If you had 1 Crore to fight against terror, how do you think it should be spent?

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Below is what I have to say -

This is going to be a long post cause this seems to be the forum where we are discussing this.

I DO NOT believe that terrorism will ever vanish. No matter how hard we try and no matter what we do, there will always be attacks of this kind. There are 3 main things that drive terrorism today (according to me) – brainwashing, funding & training. None of these 3 things are going to go away anytime soon. The end of terrorist attacks is impossible and a world without such attacks will exists only in our minds/hearts & fairy tales. There will always be people who will do the wrong thing. I think it’s important to remember this and chalk out objectives keeping this in mind.

I think we need to see to it that 1) Such attacks are few and far between 2) We can deal with them when they happen in such a way that we minimize loss/damage 3) We deal with the aftermath in such a way that we minimize loss/damage

I don’t think 1 crore is enough and I know that this will have to be an ongoing effort to make any sort of impact

The few things I would love to see (and this isn’t restricted to stopping terrorism) –


1) A better crisis management system in place.

a.This would not just be restricted to the armed forces but would even things like transportation, hospital readiness, information dissemination, etc
b.This system should be able to deal with multiple threats – bombs (big and small), gunfire, bio-weapons, hostage situations etc
c.One central team that will take care of all the problems when the city is under threat and will be held responsible if things go wrong.


2) Stronger punishment for terrorists.

Why are we always doing politically correct things? We should be hanging people like this. Not keeping them in our jails. Do we want more Kandahars? Terrorists should know that if they come in, they will die. Why should you keep such people alive? What cause they are human? Seriously you can kill and eat a chicken which does no harm to someone but such people you want to keep alive?


3) Better communication and information systems during the time of an attack

Everyone is glued to their televisions and top officials cannot answer a simple question like ‘how many people do you believe are in the building?’ That’s ridiculous. If it can’t be told, say it is sensitive information but at least give some estimate. People want to know what is happening around them and if they see such people saying such things, it doesn’t build confidence and that is what creates more panic.


4) Dealing with terror that lingers.

We should have crisis centers or something, where people who are directly affected can get help. Fear is psychological and it’s a terrible feeling. People should have some place where they can go and get help. Being a hostage for instance is a mind-racking experience (I would assume). Such people should get free therapy if possible. This could be for common citizens or people in the forces etc


5) Dealing with ineffective officials

There needs to be an accountability system. Anyone gets away with anything in this country. Someone must be responsible to see that such attacks are dealt with properly. And if screw ups happen, I would like to see a proper punishment being given. Whether it is someone in the armed forces or in politics or in the media, there should be NO EXCEPTION. I mean I am hearing people say that the Gujarat coast guard had warned about the terrorists in advance (could be a rumour) and what were people who are in-charge doing? Sleeping?


A few other things I would love to see is –

1) More religious leaders coming out and condemning acts of terrorism (and no I don’t just mean Muslim priests. Nearly every religion has blood on its hands). Not just some small thing after some attack but regularly and to a big group of people. Maybe we need to create a forum (not an online community) for such a thing. I think something like this will make it a little more difficult to recruit ‘jihadis’. Religion is a nice excuse for terrorism and things must be done to correct this.

2) International pressure AND aid to countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc where there are terrorism training camps. Such places need to be destroyed. Again it won’t stop terrorism but will make it difficult to train people and thus reduce the occurrence of attacks. If the governments are pro-terrorism, there should be ways to deal with it. Maybe we should petition for such things.

3) Better situational education/situational sensitivity for the common man (restricted to the big cities is good enough). Common people should know first aid. They should also know things like not getting in the way of any operation that might be on (like it happened today at Taj). There can be educational documentaries created and aired on TV for instance.

I am sure I can go on. There must be a ton of things that I haven’t even thought of. Will add more later.

Why politicians will never fight terrorism seriously

I remember Asfaq writing a tweet about fire again at the Taj and I replied to him saying 'A lot of people in this city would cry, if major damages happen to the Taj'. After about 30 seconds I realized that it was such a terrible thing to say because here were more than a hundred people dead and I would be crying about destruction of a building? What sort of a low-life am I? And then thankfully it struck me that the destruction of the Taj would have been a PERSONAL LOSS. I didn't know anyone who died in the attacks. I didn't know anyone who was injured. So the sympathy I feel is sympathy. It's a sadness that is distant and generic. About the state of affairs. About what happens in this city. About the insanity the world is facing.

