peer pressure.

At every step in life, we are made to CONFORM to the norm and most of us are blissfully unaware. I’m not advocating that we become paranoid and fear the intentions of everybody. I just want you to appreciate how powerless we truly are. But yes, if we want to be truly empowered, we need to be mavericks. Do what we need to; not what we are made to. Believe what we want to, not what we are made to.

My Journey Home!

(wrote this a few days after reaching Mumbai!)

My trip home was an eventful and exciting one. I knew I would have a great time on the flight. I was really looking forward to going home, but I was pretty excited about the travel as well. I love travelling and meeting new people on the way. It is amazing how strangers open up to you far quicker than people you already know for a while.

Prem had invited us to his house for a “house warming” party. I ended up being the head chef and cooking soya chunks, cauliflower potato and spaghetti (if that’s what it was, because it was as Indian as you can imagine! And I didn’t eat it, but the guys said it was pretty good). We saw 10 things I hate about you. I think that is one of the best teen romantic comedies around. And more importantly, it was heath ledger’s first big Hollywood film.

The next day, I was pretty gung ho about the big day finally being there. I had been looking forward to that day for so long. It was a good productive morning. I went to Dundurn Property management to hand over the post dated cheque, dropped of the borrowed textbooks at Thode library and also got a haircut done. There was some kind of police drill going on at Thode that morning. A police drill about a possible hostage scenario at Mac. Wouldn’t that be something? (And I go in and heroically rescue whoever was in the clutches of the bastards causing mayhem! )

All my bags were packed and I was ready to go. I left at 12:15 for the Dundurn GO bus stop. I handed Prem the keys to the house. Finally bus 46 appeared in the distance. It was raining lazily. The thing about the rains in Canada is that there are never torrential rains; just simple, boring drizzling. I carried my bags out the bus shelter, and waited for the bus to stop. Trouble was, that son of a bitch didn’t stop the bus. That was a major cause of concern. I dragged my bags back to the house so that I could access the internet and get the timing on the next bus or to probably call the GO bus operators and find out what the heck was going on. I reached home and realized that I didn’t have the keys and that they were with Prem. Dammit! I hoped dlink would be on in the kitchen and thankfully it didn’t disappoint. I found out that the next bus would be at 1 15. Apparently, the reason the driver didn’t stop before was because I didn’t flag him down. I have never had to flag GO buses at the Dundurn bus stop. I thought it was a given GO buses would stop there. This time round, I waved to the driver when he was around 200 feet from the bus stop. I got in and finally I could relax. I wasn’t too worried that I missed the bus. In fact, I was remarkably calm.

The guy gave me a ticket to square one, but when I got off; I told him I wanted to go to the airport. The driver was good enough to let me go to Bramalea and catch a bus from there. I met a coupla other people going to the airport too. One was on his way to Slovakia and the other was a Nigerian teenager on his way to Mexico City. His father was the Nigerian ambassador to Mexico.

The check in line for jet airways was a pain. It took almost an hour and a half to get to the counter. The woman behind me was an old hag who was talking to some friend of hers on her macbook on skype. Every other statement was loaded with sarcasm. One was, “These people have enough luggage to sink the titanic!” Well, Indians always travel fully loaded!

I called Sunny and Harpriya from the airport. I love wifi and I love gmail for giving us free US Canada calling. Here I was, speaking to people from my laptop. I even could have called people back home. I had a final French vanilla at Tim Horton’s and indulged myself in a bagel with cream cheese and a double chocolate donut. The excuse I gave myself for my indulgence was that I had too much Canadian change in my wallet and that it was becoming fatter than ever.

I met this woman at the lounge. She was a Gujarati from Ahmedabad and now a Canadian citizen. She got married a year ago and was going to meet her husband. She had already applied for his citizenship and was waiting for CIC to respond. She had done a commerce degree from Oshawa and was now working somewhere. Her parents and siblings were in Canada too. I had a pretty decent conversation with her; just the usual, what I was doing, where I was going. Stuff like that. I finally boarded the plane. I saw these cute girls on the airport and I was kinda hoping they would sit next to me but that didn’t happen. Instead, a Canadian geologist sat next to me. He was a pretty talkative guy. The trouble was his mouth was kinda smelly and I had to turn my face towards the window every now and then to escape the “noxious fumes” emanating from his yapper. He had travelled quite a bit and was on his way to Romania. He told me about the work he was doing and he said that he was interested in geology and archaeology together. It was interesting to hear his experiences abroad. (Peru, Brazil, Romania, Italy, Switzerland, Scotland). He was one of those loner traveller types

I saw Rajneeti on the first leg of the flight. I liked the movie for Ranbir Kapoor’s Machiavellian schemes. Just what I love doing and should have done more often. Everything else was ok. It was a rip off of Godfather and also from the lives of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi. RK was obviously Michael Corleone. I also saw this incredible documentary called the Inside Job. Boy did it enlighten me as to what really happened on Wall Street which caused the financial crisis. Mind boggling!

