With a step in the mud !

This gallery contains 21 photos.

Muddy business. Location lucknow. Near Tata Motors Lucknow. Continue reading →

What shall i bring for you.. Sir !

How many times visiting a decent dine out place, you actually like the wait staff. That was not a horrifying question, but matter of fact , it is.

Okey so admitting the obvious, we like to brush up our taste-buds by upgrading from ‘ghar-ki-roti-dal’ to some spiced up butter dozed   hot served delicious food with a topping of the special treatment by the wait crew. Every visit leaves back a news worth making a perfect headlines if you run your own column of food-mania, or kind of an experience which is usually the most favorite topic of discussions for the complete week, while killing time at the official hangout zones of your workplace.

Honestly dealing with the restaurant crew must be taken as a respectful job. I have seen it getting worse sometimes and it went so bad once when a gentlemen, in front of  his newly married wife, almost had his saucer full of something green in it, flew over the table next to it and landed right next to the kitchen. I was lucky to had a seat opposite to his.

It’s a great deal to eat  and by no chance you would like people sitting around to strangely stare at you as if you were caught stealing a set of classic shiny silver spoons and one suddenly pops out of your pocket. Embarrassing it gets.

You happen to be at the court for few minutes so why not do it like a gentlemen. I prefer it as it is your only chance & the safest way of getting out of the place with a smile big and an Strawberry ice cream cone in hand. Often both the ends can never fit in better, there lies a different story over the other end. You cannot expect best of the both worlds.

I have had a lot of encounters, interesting i must add which have given me a lesson. However or whatever way to try to make the guy understand of what you want to have in the menu with all the extras which needs to be added and the corners which needs to be deleted, the final delivery is going to be a surprise for you, so face it like a star. And the ‘Finger licking good’ fact is ‘ Do not mess with them more than you cannot handle “.

IT reminds me of a Hollywood flick called “waiting “. Life turns around you without much of a hustle and you find out some hard hitting realities about the ‘Men-in-Black-n-White’ who wear a tag with their name on the pocket and gets you what you want.

So to help others out I have a few life saving ideas out of my Pandora’s box which I thought of putting down here for you to avoid getting upon the wrong side of the bed:

Rule No. 1 #: Do not call the guy in black n white dress a ‘waiter’. It goes without saying that if you prefer names, you can expect a better service with no extra cost.

Rule No. 2 #:  Shoot your menu when you are ready. Switching dishes in-between can be not only irritating but acidic.

Rule No. 3 #: Don’t be a critic when the food is served on the table. Say cheese and thanks to the gentlemen who landed every plate on the table safely. Don’t be a silly goose, looking out for discounts on winter sale after you see a board of “ upto 30 % off “ if you get lucky.

Rule No. 4 #:  It takes a brave heart to run down orders. And boy you would never love to be called in 10 times for super silly returns, may it be pepper salt or napkins. 9 Times it would be fun but the 10^th time, god bless your next morning.

So if you are thinking to get your bucks off on the deal, like an angry young man, you are probably beating a dead horse.

Happy waiting. J

Kolkata Diaries!

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Cubicle-ism .

Cubism is not all about Pablo picasso,but more.

I googled instantly about how this generation has gone friendly with the cubicles they sit all day in.  As time  spent in cubes is not always fun. There are horror stories too. Cubicles are now becoming a world in its own, a saga of someone’s witty emoti-cons, still to be explored, which holds attachments,drama, excitement.

Let me tell you a secret, that i love my cube very much and i don’t feel bad on people coming to me and explicitly explaining how their cubical looks better than mine. Its again a love of some kind. But when it comes to a serious dose of work for about 8 hrs a day,  you  get better chances to stick in to your world, unless your boss call in you for every 15 mins to see whats happening outside his world. Bosses are made that way, they really don’t like you sitting with a smiling face & a cuppa-coffee in hands.

I have seen people hanging a lot of weird things in there to make you feel better. Crazy little toys, make you feel home & comfortable. Thoughts to motivate, but most of the times when its a considerable ‘bad-time‘ , people take lot more out of it , which usually hints over the pain-in-the-ass boss. You think of questioning the integrity of existence of what you took as a source of inspiration some time. So you learn to fool around bosses and your counterparts sitting next to you or may be when you find them standing right behind you staring over your angel-ring to see how good you are working, you pretend as life cannot be more bizarre than this.