But if something happened to the Taj structure, the sadness I would have felt would be because of personal loss. Lots of memories are linked to that hotel. Most of them when I was younger. It was a place I use to be at. It was a place I ate it. It was a place I would laugh with my family. It was a place where I use to drink cold coffee. Attended wedding functions in its halls. Ran around the corridors if none of the adults were looking. Sat in the lobby feeling so great of being in a 5 star hotel. If something happened to it, Mumbai just wouldn't seem the same. It IS a landmark of this city. It represents history and it represents progress.


This thought got me to the answer of why politicians will never fight terrorism seriously. It's not personal to them. They don't feel the loss. They don't feel the loss of the people who die. They don't feel the loss of the damage to property. They don't even personally get affected by the loss to the economy or the image of the country/city.

We all know that very few of our politicians have this dying love for our country. They have love for power, they have love for publicity etc. An attack on average citizens doesn't affect them. They just make big talks and show fake sympathies and declare big compensations because they want to stay in power or want to get in power. I would love to see what would happen if a lot of politicians and their families faced losses because of terrorist attacks. I am sure they will change lows and I am sure they will make a bigger noise. I am sure they will come down hard on terrorist outfits inside the country and will also come down hard on those outside the country.

I also don't believe that normal average individuals who do face losses in such attacks can really make a difference because they don't have resources. Yes it is all nice to say and hear things like we just need the will. That there needs to be determination and we will achieve what we want. Sorry I don't believe it is doable. You NEED MORE than just the will to make a difference. Even groups of individuals that want to join and help the cause will fall short is what I feel. Unless of course you have so many of these individuals that those who don't want to make a difference become a very small minority.

The government needs to wake up. We need to wake up.

To Be Continued...

It was a long night and it's been a long day. Let's hope we don't have another long night...

I was thinking earlier that no one in this city will ever forget the 26th and 27th of November.


But I know better. Once this is over, people will remember for a few days and they will forget. We will hear stupid things like 'the spirit of Mumbai' and 'Mumbai will bounce back' and rubbish like that. Why can't people understand that the common man doesn't have a choice. The common man can't stay locked up in his house all day long. He can't have police protection 24x7. He can't go live in some other city till he feels like coming back.


When the bomb blasts happened on 11th July 2006, I wrote a blogpost and said

The worse part about this blast will be that, Mumbaikars will become survivors and saviors and after 2 days life will be back to normal - and everyone will sing praises about how great the spirit of Mumbai is and nothing will be done to stop this happening again and again and again. I really wish the people of this city would stop accepting these incidents as 'things that just happen' or things that you can predict and prevent.

And unfortunately I feel the same will happen again. People will just go back to their routine and very soon forget this incident.

I also realized that more than 2 years ago I also wrote that "we should have a better crisis management plan, we should have better intelligence, we should have harsher punishments, we should demand more accountability". I will change that line today to say that we NEED to have better crisis management infrastructure, more accountability on our government and a better way of dealing with terrorists we capture.

It's tragic how history repeats itself and how we never seem to learn.

All the emotions....

It's strange how fear turned into anger which turned into sorrow which turned into impatience which turned into numbness.

Been watching news all days and right now I don't want to know anything at all. I just want it to end.

***************************

Numbness turned into anger again. Anger turned into sorrow. Sorrow turned into disbelief (that this was still going on). Disbelief turned into fear (with the channels being blocked and rumours starting to spread).

Will it ever end?

Firing and Explosions in Mumbai

I can't stop thinking how such a boring usual day turned into this.

It's 2:10 and the attack just doesn't seem to be ending.

Mumbai has been under terror attacks before. 3 major ones. The 1st one I was too young and the other two hit a city I lived in. But this attack hit home because it happened in South Mumbai. When Mumbai is attacked, I feel the city I live in is under attack but South Mumbai being under a terror attack feels like my home is being attacked. I hate the idea of someone coming to my home and doing what ever the hell they liked.


Also I never remember crying about a terror attack anywhere ever. But hearing about 3 top cops dying just shook me up too much. I mean these were people who walked into a difficult situation just so that all of us could be safer and this nightmare could come to an end. My heart goes out to the police force that lost brave officers today and to the families of those 3 officers.


I keep thinking how messed up could someone be to do something like this. I mean you are obviously not normal if you walk into a station with a gun and then just open fire. Or decide to blow up a place with a grenade. And these were 20 something year olds. They are kids man. Seriously how messed up can someone be?