Once we were over England, I started looking out the window. I was lucky enough to look out at just the right time. The English Channel has a variable breadth between England and the European mainland. There is a part which is incredibly small; well, small enough that I could see both England and the mainland from up above. It was beautiful. There were hundreds of ships sailing in the sea below. I’m sure they were gigantic, but from way up in the sky, they looked like little toys. The plains of Brussels soon appeared. Neatly arranged square tracts of land were all over the place. Wind turbines dotted the landscape. We landed in Brussels and found the weather to be pleasant and sunny. One of the amazing things about Europe is that they have beautiful weather all year round. The winters too aren’t as brutal as Canada. I also met this other chick from Canada called Emily. She was a lawyer and was on her way to Barcelona to meet her cousin. She gave me her number and I’m supposed to call her once I get to Hamilton because that’s where she lives too. She finally left because she had to go catch her flight from some other terminal. I reached the familiar airport terminal of Brussels. It was just as I remembered it. I’d been there 9 months ago on my way to Canada. Thee geologist and I roamed the airport and looked around for free wifi. But unlike Toronto’s Pearson international, these people weren’t as generous. The cheapest internet connection was 6 euros for half an hour. The duty free shops were full of the usual stuff: cigarettes, chocolates, booze, perfumes, and little trinkets and other European stuff. We finally sat for an hour and half where the geologist regaled me with more tales about his travels all over the world. At 9:30 he finally left to catch his flight to Romania. I met the Gujju chick once again, waiting to board the flight. Her name was Rinkal, by the way. It is a weird name but Gujju’s do have funny names sometimes.

I was finally on my way home. No stop over; all the way to Mumbai. This time round, I saw some magnificent views below. Sometime when we were over Iran or possibly Iraq, I saw snow covered mountainous regions below. It was breathtaking! At dusk, the color of the sky in the distance was also beautiful. It was a pretty interesting flight

Jijaji and Harsh were waiting for me when I got there. I love jet airways because everything was bang on schedule. Scheduled lift offs, scheduled landings, everything on time; and amazing service, and fairly decent food. Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait too long for me at the airport.  Mumbai was just as I had remembered it. I was actually a little surprised because I barely felt hot. I thought that since I was coming from 6 degrees weather, I’d find Mumbai incredibly stuffy, but that wasn’t the case. The weather was really good. In fact, even as I write, the weather is amazing.

It was good to meet didi again and be back in her house. She cooked lunch for us the next day and as usual her high standards were maintained. Her food is amazing. Every time! I got to Miraroad at around 5. I drove from Malad to Miraroad and I had a superb time driving. I loved it when the rickshaw waalas didn’t care for anyone else on the road. I loved the mayhem and the chaos. This was home!

That evening, I just walked into Prathmesh’s house. It was good to see the expression on his mother’s face. When she told Prathmesh that I had come, he thought she was kidding. It was good to meet my bro again! We caught up, spoke our usual bullshit and I had a great time. We went to RNA and I met a few people from the gym who I remembered. RNA was a mess. Overcrowded and swelteringly hot.

 I was eagerly waiting to sink my teeth into some good old roadside food. That was one of the things I missed about India. It felt great to be back.

Thick as thieves!

Yesterday being Friendship day, I thought I’d write something about friendship and friends.

In all my life, I’ve heard of and read several stories about great friends and true friendship. But the story of friendship that stands out in my mind is that between Karna and Duryodhana. Yes, these two were considered the villains in Mahabharata but whoever said that you need to be on the good side to be considered great friends?

Karna was the son of Kunti; the mother of the Pandavas; she begot him before she married King Pandu of Hastinapur. Abandoned by his mother immediately after his birth, he was found and raised by a charioteer and hence was denied the privilege of being called a Kshatriya throughout his life, in spite of being one. He was denied a royal education by Dronacharya but yet, through self belief and painstaking effort, made himself one of the foremost of warriors.

Duryodhana, in his quest for powerful allies made Karna a king of the province of Anga. That gesture on his part made Karna indebted to Duryodhana throughout his life. Their friendship never once wavered. Karna was a righteous man and he knew that his friend was as nasty as they come. Yet, he stood by him. The toughest test of friendship though was yet to come. Days before the battle of Kurukshetra, his real mother Kunti revealed to Karna the actual circumstances of his birth. She requested that he fight on the side of the Pandavas. What comes next is hard to beat. Kunti told him that Yudhisthira would relinquish his claim to the throne and Karna would be emperor of the Bharat Varsh. Karna knew without doubt that if the Pandavas and especially Yudhisthira came to know that he was their elder brother, they would welcome him and respect him as one. He also knew Yudhisthira would unflinchingly give up the throne of Hastinapur if he came to know the truth.

Karna had everything before him. Yet, being the great man that he was, he politely refused Kunti’s offer. He told her that Duryodhana was his friend and that he wouldn’t under ANY circumstance abandon him and put his friendship in jeopardy.

I know it’s hard to believe; but well, that is surely the hallmark of true friendship. That you stand by your friends no matter what. As I experience more and more of life, I am further convinced that one should have a few true friends; friends that you would stand by no matter what, and who would do the same for you; not that it’s bad to have many friends, but that it’s not possible to please and stand by each and every one of them at all times; because inevitably there will be conflicts of interest. You cannot please everyone in this world.