You will find a long list of “Top 10 things to kill time in office ” or something similar which gets you going and the fun package gets complete when you are served  with a free internet line to try those things out.

A recent study by Harvard School claims that 50 % of employees in US spends more than 40 % of the time browsing and window shopping. They cant just get control over it.

So its a strange world  where you really learn a lot of things for you besides looking for ‘ Root causes to make your business run better ‘.

Turning 30 .. Agggrrr !!

Turning older is not something which you would like unlike celebrating birthdays. One of the worst fears of you is when you know you are getting older and older. You see at things which are about to change here off now, like your skin which is getting lousy & wrinkles begins to appear. You take a moment and stare it tough enough it shouldn’t grow.

There’s a decade about to pass and you are hardly hit. I am saying this as i am about to turn 30 sooner.. not within few days but may be few years later. It has been a while since i have stepped beyond 20′s, the lovely adulthood.

So what makes these so called era of 20′s most remembered decade for you. I think it is the time when you see responsibilities coming and you learn, you graduate, you get your hands on ‘own’ bike or a scooty , to be fair to all genders, you break up, you find your first job, you get your first pay cheque and you make your parents smile.

So you would be thinking .. Oh so whats special in that , bloody every Tom Dick n Harry does that..:)  you are hundred and one percent correct.

Its all what you see happening all this 10 years and most importantly you prepare to land in some tough shoes as time is going to show you a complete new season of what you have only expected. It means rough ride is on you way.

So cheers to all who are about to turn to 30.. This article is dedicated to all of you in the league… specially my colleagues who really gives me a lot of learnings daily..

Cheers and Lets face it with a silver knife in a hand.

Happy bday uncle..:)

Sweet child of mine

With eyes closed when i remember the rear,

i look at the time that went with tears.

With half-a-broken eraser and a crazy ball,

sometimes over the bench, sometimes in front of the wall.

Was it the love of the shining pencil box or the candy stall,

running between the woods, dint cared if i had a fall.

Worries were less and eyes  had a shine,

I had no reason to race with the time.

Weekly update : mid december 2010

Its almost a week since i have stayed away from blogstation. The time was not easy but there were more important things which i was to attend. There is only one place where you dont feel lost and disconnected when you most want to, thats home, home sweet home.

I am seeing things taking a change rapidly around me, you just name it. There is politics with cumbersome scams at its downside, fraud ministers with criminal backgrounds who are making news for the race of the power, there is cricket where we have a lost game, the team had recently played and lost a game against south africa, look at the newsrunners.. there are murders & rapes overnite all around in cities, inflated crime rates, on international grounds are.. launch of BMW 520D and Nissans brand new global sedan, Julian assange being victimized and Hollywood’s few new releases.

Year end is close and news makers are doing good as they do not really need to put in some efforts to earn food for their bulletins  and to make bullshit explanations out of it. Alot is happening around in the world which is worth making a news and to be critisized over channels who simply are competing in a league of TRP ( Target Rating Point ).They simply have dissolved all the barriers of media.

My first blog post ( Reposted on WordPress )

A ROAD TRIP TO LAVASA / CATASTROPHE OF LAVASA

YEAR- 2008
DAY – 27th oct
Start time- 0700 IST
End time- 1100 ist

OMENS
they are not very hard to find

Where is Lavasa & how do we go to lavasa , was the pretty first question which came straight in when it was first decided to make a small road trip to any nearby place , for wasting the diwali vacations.

Day was decided, plan was planned, everything was going as per the plan,
0700 hrs IST , Together with the sun we started the expedition to discover the unseen.
With a cracking head start , we started burning the rubber and fuel ,in a curious hope to see the inconceivable and the flummox.

As we were eating the miles on miles over the early morning, we had covered around 25 kms, before we met the Omen or call it the Hint from GOD , who was all the way seeing us trying hard to reach the momentary destiny.