It's now nearly 4 hours since the attack started and nothing seems to be slowing down. Every hour that has passed since 10:30 has just brought news of more firing and explosions. More deaths and injuries. And the attack got worse when it became a hostage situation.


The security forces weren't prepared for this. How can they be? I mean I keep hearing that there is so much chaos out there. But what else will be there? You don't plan for some 10 - 12 people walking into a place with AK-47s and opening fire. At least not until it happens for the first time. I don't blame the government and I don't blame the police for not being able to finish off this situation faster. There is a limit to things they can do. I do blame terrorist organisations.


I honestly think that if there will ever be a solution found to terrorism, it will be India that finds it mainly because we seem to be the ones that face the problem the most.


I want to thank all those people who messaged and called to ask if everything was alright. Appreciate it.


Deccan Mujahideen behind the attacks. No one seems to have heard of them before tonight but I am sure few (at least in Mumbai) will forgot the outfit after today.




Update - 2:45 AM

80 feared dead and over 200 injured. I remember thinking at 11 PM, when we started listening to the news 'wow thank god the attack has started late. It would have been so much worse if it had started earlier'. Of course back then we were mainly heard about CST and Colaba and my thoughts were focused around attacks on the trains. Unfortunately the focus has shifted now to mainly the hotels - Taj and Oberoi where there is a hostage situation.


I even think I heard a couple of blasts. I remember the first sound going off and thinking 'hmmm firecrackers'. The second one was louder and more distinct and didn't sound like any firecracker I had heard and I thought 'maybe thunder' of course right away I thought 'where's the lightning?' and then thinking that maybe it was some accident at one of the construction sites close by. It was loud enough that my sister came into the hall from the room and asked me what I thought the sound was. She insisted we put on the news - this was around 10:40-10:50 PM and I was like 'are you crazy? What's going to show up on news and that too so soon'. But we turned it on and reports were already coming out about firing and blasts.


Hearing the sound and then listening to the news of terrorist attack reminded me of the blasts in 1993. For a few seconds it felt like I was back in that class in school, sitting in the Marathi lecture, doing some writing. Everything quiet till this huge sound happened, that scared the living day lights out of all of us. The earth shook under us. For at least 5 seconds everyone just froze and looked around at each other not saying anything. And when we started getting 'excited' our teacher told us to get back to our work and went out to find out what happened. After a few minutes (10-15 maybe) we got to know what had happened. Not in detail of course. And obviously we couldn't really understand cause we were 10-11 years old. And I remember the frantic sort of 'evacuation' that happened that day in school. Parents rushing to school to pick up their children. Car pools being organised real quickly. Class teachers making phone calls to parents. Parents living close by offering to take as many children as needed to their own house till their own parents arrived.

Never understood terror back then. Maybe I don't understand it now either (though I have felt real fear in my life - for other reasons). But back then none of us kids thought of horrible thoughts like if a bus was safe enough to get onto, or if we would return home in the evening once we left for the day, or whether our dads would be okay at their office, etc. I think we all think that in this country now. At least every once in a while.




Update - 3:25 AM


F**k man it kills me to see the Taj hotel burning like this. I thought the flames were put off. I hope the fire brigade can put these flames out. It seems to be spreading really fast and I fear the damage it will do if it's not put out soon will be terrible. Both the Taj and the Oberoi use to be our 'hang out' when we had visitors from abroad. Back then there was no Barista and Cafe Coffee Day outlets so the coffee shops of the Taj and Oberoi (and Taj President) was where we would take are guests especially after dinner. Who would have though that this would happen? It's been more than 5 hours since the attack started and it just isn't ending. Shit this is depressing.


The have rounded up 9 suspects for questioning and 2 terrorists are dead.



Update - 10:07 AM


I cannot believe that the ordeal is still not over.


I went to sleep around 5:20 AM cause I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Last news update I heard before sleeping was that some 200 NSG persons were on their way to Mumbai and would arrive within 30 minutes. I went to sleep thinking that everything would be over in an hour or so.


When I woke up around 9:20 (had to make grandma's breakfast), I was horrified to see that the ordeal wasn't over. My sister was watching the news and she said that the terrorists are still in both hotels and when I asked her about the Taj Hotel, she said it was still on fire and they kept saying that every time they douse the fire, it starts up again after a while because the wiring is up there or something.