Work hard or study further?

The nagging question that most juniors have asked me is “Should I go for an M.S or opt for a job?” To answer that in a line, “Only you can know that!”

Going abroad to study is becoming as mundane as joining a coaching class. It’s simply a service. You pay for it, you get it. And far too often, people are doing this just because everyone else is doing so. That’s not entirely a bad idea, but at the end of the day, what you want to achieve and what your interests are matter much more.

From my personal experience, I felt that I would have fared much better and would have been a bit more satisfied had I started working soon after my Bachelors degree. It might be a little early to say for sure whether it was a good or bad idea because I've that not yet finished my Masters’ Degree. But over the past year, I've come to realize I’d have been better off working immediately. And that is primarily because I am not a person who enjoys “studying” a lot. And most people aren't as well. The point I’m trying to make is that before you take a decision about going abroad and studying, it’s important to figure out what exactly you want.

Do you enjoy routine schoolwork like going to class, finishing assignments, studying for tests and schmoozing with your professors? Are you going abroad just because your friends are or your boyfriend/girlfriend is going too? Or maybe your aunts, uncles, neighbors or dad’s colleagues are telling you how good it is to go abroad and settle? Do you have fantasies about the United States and feel that studying there is all frat parties and chicks and beer? Really ask yourselves these questions and go ahead only if you feel your answers are satisfactory enough.

When Canadian people ask me about the difference in the lifestyle I had in India and the one I’m having in Canada, I say it’s about the same. 10 years ago, things were different. Today, you get just about everything you want back home in India. The difference I do point out is that things are very organized in North America, but I believe India is slowly getting there and it’s just a matter of time before the balance tips in favor of our country.

Lame duck Numero Uno

In one-dayers, India has proved that it is a formidable unit with the recent world cup victory and the consistency with which they have played in recent years. However, India’s first two tests in England have left it unambiguously and explicitly clear that India has not quite justified its number one test tag. And I hold the BCCI entirely responsible for the current state of affairs.

The BCCI scheduled match calendar is terrible. They have several grueling test match series, several one day series, as well as that stupid Indian Premier League. The IPL makes a lot of business sense but I don’t think it is a sustainable project and would soon fizzle out. I hope it does because it has completely screwed every other country’s cricketing schedules and priorities. The BCCI probably feels that player burn out is not a major problem and that by hiring more foreign physios and conditioning coaches, injuries would remain at bay. The first test was an eye-opener of sorts. Even before lunch on the first day, Zaheer Khan limps off the field with a hamstring injury and that literally made sure that India lost the test and will decide the fate of the remainder of the series. Add to that Gautam Gambhir’s elbow injury which has left him out of the second test. Sachin falling ill is something that could happen to anyone and so can be left out of this discussion. But the spate of injuries continued in the second test with Harbhajan Singh; whose place in the side on away tours is increasingly being called into question; who pulled a stomach muscle. If players have been playing cricket non-stop for six months, this was bound to happen. The South Africa test series began in December and continued into January. The world cup began soon after that series. And the morons at the BCCI scheduled the IPL barely a week after the World cup. That gets over and the players leave for the West Indies. Thankfully, WI is now a team which would probably lose to most Ranji sides even and that really saved India the blushes.

With a high quality opposition coming up after the world cup, I fail to understand why the BCCI even scheduled the WI tour. It doesn’t even make ANY business sense. England is arguably the best test side in the world currently. Strauss and Cook are good openers but their middle order is fearsome with Trott, Pieterson, Bell and Morgan. These men are colossal players currently; they don’t have the stats like Tendulkar or Ponting, but are the real deal when it comes to the English batting. Matt Prior is proving to be an exceptional keeper batsman and I’m amazed how “kacha limbus” like Geraint Jones and James Foster even got a chance after Stewart. I guess the fact that Prior is yet another South African import to the English team delayed his debut. The bowling is definitely a class apart from that of the Indians. I feel off late England have become a good team is because it has consistently produced high quality bowlers. Agreed that none of them have really survived to have a long career that they’d be called greats but when one bowler has fizzled out, another has inexplicably arrived to take his place. Harmisson, Hoggard and Simon Jones destroyed Australia in 2005. They’ve all been relegated to County cricket. Today, England boasts front line bowlers like Anderson, Tremlett and Bresnan who are as good as any out there today. The reserves comprise Graham Onions and Steven Finn, who though relatively inexperienced are decent bowlers. I’d say definitely as good as Ishant Sharma because they are both as tall as him; perhaps even a few inches taller. Stuart Broad has decided that he can be the next Flintoff because his contributions in both these tests have been invaluable. And he’s getting quality opposition players like Tendulkar out regularly. Swann is currently the top spinner in the world I’d say and he can bat. So can all these other bowlers. With batting that deep, and India’s bowling unit that shallow, there’s not a lot MSD can come up with to even try to win the series.