We decided to take a small break for capturing some of natures less seen world in such handsome sunrise. As I parked the bike aside on the highway, holding it on the side stand , I could see something lying around my leg, which was looking something similar to a half 100 Rs .
At the first look I took a pause for a second and again looked at that thing which was still looking the same. That insane piece of paper was lying as if it was smiling towards me wanted to be lifted from there.

Yessss you are right , this is the Omen, see its smiling isn’t it ( The picture is missing here.. mind it pls )

It came to me as a surprise as that half note of 100 Rs turned out to be a real time note, I said 100 Bucks Guys, we have been lucky over this trip, look this is a great omen to carry on over.
The note came with lots of plans how to be spent off, was that an invitation for a heavy breakfast after a bumpy rides over the real Speed Breakers ( the ugliest breakers I have been through ).

We left after a few snapshots and with the 100 Rs jackpot, back on the roads. really the road were a pleasant experience of driving on to without a jerk, unlikely the ideal Indian roads( that makes me remember the MRF Tyre advertisement, it says, Made for Indian Roads ,really Indian Roads are in trouble, crying to be saved ) .

Getting back to the trivia, the altitude had started rising slowly as we moved on, the next hold was an old Dam, standing alone, firm taking to the streams . it was like a man standing against the mob safeguarding the valley.

Keeping the bikes on hold we made a move towards the dam not letting him go unnoticed, cameras clicked, snapshots taken, capturing every corner of the unsettling view from the aisle.

Spending over 15 Mins over the dam, we un paused the journey as the sun started showing up, we moved on, trying to spot out all the helping sign boards Leading out way to Lavasa (Lavasa 37 km, Lavasa 28 km, Lavasa left, Lavasa 17 km ) the most depressing thing which these sign boards never told us was still to come up, un discovered, waiting for us to reach to him , desperately, as they had some thing for us to unveil.

So after being through all those bumpy Speed Breakers, green side valleys, spoof blasting etc.
Finally we were there, we could see the Lavasa Entrance, which more likely looked same as the India Gate, saying hello to us, in respect to welcome the guests.
We were stopped by some security guards, at the entrance. He approached us and enquired where we were heading to, on getting the most preferent answer, of course Lavasa.

With a smile on his face he politely showed us the notice boards and said those few words which after listening to had kept all of us in a shock for sometime

“Sir, 2 Wheelers are not allowed in side the valley …”

“Who said that “

“it’s there on the notice board “

“How can that be, as there was no public declaration over the website”

“I am afraid sir, but 2 wheelers are prohibited inside as the work is under construction”

“look that bike, they are coming from that way ” ( as we pointed over a bike heading towards us, from inside )

“No no, that’s the blasting crew, they are carrying the blasting material for the construction work”

“cant we even walk down with our bikes waiting outside “

“No sir, it’s a 12 Km long stretch, we can’t permit to do so”

That was it, few moments before the scene was different, but few moments later, everything changed, like it happens in cinemas. Catastrophic end of a daylong plan. We had no way else that returning from still unseen Lavasa, leaving back un explored.

All the way back we were cursing the same sign boards, falling every mile, for not telling us to not to proceed on a 2 wheeler, and I think that 100 Rs note turned out to be a real omen , helped us to pay off the breakfast bill, coz of which the day could be called as an all pre-paid, ( that’s why I say to believe in omens , you never know whats coming your way ).

We were back to the base by quarter to 12, thanks to Lavasa, and Thanks to all the riders to make such a memorabilia. (Ravi, Gaurav, Sheeraz and Me).
Lets keep the hopes alive to make it thru one day
Faraz

Trolleology

Travelling has always been a tender hobby for me and i had travelled to a lot more places within the homeland. India is a diversified country, the seventh largest geographical land and 28 states with 7 union territories, where you will find multilingual and multicultural tribes across.
Rail and Road are the most fascinating modes to travel if one wants to.

Here is a list of five things that i like about travelling :-

1. I get to meet people, a lot of them.

2. I like to Bag-pack stuff I don’t travel without.

3. I find varieties of food which I eat-a-lot, where ever possible.

4.  I like not to disturb the integrity of the place or around simply by respecting it for what it has with it.

5. Taking pictures.. more and more pictures. with me and without me too in the frame.. and writing the journey for my blog which seems like the very perfect subject when you need a topic.