Aren't these terrorists tired? I am tired just listening to the news for so many hours. All my sympathies to everyone who is right in the middle of this.


Ruiyu just called me from China. I was thinking 'wow it's so nice to hear her talk rather than read what she is saying but what a terrible time to talk to her. I can't even really catch up with her and we can't talk non terror stuff'.


I am going to go back to sleep and am hoping that when I wake up in about 2 hours or so, I don't hear news that says 'Terrorists still holed up at Trident and Taj'.



Update - 1.56 PM


I realized how much being an optimist sucks today.


The situation is still on. Hostage situation at the Taj, the Trident and at Nariman House. I thought this would be over before 7 AM. At 10:30 when it was still on, I went back to sleep hoping that when I wake up after 2 hours it will be over. It wasn't. The news at 1:40 was just as grim at at 10:30.


I remember thinking last night 'thank god they don't have bombs'. Today morning hearing Bharka Dutt talk about how such operations happen in Jammu and Kashmir, I realized that the absence of bombs isn't really as good a thing as I thought it was because such attacks are usually done in this manner where these terrorists go in willing to die and do so with guns and grenades. And usually these episodes last long and even up to 48 hours till they finally burn the building down. That last line totally freaked me out. I hope no more damage happens to innocent lives and property. If I can find what Barkha said verbatim, I will copy paste it later.




Update - 8:10 PM


Man how can something like this go on for 24 hours?


I keep thinking whether our police force and all the special squads are messing up. I do understand that this is a huge ordeal and that there are been terror attacks before where people have been held hostages for days but I can't help thinking why things didn't happen faster.

I heard a CNN reporter say 'why wasn't there no intelligence about this?'. Having just watched season 1 of 24 I had thought the same thing too. I keep thinking how cool it would be if real life was a TV show. Where the hero always saves the day. Where good presides over bad. Where miracles happen.


I also keep thinking why it is they can't give us numbers of how many people might have been in both the hotels. This might be sensitive information which they don't want to give out. But by not giving a number, I am wondering if they themselves know. Which is terrible because as part of the rescue operations all the special forces first need to know how many people are there and where they are.


Didn't heard Ratan Tata's interview with the press but read a scroll on some news channel and I think he made a lot of sense. If we know that terrorist attacks are going to keep happening, why not get a better infrastructure into place. It's not just about people dying or property getting destroyed. It is also about the quality of life of ordinary people. Why should people live in so much fear? The government and police should do more to make citizens of this country feel more safe.


Also I am so damn pissed at seeing people walk around the Taj hotel. I mean it's no f*****g entertainment program happening there that people want to come and have a look for themselves. Yes I do understand that curiosity is in our nature but how does it help by creating more work for the armed forces? Also don't they understand that it might not be safe yet? If they so want to be in the midst of things why don't they just walk into the hotel and go knocking on doors? And worse all these people who have no work are pushing each other to be on TV behind a reporter or something. Why are people so retarded?



Update 30th Nov

I had written that I didn't blame the government. Back then a few hours after the attacks started, I didn't. 60 hours to take care of the problem is just unacceptable.

I got so fed up of watching the news. My thoughts were blank more than anything once we hit the 40 hours mark. It felt like I was going indifferent to everything that was happening at the hotels.

Also I am glad I was so pissed about people walking around the Taj. I thought I was being unreasonable. But see it wasn't over. I am glad no one got hurt but I hate when people are stupid.

Totally lost practice of being a lefty on the mouse...

Well okay it's like cycling (or swimming as I hear), once you know how, you stumble a little when you re-start but in no time are back to the level you were at before you left.

Sanjeev asked me 'So you missing your office computer aren't you?'
And I said 'If yes will make you happy then yes but actually I am missing having a computer of my own. Don't like sharing the machine with a bunch of people'

And it's true. Not that I like sharing to begin with but you know most people like their folders a certain way, like certain types of software, don't like certain types of software, like naming things a certain way, like different sort of wallpapers etc.

Anyway lefty today on the mouse. Tomorrow Mom will be back and so the mouse will go back to the right side.

It was always HILARIOUS when people came to my computer at work and tried to work on it. They would die trying to use the mouse (except Sanjeev and Gautam. Bhavna would stuggle also in spite of having her mouse on her left because she doesn't switch the primary and secondary buttons) . And if they finally managed, they would nearly faint seeing my keyboard. I had at least 10 keys where the lettering had disappeared or were half gone.

To good times :)

It's not my fault...