Let’s face it; teams that were rated high quality have always had the best bowling and fielding attacks. According to me, you can win a greater percentage of matches if you have a stronger bowling line up and weaker batting line up than the reverse and India has always belonged to the latter group. West Indies had Marshall, Holding, Garner and Andy Roberts to destroy even the best of batsmen. And Australia until recently had McGrath, Gillespie, Lee, Warne and a slew of reserve bowlers who would have been front line opening bowlers in probably any other team.

The hallmark of a marauding team is total domination for an extended period of time. Australia and West Indies of old are two such teams that come to mind. They dominated not just test cricket, but one day cricket as well and they played to win and won by big margins in terms of matches. India has played consistently in tests off late and has not lost too many matches. But they have never really dominated quality opposition abroad. To do so will need preparation and foresight. I’m not saying they don’t work hard. They probably work way harder than you and I. But the BCCI needs to play smart. From a purely business point of view, with India having just won the cup, they need to capitalize on the cricket frenzy engendered by the win and ensure that it remains for a long time by defeating quality opposition consistently. They need to ensure that they provide the right balance of things to make this next decade ours.

Extortion in Canada!

The Canadian cellphone industry and I guess the cellphone industry in the United States as well indulge in what I'd like to call "Legal Extortion". Extortion, in the strictest sense is without a doubt illegal: forcing someone to pay up by threatening them is a monstrosity. Ironically, service providers in the big two North American nations fleece their customers left, right and center by charging exorbitant usage fees and befuddling them with vague and totally lame "plans" which they bandy about with glee at customers' faces.

First things first. The contract system, which in principle is an excellent idea whereby users essentially get their handsets for free by remaining "loyal" to service providers, is tweaked subtly by the "extortionists" so that customers eventually end up paying as much as they would for a new phone or maybe even more. It kind of reflects one of the important tenets of gambling: "The house always wins!" Certain companies have come up with schemes like the "tag" by Koodo mobile or "supertag" by Virgin mobile. You get your phone for free or at a subsidized rate and the rest of the list price is paid off by the company. How? Every month, a sum equal to 10 % of your bill is paid by the company towards the price of your phone. If you think just a little more, they're actually encouraging you to use more every month so that your phone's price is paid off faster! It is only slightly better than a contract because you aren't technically bound to one. But, the phone price would only get paid off if you remain with the service provider long enough. If you do exit earlier, you'd have to pay off the remainder of the list price. After that the phone's yours. But, there's no knowing if your phone would support a different service provider or the one you want. This is why the industry should adopt a system just like the telecom industries in Asia where you purchase your own cellphone and choose your service provider which does away with the locking and unlocking of phones. By the way, did I mention that there is also a charge to unlock cellphones?!?! You could do it yourself if you knew how to but you could end up with a bricked phone as well.

Next, you have a host of very confusing plans. Voice plans, data plans, student special plans, family plans etc. "We cater to your different needs" is what they tell you. Like hell!

The terms of each plan are marked with numbers or asterisks in the end forcing you to squint and read tons of fine print. Every plan is lacking in one feature or another and this forces you to purchase "add-ons". Whichever plan you choose, you end up paying pretty much the same for all the services you need. Also, the terms of each plan and the usage rates are subject to change "without notice". You would thus use a service for an entire month, assuming it to be free only to realize that you have to pay a bomb when you get your bill statement.

When you get your unexpected fat bill, you decide to take it up with the service provider and call customer care. From what I've heard, customer service executives are really stupid and dumb and at times can be rude and unhelpful as well. Not only is your bill statement reversed, you end up very angry and smarting with your experience with customer care. Sometimes, it takes hours for you to get hold of a customer care representative. Ultimately, you realize its no use arguing your case out because the customer reps too can give lame excuses for the mistakes of the company. I guess that's what they're paid for!

There are also a bevy of ancillary fees that have to be paid for and which the service providers conveniently relegate to fine print. There is a one time activation fee which needs to be paid when one gets a cellphone connection for the first time. This can be as high as 35 $. There is also a system access "privilege" fee which needs to be paid every month for using the service provided. (What the hell are we paying usage fees for then??). There are also several other ridiculous fees that have to be paid like emergency 9-11 fees and provincial regulatory fees. However, recently some providers have mercifully done away with these.

New start-up telecom companies attempt to rectify some of the evils of the system by providing better plans without contracts and activation and system access fees. They do gather a good base of loyal customers too. But the major players invariably try to acquire the company and in most cases succeed as well thereby stifling any healthy competition which would have helped lower costs and helped provide better service.

An individual belonging to a low income group can find such practices largely draining on his finances. One could argue that he could do away with using cellphones entirely but that is very unfair. A cellphone has become an essential need for people today.In most cases, it is a must today.

The current high rates and host of confounding plans in the North American market can be attributed to the small customer base in the land thus prompting service providers to recover costs and maintain high margins by charging the customer whimsically. However, I hope that in the coming years, the industry is reformed and that it is also the customer that benefits along with the service providers. As I mentioned earlier, they are clearly engaging in "legal extortion"!

TOEFL Scholarship Essay

(I composed this essay which was a prerequisite in applying for the TOEFL India Scholarship which I won!The following paragraph in bold was the topic of the essay following which is my response.)

