Perspectives and perceptions

Take charge of your own things, no one else will do it for you. I suffered from lack of proactiveness on my part, and I'm going to literally have to pay for it. Rs. 1,000/- for not having submitted my CET form in time, a literal way to show that you got to take charge. Well, life, I'm now listening!

Noticing spelling errors and typing errors is instinctual to me, and just today I was reading this form of Maharashtra CET and there was an error about filling the form given "bellow" The word mentioned above is a correctly spelt word but is incorrect within the context, and so I was wondering, I wish Microsoft had contextual spelling! When I came home today, I logged into google and checked for contextual spelling in microsoft office 2007 and it did! I hope this software once available to all, will help in minimising the erroneous publications.

There's nothing so comforting as the sound of the train wheels gliding on its rails, The pace, the slight noisy chugging, not of the steam engines but of the engine running on electricity, The changing landscaprs, trees interspersed with habitation, slum dwellers having houses stacked up on one another, garbade dumps and huge skyscrapers striving to live up to their name, The movement of compartments which have a slight sway, speeding across their rails, held together by the energy that binds us together, There's group, that was featured in the news recently, IRFCA , Indian Railways Fan Club. This group is very knowledgable about their passion for the love of the Indian Railways, and are present at most unusual sightings for engines, locals, long distance trains, etc. What is it about the railways that so many people literally 23 million each day use this mode of transport to commute to work, schools, colleges amongst most purposes. Apart from being the cheapest, quickest, and...

Since childhood, I've heard my mother say this to me very often, Don't ask me questions, Do it because I say so! It was my father who always told me, Keep asking questions till you're satisfied with the answer. Obviously referring to being satisfied as in being satisfied that your curiousity is justified. This being the base, I set off on my journey... Somewhere I lost track and then now have taken up that path again. Intelligence is not only about giving the right answers, it's about asking the right questions too. We tend to overlook this aspect almost completely, until realisation dawns upon us. Why don't people ask questions then? Does it mean that they're not curious about anything? Does it reflect their attitudes towards things? Does it indicate their insecurity? Does it show their inability to handle the responses? All this and more... I think to begin asking questions, the primary base is that, you don't accept what's in front of you without thin...

Since I'll be writing a book, I won't be delving into too many details here... This is just short poem on my trip to Rajasthan: A journey began amidst the darkness, spiralling into the night, reaching out to the dawn, and landing within the lawns, A land known for it's deserts, was pleasantly filled with green fields, bustling with yellow flowers, and tall proud trees to guard it's sheen, We rode to three cities, namely, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, bore witness to the magnificent forts, rising above all humanity, The grandeur, the affluence, and the power, yielded immense possibilities, the exhibitions and converted musuems, brought us down to reality, upfront with the barbaric times, of hundred wives and heinous crimes, the expansive armour and weaponery, formed a part of the revellery, from the huge forts, we entered the havelis, built for no royals but for the tradesmen, and yet we were surprised to see, the attention paid to the intricacies, having elaborate mea...

The Group Snap! Sitting (1st Row) (l - r) Cord, Malika, Rahul, Meera (in his lap), Meha Sitting (2nd Row) (l - r) Akhtar, Pradnya, Geeta, Aaji, Pramod, Priya, Arjun Standing (l - r) Sandeep, Lambert, Anuja, Sonali, Ayesha, Rupali, Uma, Jennifer, Gauri and Pankaj From all over the world, We all came together, at a lovely place, I'd like to call Kalewade! Three days of absolute bliss, we spent doing lots of things, from elaborate meals literally every two hours, to dances and games of cards, The stars were glittering all night, with all the performers shining bright, Sonali with her lovely voice, mesmerized all of us in sight, the kids put up a great show, Arjun at the helm and malika, rohan, rahul and meha in tow, and then suddenly, we had a spurt! where rohan completely stole the show! and soon opened the bag of stories, with everyone joining in to share their bits, anuja with her elephant memory won the bet, while I was completely awestruck with them! to imagine the pranks and the...

My friend said, it doesn't make sense to write and "crib" about the problems that festivals create without offering solutions in return. Justified. So here goes, Festivals in Bombay are definitely many, being a secular city we're bound to celebrate all the festivals associated with the various religions in our city, we'll have Ganesh Utsav, Diwali, Durga Puja, Id, Christmas, and so on... Political parties aiming to be projected as the party for everyone will support these festivals to gain a double whammy, political mileage and votes. People will accept their support because they too have a justifiable desire to celebrate! How do we, ensure that amidst this chaos, we prevent damage to our environment? Let's start with the resources used to erect these festivals, Mandals are created, Idols are sculpted, Flower Garlands are utilised, Colours (or rang /gulal), Crackers, Diyas, Lanterns and now so often used the electric versions of lights and the likes. What does...