I can't help it if you are stupid enough not to realize that don't don't have to like me.

You can even detest it and let it show. I wouldn't care. Because people I want should like me, I try really hard to see that they do like me so if you aren't getting that liking feeling towards me, it's probably because I don't want you to like me to begin with.

Please observe 25th November as a Meatless Day.

http://www.sadhuvaswani.org/meatlessday.html

Where should it go?...

Stop thinking. I'm talking about a display/status message/update. Man it's like all IMs allow you to have a display message. Then there is Facebook that now has status updates. And there is Twitter. (And I am sure there are a lot more places to put such messages).

And I keep wondering now days which message should go where. If there should be only one across all (which actually can turn out to be a very bad idea) or whether only some should have updates and others shouldn't etc.

Ah well I guess I am some days going to get bored of all these display messages. And of course that day will be the end of this blog (I guess).

Huh...

Weirdest thing happened yesterday. Like most people, I have more than 1 Google account. You can be logged into only 1 Google Account in 1 browser at any given point in time. But yesterday my Gmail opened with one login and when I tried to get my Google Reader, it was logged in with another account. I was quite surprised and hit refresh on both and neither got logged out. Don't know what happen. All I know is that I wasn't hallucinating.

I was wondering how Google or Firefox fixed it and made it work like this. Also I was happy because I remember the days of having to be logged into at least 2 AdWords accounts at the same time and having to deal with a non-tabbed IE browser (very annoying).

Well of course it didn't work after and I am thinking something might have got cached a certain way or something.

Though today morning something weird happened too. I open the browser, type gmail into the address bar and was logged in automatically - I don't think I was too sleepy to have imagined it happening this way. It didn't happen again and I am wondering if my mind is playing games with me and trying to make me feel that all my wishes are coming true hehe.

Liking the hindi songs that are currently out there...

A huge bunch of nice Bollywood songs doing the rounds.

Dil Kabaddi, Yuvraj, Ghajiji, Sorry Bhai, Rab Ne Banadi Jodi all have a couple of good songs.

Happy Birthday Trig...

So glad we chatted. Cheers to the good old time.

Hoooodeeeeeeeeeee....

Hode is 'damn' (I forgot in which language and I also forgot why I was saying damn....)

:D - all 32 teeth :D

Hugh Jackman named 2008's Sexiest Man Alive (People Magazine).

:D

Liking the ability to customize gmail even though the themes arent that great...

Let's hope we see a lot more themes very soon :)

If I don't believe in love nothing will last for me...

Relax. It's just a line from a song :D

I think I am a fan of Dido. Not a die hard one but I do like a lot of her music.

I don't really understand the lyrics a 100% to be honest but the song sounds great.

Enjoy.




[Am assuming it is the right song - don't have sound on my computer currently]


The Lyrics -

I wanna go to bed
With arms around me
But wake up on my own
Pretend
That I'm still sleeping
Til' you go home

Oh
I can't look at you
This morning
I should probably have a sign
That says
'Leave right now or quicker'
You've overstayed your time

If I don't believe in love
Nothing will last for me
If I don't believe in love
Nothing is safe for me
When I don't believe in love
You're too close to me
And that's why
You have to leave

Maybe I slept peaceful
On your shoulder
Your arm warm around my side
But it's different now
It's morning
And I can't face your smile

The second that I feel
Your safe hands
Reaching out for mine
I slip away and out of sight
You've ovestayed your time

If I don't believe in love
Nothing is good for me
If I don't believe in love
Nothing will last for me
When I don't believe in love
Nothing is new for me
Nothing is wrong for me
And nothing is real for me

When I don't believe in love
Why do you care for me?
When I don't believe in love
Nothing is real for me
If I don't believe in love
You're getting to close to me
And that's why you have to leave
And that's why you have to leave

If I don't believe in love
If I don't believe in love
If I don't believe in love
Nothing is left for me
If I don't believe in love
You're too good for me

Very Audio-Visual

I just realized that when it comes to learning I am a very audio-visual person. I hate learning by reading.

Whatever I need to learn should come to me in an audio-visual manner to be most effective and most easily digestible. I also don't mind learning by doing - you know trial and error.

I guess it is my laziness...

Today doesn't happen...

And tomorrow never comes...

Tagging tagging tagging

I have decided never to carry my camera around or at least not take pictures of people (I know). Everyone wants their pictures up on Facebook.
I'm tired of tagging.

Sensitive teeth...