Since Independence it has been India’s dream to ensure all children are enrolled in primary schools. However, drop-out levels are high despite many initiatives, such as

free schooling supported by the government’s Mid-day Meal Scheme. What new initiative would you recommend to ensure minimal schooling, and how would you

implement this initiative? Explain why your recommended initiative will be perceived as relevant by Indian society and why it will be effective.

Education is the most powerful instrument in bringing about social, economic and political change. They don’t say that knowledge is power for nothing. Feudal lords and despots of the past intentionally sought to keep the populace unenlightened as they considered an educated mind a threat to their hegemony. Today, education is a constitutional right in most countries of the world and everyone is entitled to an education regardless of one’s race, religion or nationality. Yet, there are still millions of people who still only dream of going to school and getting an education.

India is one such country where a large chunk of these millions of illiterates still live. Since Independence, the Government of India has implemented several schemes to ensure that the residents of even the remotest of villages get a chance to study. In spite of these initiatives, a large number of Indians still do not attend school. Many of them join a school but drop out after a few years. Urban areas of the country and a few progressive states have a high percentage of literates but the residents of the vast majority of villages cannot even read and write. On several occasions, parents do not let their children, especially girls to go to school as they themselves are uneducated and do not understand the value of knowledge. The Government offers monetary rewards, free housing and free lunches to those families which allow their children to study. However, simply luring people to study without them understanding the priceless nature of an education is futile. Also, there exist several shortcomings in the existing system of education like poor infrastructure, large student faculty ratios and poorly trained, uncompensated teachers. I believe all this is due to poor management of resources allocated for primary education as well as below par governance.

The initiative that I suggest consists of 5 parts:

a) Creating a department of education through an assimilation of elected political officials, officials from the corporate world and officials from NGOs

b) Creating a special fundraising team under the wing of the ministry of education dedicated solely to the task of raising funds from donors and philanthropists throughout the world

c) Making it compulsory for new graduates to undergo a short teaching service commission for a period of 3-6 months

d) Making effective use of educational propaganda to achieve a change in the outlook of the public

e) Modifying the current teaching methodology which underscores rote learning and changing it to education based on problem solving

The existing department which handles both primary and secondary education is the Ministry of Human Resource Development. I suggest a slight overhaul of the governing structure in that it should consist of not just the usual coterie of politicians but officials from the corporate sector and NGOs as well. The government officials should be selected on the basis of elections and portfolios assigned to them by the Prime Minister. Today, most corporations have a department of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the corporate officials in the ministry can be appointed by the elected officials based on their demonstrated CSR. A similar appointment of NGO officials can be made by the elected officials. Additionally, such a structure should be implemented at the union as well as the state or zonal level. Such a hierarchal structure would ensure effective governance of the educational system where corporate officials would be better able to manage funds and officials from NGOs would actually implement the policies and objectives of the ministry because of their interactions with people at the grass roots level. The involvement of government officials would be to ensure that a laissez faire system doesn’t develop.

Further, under the purview of this ministry, I recommend the establishment of a committee dedicated solely to the task of fundraising. Throughout the world, there are several altruistic individuals and organizations which would love to donate money to uplift the destitute and needy. Such a fundraising team can thus be an effective way in reaching out to such individuals. This income along with the compulsory educational tax levied on all goods and services produced and sold in the country; which is already in place, can help raise a sizeable amount of money, which can be used solely for providing better education.

This money which if effectively utilized can help create better infrastructure such as better school buildings, better laboratories, playgrounds and classrooms. Not only can the existing infrastructure be upgraded but new infrastructure can be set up. Salaries of teachers can be raised and they can also be paid on a regular basis thus prompting greater efficiency among the teachers. Also, time and money must be invested for training teachers so that the quality of education received by the children doesn’t suffer. A panel must be appointed to periodically assess the performance of the teachers themselves, in order to ensure that they are up to the mark.

In addition to teachers on a fixed payroll, introducing compulsory teaching for new graduates for a short duration of 3-6 months would help lessen the burden on the existing teachers and would also help reduce the student-faculty ratio. It would also expose the children to outstanding students from elite institutions in the country who could inspire them to continue studying and not drop out prematurely.

The mindset of the Indian public regarding education and work ethics also has to be changed. Only when all minds in the country are tuned to the same thoughts can change resonate through it. Radically changing the way we perceive education is one of the most important ways to garner national support to usher in a revolution in education. This can be achieved by effectively using educational propaganda through advertisements and short movies on not just government television and radio channels but private channels as well. Roping in popular and loved personalities like movie stars and sportsmen to encourage children to study will prove extremely beneficial. Individuals along the length and breadth of the country should be made to believe that denying their children an education is a crime.

Also, the emphasis in the vast majority of Indian Institutions is on learning by memorizing. This technique is the reason why most fresh Indian graduates are not considered to be job ready. Further time and effort has to be invested in brushing up their skills. Being a byproduct of the current educational system in India, I too have studied in the same way. If we continue in this fashion, all of the above initiatives will only partially fulfill our aim of gaining true knowledge. Therefore, the Indian educational system should be gradually changed to one which focuses more on problem solving and obtaining working skills which would prove more beneficial in the real world.