Got my cavity filled up and now my teeth (or maybe just tooth but it feels like a bigger area than just a tooth) are sensitive around the tooth that got filled. Annoying. Will call up the dentist tomorrow and ask her if this is normal. My sis insists she went through the same thing nearly 2 weeks ago when she got her cavity filled up.

Man I had forgotten what it felt like to have a cavity fixed. It was actually painful. Of course I was an idiot to go in believing it's no big deal. If I would have anticipated a lot of pain it would have been a breeze but I thought it would be nothing at all. Stupid.

Anyway can't really blame myself too much. Didn't remember what the experience was like.

Glad it's over and done with and I am hoping for the next couple of years that I go to my dentist she says - 'oh nothing wrong with your teeth. They're just perfect'.

So lost...

Trying to install wordpress for a domain I bought and am sure I am doing something very wrong cause I keep getting some or the other error.

Man I am so not a self-learner if the learning isn't audio-visual :(

Will have to go back and read everything properly and re-do stuff or I'll just go tomorrow and ask Sanjeev to show me how the needful is done.

Uploading...

Well not really because it is more like trying to upload...

a webpage.

Aghhhh sometimes I feel so challenged (not the contest type but the retarded type)

Oye lucky lucky oye

I can't believe the amount of people who asked me what happened or why I'm lucky.

Hehe actually it's 4 words from a song :)

Enjoyyyyyy

[PS - I don't have my sound card or whatever it is installed so can't really hear if it's the right song but it should be - if you don't hear 'oye lucky lucky oye oh lucky lucky oye' somewhere in the middle then it's the wrong video]

Porridge Girl...

We my mom is thrilled because I now don't mind eating porridge. I was thinking how come it is that I use to hate porridge before and can so readily eat it now and I realized that everyone has their own preference to how porridge should be - how sweet, how hot, what ingredients, etc

I like my porridge lukewarm, super soft, mildly sweet and without eliechi (don't know mother and grandmothers obsessions with the spice).

Whenever I tried porridge before it was too hot with too much elaichi and sometimes black pepper or too sweet.

Different people...different taste buds. Make me sure that vegetables I don't like eating now, I would like if they was made different.

Of course there is a life lesson here - which is that different ingredients and different conditions make up life. Not one set of conditions or ingredients is right for everyone. Most people might manage with some standards but not all. And if people do accept what they are given and don't like it, they won't be happy. They would prefer having no porridge to having distasteful porridge (unless there is no food at all in which case anyone will eat anything). I think I am saying all this quite badly but you get the picture right...

Aghhhh my net sucks...

Had a lot of trouble with my internet yesterday and today having problems with my computer. If there is a God I think he doesn't want me online ;)

Burning Insides...A lot more...

In the previous post where I mentioned home remedies, I was talking about something we call 'kaadah' - its like a spices tea of sorts. I tried 2 variations and it did not help. Variations meaning different spices in the mix.

So anything last night my sister suggests one more remedy when the whole 'take brandy' discussion is happening. She suggests honey and ginger juice (warmed). I don't know why I didn't remember this earlier because I use to hate having this as a kid. Maybe that's why I didn't remember it earlier.

Well fortunately or unfortunately, I had also forgotten to some extent how this tasted. When I had some today, I didn't mind the taste so much as much as how much my insides felt on fire. Jeez this was stronger than brandy honey and black pepper if you can believe me. Anyway I am thinking if I feel like this is killing me, it should be killing all the cold congestion I have.

I'll try this stuff for about 2-3 more days. If it doesn't help at all, I am totally stopping cause this is torture. Of course I think that if I take these things often enough I might just get immune to the sensation.

Anyway time will tell...lets see what happens...

Burning Insides...

Man I am so not a pro-alcohol person. If I have to drink it will be highly diluted or something very mild. But mostly I don't drink at all especially since the last 7-8 months.

Anyway I have this cold congestion and home remedies and steaming aren't really helping (maybe doing them wrong or not enough) so Mom suggested to take some brandy with honey and black pepper. So I did and I so don't like brandy (kept remembering 'cognac sharab nahi hoti' dialogue lol).

Well lets hope I don't have to do this too often.

Haule Haule...

Song really grows on you. I disliked it the first 2 times I heard it (maybe cause of SRK) but it keeps coming on TV and now I actually like it a lot.

Music Directors - Salman - Sulaiman. They make great music.

Enjoyyyy

Monday Morning...