I believe that by implementing this plan, India’s long term objective of achieving cent percent literacy will surely be achieved. Every child in the country will eventually be able to attend school and more importantly complete his or her basic education by which time he or she would surely be able to appreciate its value. I believe that this initiative would prove successful because it is essentially a public private enterprise. Over the last couple of decades, public private enterprises have proved to be very successful in India. Ever since the Indian Government opened up the markets in the country to private entrepreneurs, the economy has flourished. Thus, I feel that this healthy partnership between the government and private companies and NGOs would help India make tremendous progress in education as well. I do not merely say this but I have observed it firsthand. The mid-day meal scheme is a national government enterprise implemented by all state governments in the country. This program which was pioneered by the painstaking efforts of K. Kamaraj, the congress president following the demise of Jawaharlal Nehru, has proved very effective in attracting scores of children to attend school. Yet, in many states, the mid-day meal scheme does not reach maximum efficiency due to gross misappropriation of funds, use of substandard food as well as food wastage. Most of the times, the same preparations are served to the children over and over again which makes the children feel jaded. Poor food quality and adulteration has sometimes resulted in a large number of children falling prey to several diseases. However, in the state of Maharashtra, the mid day meal scheme is managed entirely by the organization ISCKON and it has proved to be one of the most successful implementations of the scheme because of better governance. ISCKON is a not profit organization, albeit a religious one and ensures that the food they serve is of the highest quality. Thus, I believe that my plan coupled with the sustained efforts of all individuals in the country can help us achieve our objective of cent percent literacy and ensuring minimal schooling for all.

The importance of education in India is indubitably very important as we strive to achieve progress and meet our long term goals of eliminating illiteracy and poverty. If India is to achieve the status of a developed nation, it must expedite the process of revamping the educational system. As I mentioned earlier, changing the mindset of the Indian public is essential in making our country a progressive one and thus implementing my plan will have positive repercussions throughout our country.

Where there is true knowledge, there is light. The ancients in India possessed knowledge in abundance which is why our country was an economic, political and cultural superpower in the world at the time until the period of decadence set in. It is thus, the responsibility of the present generation of Indians to restore India’s lost glory and usher in a second golden age in our country which this time, lasts for all eternity.

A little bit of GRE Gyan!

GRE is a prerequisite to enter a masters program at most universities in the US and certain universities in Canada and TOEFL is required by all of them! Most people are falsely made to believe that these tests are really tough and that you absolutely have to have professional coaching to crack them.This fear is usually instilled in students by GRE training centers which come to college. However, from my experience, that is definitely not the case and that with proper focus and planning, most people can prepare for these tests by themselves.

Right at the outset, let me give you'll an idea about the structure of the test. The GRE test has a max score of 1600. It has two main section types, the results of which form your score: The quantitative section and the verbal section. The quant section essentially consists of simple math, arithmetic and geometry, though questions from probability and statistics have also been asked. It is 45 minutes long. The verbal section is without a doubt the tougher of the two and usually proves to be the downfall of most students and is 30 minutes long. There is also a writing section called the analytical writing section which consists of two essay type questions. This section is scored separately and does not count towards your score. The writing section is graded on a scale of 0-6, in half-point increments.Also the test is "computer adaptive". This means that the first question that you get will be of average difficulty. If you answer correctly, your next question would be slightly tougher, however if your answer is wrong, the next question would be easier. And this continues throughout the rest of the test. Therefore, to get a high score, it is very very important to NOT mess up the first couple of questions. Doing so would result in a lower score. By making the test computer adaptive, they have ensured that random guesses will really not help students much.

To get an admit to a masters program abroad, the first aspect that all universities consider is your academic profile. Contrary to what most coaching classes and your friends might tell you, the GRE is NOT the most important parameter. Believe me, it would be better to put greater efforts in acquiring a good percentage( around 65% and above) than just studying for GRE. In the end, your GPA or percentage is what counts. The GRE is merely an additional tool in helping universities select students. This however does not mean that getting a GRE score in not important. Students with both a good academic standing as well as a really good score in GRE are the ones who usually get admits to the top universities. Doing well in both is absolutely a must!

Prior preparation for the test is very important to do well on the day of the exam. Unfortunately, the usual study methods do not really work with GRE. I'm sorry to disappoint some of you but the GRE is a test of the skills in math and English that you have acquired over the years. So students who are weak in math or are not particularly comfortable with difficult English will surely have a tougher time preparing for the test. And sadly, they also do not perform particularly well in the test. Of course, working hard can surely help everyone. Now, the following methods were used by me and may or may not work for you, but they may at least give you some idea about how to go about your preparation.