Just like Sunday Morning...

:) :) :)

R.I.P. Mr.Crichton

Michael Crichton passed away on Nov 4th. I didn't even know he had cancer.

Really sad about this because he was my favourite author. Not that his books were so damn brilliant that I kept re-reading them over and over but his style and his topics were like no other. I haven't read any author who even comes close to the skill Michael Crichton displayed in his various books.

1) He wrote about technology
2) He wrote about complex matters
3) He made technology and complex matters simple to understand
4) All his writing seemed so in-depth and at the same time so easy to follow because he would give a lot of details but would put it in such a simple manner that anyone could understand
5) He wrote on varied topics. No two books he wrote were the same (unless you think of Jurassic Park)

He was only 66 years old :(

I think I will always walk into a library and feel bad that there will be no more new Michael Crichton novels :(

If Ellen DeGeneres can sleep at 10 PM

I can manage by mid-night.

Been sleeping before 00.01 Hrs and been waking up a little after 8 A.M.

:)

Of course I didn't have a working computer the last 3 days.

But I am determined. I will sleep by 11:30 P.M. every night and start waking up by 7 A.M.

Sumita I think I'll catch you more in your night than in your day time hehe.

Ghar jaane de...thhod mori baiyaan....

The lines from the 'Fashion' theme song. Totally love the way they are sung.

OMG I have a cavity...

I CANNOT believe it. I actually have a cavity. Haven't had one in at least 8 years.

:*(

Was depressed when the dentist today me and I hate that I went for a check up (not out of the blue but lots of pestering from Mom and sisters appointment to get her cavities filled up).

But she said it was still early which is good cause the cavity isn't deep. And will get it fill up in a week.

This totally sucks. I always prided (the word sounds sooooo wrong but it is in an online dictionary) for having good decay free teeth. I guess I have to be more careful.

Worse news was that the dentist mentioned to my sis that fillings might need repair / touch-up every 5-7 years. Damn I couldn't help but think what a crime it is to have cavities early in life. And someone should scare us about stuff like this because I surely didn't know and I would definitely have been less lazy as a kid if I knew the torture never ends.

Rant Over.

404...

The error I have been getting on my domain :(

I think it's a blogger issue cause everything else seems fine. Will try again in a day or two to redirect my ppc blog to my domain.

Congrats Bhavna...

[Bhavna K not Bhavna S]

She just got engaged :)

ummm half engaged sorta actually.

Best wishes to her.

The Reach Camp

The Reach Camp - our very own Amazing Race in Goa. Actually it was better than the Amazing Race because there was no selection of people who would take part in it. Everyone had to be part of the race. Why? Because this was our last training activity at our Off-site of '08.

The race was quite simple - everyone would get dropped of at a common spot and each team (all Pinstormers were already split into 12 teams, each consisting of between 7 to 9 people) along with the 'Outdoor Expert' (OE) would have to travel from one point to another across Goa. Sounds simple doesn't it. It actually is easy except that there were a few 'catches' -

1) Each team member was given 1 packet of Tiger biscuits
2) Each team member was given 1 litre of water
3) Each team member was given Rs.20
4) Each team was given 1 map.
5) Only 1 mobile phone per team was allowed and this couldn't be used except to call the organizers and find the next destination to get to once we were at our destination.
6) There was a time limit of 19 hours from the drop off to the final destination.
7) At no point in time was any member of the team to be separated from the group.

Think 19 hours is a lot? Well not for 80 kilometers. Yup 80 kms was the distance we had to cover with only a few packets of biscuits and few litres of water. Of course water and biscuits could be purchased as could accommodation but really what can you do with Rs.140 -Rs.160 for 7-8 people? The organizers were a little nice to us and said that we could buy from them water, biscuits and blankets (remember 19 hours) for discounted rates.

So at around 5:30 P.M. we go dropped to our drop off point and were given our first stop of the race which was at least a distance of 8 kms. Obviously most of us thought we had to walk the race and figure out ways to find cheap travel means etc but then our OE very correctly told us that we could decide. We could walk, take a bus, hitch a ride, run or do whatever we liked to get to the spot. Well obviously we decided hitching a ride is the best thing to do. And obviously every other team decided the same. So here we are on this road, some 100 odd people, all pointing their thumbs outs for a ride. Big city people and some foreigners too screaming out to truck drivers the location of where we wanted to go.

Now the post talks about my team specifically and what happened to us. I don't remember the names of all the places we stopped at but it's the journey that counts. My team consisted of Netra, Savita, Jigar, Manish, Jayant, Vinod and myself and not to forget our OE, Rahul. The guy is a hardcore mountaineer. I believe he has led expeditions to the Himalayas.

So the first van that stops for us, is filled with 6 - 7 people already but the driver tells us to get on. Now that van could had taken about 3 people more but guess how many jumped in...yup 8. Crazy ride with Rahul and Vinod standing on the edge of the van and holding on for dear life. Okay that's a little exaggeration but if they did slip, it would be major injuries for sure. Man I have been in cramped cars many times but never like this. The poor people who were already sitting inside couldn't understand what the hell was happening. The were more like village people and couldn't understand what we meant by a race/competition and having no money and only biscuits and a long distance to cover.

Anyway they were great. I bet they were super happy when we got off at our stop. We gave hearty thanks to the driver and he just kept laughing.

We saw another team just in front of us getting into a mini truck and we ran to catch them. While running I was on the phone with Shekhar (organizer) asking him which is the next stop. By the time me and the OE got to the truck, a huge fight was happening amongst some members of my team and the team members who were already in the mini truck. Oh the other team was super nasty but like they say, all if fair in love and war. So they drove off and we started all over again to stick our thumbs out.

We got into this Sumo and it was brilliant cause this guy was going in the same direction that we had to go and therefore ended up dropping us at 4 stops. Yipeee. Of course each time we got to a stop, all of us had to get off and make the man wait till we got the name of the next stop. He was a nice man. An electoral officer if I remember correctly. By the time he dropped us off, I bet he wasn't thinking nice things about us hehe. At hearing what he was doing he expressed the same sentiment that ALL our drivers who understood what we were doing expressed. That of confusion at how a company can set up such a task and how they can let us out loose in Goa with no money and such a long task.

Well we went on like this for quite a while, some times ahead of teams, sometimes behind teams. The few things that everyone in the team did for the first time which we never thought we would do were -
1) Ride inside a truck - with the driver and his assistants
2) Ride on coconuts - yup a truck was transporting coconuts and we just got on top of them
3) Being drive around by a millionaire in his Maruti SX4

Well my team and Balas team finished the whole race and got to the last point. All the other teams did not have that privilege because the cops found a couple of teams hitching ride and were not amused. I mean they were pissed because Goa after 10 can be quite deserted especially some of the roads that were on our course. And hitching rides especially in trucks isn't really safe. So the game had to be stopped and all the team except both that were already at the last spot were gathered at the Hanuman Mandir and were transported back by the organizers cars and some that were being hired. Unfortunately for the 2 teams that finished, they had to start walking back towards the hotel. Trust me having finished the race and sitting on the sidewalk for an hour and a half and seeing nearly no traffic pass by, to be told that we have to walk back to the hotel cause there are problems with the cops and the other teams, was not fun. Both teams figured that finally we would have to do that which we didn't do much of in the whole race - walk for an hour or two. But what can I say, fortune favours the brave. After about 10 - 15 minutes of walking, we found a mini-bus come along our way. And the driver dropped us to our hotel. Of course he got paid for it.

Anyway great learning from the whole activity. For all those who were involved. Some of the most important lessons from the race are those that apply to nearly everything in life.

1) We all go into the race thinking it would be the worse thing on earth and impossible to complete. It wasn't. It was way easier than we expected and a lot more fun that we thought possible. Life is always different from behind the start line. Only once you start running do you see things as they really are. Being uselessly worried about things before you know enough to be worried is foolish and unproductive

2) Our preconceived notions can we things that hold us back. Every single person in the race was amazed at how helpful the people of Goa were. No one entered the race believing that we would get the kind of help we go. I mean most of us as a strategy decided to stop trucks because car owners would say no to us. Or so we wrongly though. I heard of teams that got up to 8 members into Santro's and Maruti 800's.

3) No matter what you do and how you do it, you are creating an experience. A memory. It will stay with you for life (unless you get Amnesia or something). And each of these memories will be cherished when you look back at them (provided of course they are good memories and that nothing horrible happened to you)

4) If you work together and really hard, you can surpass anyones expectations. We had up to 19 hours to finish the race. The teams that did finish the race did it within 7 hours. Not one single person in any group thought about where they would stop and rest for the night. Even at 11 a lot of tired teams decided only to push further rather than stop for the night and start in the morning.