The verbal section consists of sentence completion questions, analogies, antonyms and reading passages. The first thing to do is to start memorizing vocabulary words. Usually, students purchase a box of flash cards and start learning the words. These cards are definitely not exhaustive and you might encounter words never seen before as well. But flash cards at least help you get started. The best way to learn from the flash cards is to do a small number of words each day and keep on revising them from time to time. Also, sometimes you may already know the meanings of some words and so doing them again is a waste of time. So if possible, maintain a list of words you didn't know and keep on revising ONLY these. Once you're done with all the boxes of cards, you will eventually have a large list of words that you didn't know and you should now revise only this list.This, trust me, will save you a lot of time during revision. Ideally speaking, you should know all the words contained in the flash cards. This will surely increase your score in the final test. Also, vocab building will help you sentence completions(essentially fill in the blanks), antonyms( where you have to chose the correct opposite of the given word) and analogies.

Passages in GRE are just like those we had in 10th and 12th standard English. You read a passage and answer questions. But sadly, its not as simple as before. The passages are ridiculously difficult sometimes and selecting answers for the questions is tough too. You almost never get a direct question and almost always have to 'read between the lines'. Wild guesses are no help here as the test is computer adaptive. The only way to do well in this section is to practice as many passages as you can. This will help improve your reading speed and also give you an idea about the type of questions asked which definitely gives you an edge in the final test. No amount of coaching in classes will help you in this section. You just have to practice.

The quant section is comparatively much more easier than the verbal section. The only preparation you need is to revise basic maths, geometry, probability and statistics. After that, you really don't need to study anything as such. Again, practicing as many problems as you can will help you thereby giving you an idea about the type of questions asked. That is about all you need to do in maths.

The analytical writing section is only slightly different from the usual essays that you write. Also, all the questions that could possibly be asked on the test are available on the GRE site: www.ets.org

No one can help you much here because it completely depends on how you write and think. So you can accordingly prepare for this section.

Now there is a book called "The Big Book"( really the name of the book) which is a must for preparing for this test. I don't think that it is commercially available these days so you'll just have to ask your seniors or friends. This book has numerous actual GRE tests and sometimes you may encounter the very same questions from this book during YOUR final test. However, you may find the quant section in Big Book to be very easy and that in the real test, the quant questions are slightly tougher. Nevertheless, it will give you practice. The verbal sections of the Big Book contain classic GRE questions and are pretty much what you would see in the real test. So if you find that you're not doing really well in big book tests, then practice harder if you have the time or don't expect a good score at all. Those under-performing in the big book tests will NOT get a high score at all. I guarantee it!

Apart from these, there are several software tests which are available which you can either download from the net for free or borrow from friends. These tests are also very important because they give you a feel of the actual test and they'll help you in timing yourself effectively. Notes provided by classes are really a waste because they include extra tough questions which are usually never asked. Also, these very notes are used by MBA aspirants giving GMAT and CAT as well. So do not waste time going through classes' notes.

Now the best time to give the GRE is in the vacation after the even semesters. The vacation is longer(almost a month) and even if college starts, the first couple of months are really a joke with nothing serious going on. So it's best to sacrifice one vacation in your engineering student days and give your best shot for this exam. With proper focus and training, this test should not be much of a hassle for most students.

Fitness Struggles!

Damn my frail body man!I mean cmon man!Right now its plagued with injuries.

I've been working out in the gym these past 6 months. Before that I jogged like a marathoner doing almost 6-7, sometimes even 12 kilometers a day for a little over a year. I loved these sessions and missing even one of them made me feel like shit the next day. So basically I was pretty damn fit considering that I'm a student 'supposedly neck deep in study'. Anyway, things were going pretty well for a while. I loved the comments I got from people who were amazed at how fit I looked. I still get them though I'm not nearly half as fit as I was.

The trouble started way back in the September of 2009. I was doing parallel dips which is a free body exercise and something I was becoming pretty good at because I had raised the number of reps I could do from around 10 to 25,even 30. On this particular day I'm talking about, I was on the 12-13 rep and I heard a kind of little snapping sound somewhere near my left Trapezius. Well like any good fitness instructor will tell you, any such snapping should ring alarm bells in your brain and make you STOP immediately. But I continued anyway, finished my usual number of reps and felt that it might have just been a minor thing and that it should get sorted out by the end of my session. By the way, I was working my chest that day. I started doing horizontal bar bell presses. I loaded the rod. FIRST SET. Went by fine. I loaded some more. This time it was 25 pounds both sides. Even better. 30 pounds both sides. Goddammit!I couldn't lift even once!HOLY SHIT!What the hell's happening?!?!

I tried a coupla stretches.I tried everything. But no amount of stretching would make it okay.Well I had no choice but to leave the gym. I went home and put a hot water bag on the affected area.The next day I tried doing a few push ups but couldn't manage 'em without considerable pain in my back. I needed to visit a physiotherapist who told me to do some strengthening exercises and told me to stop working out for a while. I had officially got my first injury doing some kind of sport. The days went by and like I said before I felt like shit. I could relate so well with every sports person on the Earth, who at the prime of his career got injured and had to sit tight watching everyone else take away the glory and when he got back was a ghost of his former self. Hell look at Nadal!

Anyway, things got righted after a while and I started training again.This time it was even better. I could lift more and the size of my core muscles increased as well.Things were goin on just fine.

The year changed. A new decade began. Weeks before I had again developed a bit of soreness in my left shoulder which would manifest every time I stretched a bit more. But like before I thought the better of it and continued. Thankfully during the first 2 weeks of 2010 I wasn't in town and I didn't train. However when I got back I worked out for a week. But the pain persisted and I decided to give it a break. That was during the last week of January and up until now I've been at home sittin tight. FEELING LIKE SHIT!

Hell I even went to a doctor who gave me pills and asked me to rest which I diligently did. But this time, things aren't that simple. As I write, I still have that niggle in my left shoulder. I just dunno what I can do to get rid of it.

I decided a week ago that the least I can do is get back to good ol' jogging. Something I'm very good at. When I was in Bahrain this year, I jogged a couple of times and managed to do so without a worry. True, I couldn't run as much as I used to but I knew I could get back to those levels in no time. But during the last two days I've been jogging and my breathing and stamina have been amazing.But now there's a new problem.Damn it!After a while of jogging I experience severe pain in the shins. I even continued tolerating the pain, but after a while it was unbearable! So I go back home and check it out on the internet.It turns out that I've got something called Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome. Sounds terrific doesn't it? I just hate it. On the site, it says that I need some more rest and a bit more of physio.

Like I said earlier, I can truly relate to the injured sports star. Take Shane Watson of the Aussie cricket team. A major player, but for the first couple of years; in fact for most of the early part of his career, he had to sit out due to fitness problems. Stress fractures, knee problems, shoulder injuries you name it. Andrew Flintoff cut short his career due to his knee injuries which kept recurring. Rafael Nadal can barely manage to reach the peak levels that made him his best.

I can assure you that it's horribly frustrating. I just hope I can get over these injuries and get back on the circuit. I really can't wait. For a fitness enthusiast like me, sitting at home, hogging in front of the TV is not my idea of a life, though that's what I've been upto lately!

A day at work

The alarm rings at 5:30 without fail like it does every day. That’s the time when I should get my lazy ass off the bed and get it onto the toilet seat.(Lolz).Anyway, that doesn't happen until almost 8 when I finally tell my weak brain that it's time to go or you're gonna be late for college. With groggy eyes, I start scanning the newspaper; beginning with the sports page which is at the end of the main sheet; and moving slowly forward, as would an Arab reading an Arabic text. Once this chore is done, I get into the shower, do whatever it takes to make myself feel cleaner than I was before and get out feeling better.

Selecting what I wear is not really fun, though I do manage to surprise myself occasionally by finding a tee that I've never seen before. I then glance into the mirror. Satisfied with my appearance(sadly the mirror didn't crack), I stuff whatever I need into my run-of-the-mill bag, and get going downstairs, where the maid has half liter of milk and protein powder ready( On days when I'm good and I do get up early, I have a bowl of muesli with milk in addition to the usual).Gulping the milk and wolfing down the muesli as soon as I can, I don a clean pair of socks, get on my faithful rebok trainers and I'm out!

You might say that I am now a man on a mission. Nah! I'm just another engineering student going to college, not to get some useful stuff into my head mind you, I'm going solely because I need to sit for 75 percent of the lectures(A real good attitude to have don't you think?)And yeah, part of my plan for the day apart from just physically being present in the lectures is to chat up as many chicks as I can in college, on the way, basically wherever I get the chance. I’m damn good at this! Anyway, I reach college at 9 usually. I sit for the lectures in which I begin boring my friends to death with my far-fetched tales. My tales keep getting taller and taller and every damn day my friends resolve harder not to believe a word of what I'm saying. To them, anything that comes outta my mouth is miles away from the truth. Anyway, we somehow manage to plod through most of the lectures. In a couple of the lectures, we have to try hard not to fall asleep. Data Compression and Encryption wins hands down in the most-powerful-sleep-inducing-lecture competition! One fifteen on the clock signals the end of an era almost, that’s how long it feels sometimes.

We then march towards one of the empty tutorial rooms, a place which we fondly call the “Dining Room” for obvious reasons. A nice shared lunch replenishes all the energy which we exhausted in sleeping and chatting in the classroom, not to mention the pain we take to make the arduous journey all the way to Vasai and climbing up three flights of stairs all the way to the classroom! The rest of the break is spent in whiling away time discussing nothing in particular or, like I mentioned earlier, chatting up pretty girls.

Two-o-clock on my watch signals the end of what should have been a really long session. Anyway, as the practicals beckon us to attend, we make our way to one of our ramshackle labs, rooms in which we sometimes do useful work; otherwise most of the time is spent in brushing up our clerical skills. If there’s anything that I’ve learnt in these last four years, it’s how to become a first class clerk or secretary. Since it’s the final year, no practical session lasts longer than two hours. And if it happens to be Tuesday, like it is today, then the practicals are all the more fun because the professor (at least that’s what he considers himself to be or rather what those who’ve hired him consider him to be) is the lamest person I’ve ever met and has not the foggiest about the subject he’s about to teach, which has a charming little name-Discrete Time Signal Processing. Anyway, this time is put to good use watching movies behind his back (BOLT was excellent and so was Monica Belluci’s Malena). You pretty much get the picture.

Four-o-clock on my watch is the end of a highly productive day at college.