I had started loving travelling since 16 and enjoyed every long distance travels with family. Thanks to my-daddy-strongest, who had been a traveler too and gave me this lovely way to unveil the roads.
Travelling for fun while holidays or field trips with family and friends are few of things which i can never afford to lose. Travelling is actually fun for most of us and something more than just fun for few. I have met some on way till here and have some inspirations taken away, result of which i had bought a Nikon which offers a professional imaging experience and with an unordinary cost which i have been saving from a long time. I love it. look at some of them if you like too..Highways , Random..
Road trips are the easiest way to enjoy riding down the roads and cover distance. Along with friends or sometimes alone, i had made many road trips where my bike stands a partner in crime with me. To my surprise i have so far covered up more than 20000 kms of road.. feels big !

I had started flying after i joined a Consulting firm located in Pune which offered a technological edge to the world of consulting which really have few counterparts. Indirectly, there is demand. Somehow it had helped me discovering so many more places which i could not have afforded to if on my own.

Its a room full of new experiences that made my way contributed by frequent air trips while i was with my first employer.  To share a few of times while i was making trips for work. there was a project for which i had to travel to 4 different places in 5 days. That’s the best of experience i have ever had. I started from Pune-Goa- Delhi – Mumbai-Bhopal- Pune.. ..  very exhaustive !  The best part of that cycle was the super-amazing accommodations at all the places where you can have a confidence of getting nothing better than that. Classy hotels, lovely views and foooood, i cant stop taking about the food or i had to start a new one for that.:)

There are a few things which i like about airports specifically. It’s the odd flight hours, long boarding delays, waiting in line for security clearance, checking out good looking ladies around secretly , cold scented aroma, coffee shops, long terminals, free packed meals, safety instructions on board with ’2 dwaar peeche aur 2 dwaar agey’…  and there’s something which barely people know, that I have met an air hostess for 4 times, Mrs. Pawa, Air India who use to put a necklace of white pearls. She’s got experience coz she was the boss.

May be I’ll come up with something more in next post with more on discoveries and incidences which are not meant to fade away, over the journey while travelling..

Adios Samigo !

‘Baaliwood’

Talking about the era of Hindi cinema which is so called Bollywood now is turning more or less of  ’ Copy Paste Fabricate & Publish ‘ Industry in recent years. When I say Bollywood movies or shall i say ‘Baaliwood’, before a release of any new film, we end up spending time during coffee breaks at office anticipating which English movie remake it could be.

It has become a very common phenomenon which at least people like us who are not so seriously into movies who finds interest in remembering every tiny details of ‘ Coming soon’ releases and discuss it even at odd times, don’t like to spend money on some ‘ grave & sober’-ly made desi remake of a previously released English flick.. which really turns out a horrible experience.. it had, veritably.. so many times.

Indian film directors and story writers have invested a capital time in realising how Love stories can be made and sold in the market of  Billions of fans. India has been successful in delivery long loved and lived Love-o-logy flicks which has almost covered all possible angles and corners where love exists ( You really need to be a fan to understand this humor ).. and i don’t see it ending. Democracy is taken seriously the wrong way, may it be the ‘ Last moment Marry me proposal by the Hero in grooms wedding or ’ The reincarnation of dead karan arjun in search of revenge’… Love is in the air and have been the favorite subject all the way around.

We have never been a good player in ‘ Animation world’, besides shelling huge on few of what had been made, the class of paragon in animated stories. Englishmen have done far better in early 90′s with movies like ‘ Independence day’ ‘ Jurassic Park’ ‘ Jaws ‘ and ‘I Robots’. With the given conditions of less developed technological aspects and high cost, they have done an exceptional creation which we might take next 10 years to attempt even.

I see script writers some of them have given their greatest efforts to form movies which have done good in past and unalike… ‘ Alam Ara’ ‘ Mother India’ ‘ Mughle-azam ‘ are few of them.

Talk about action and you will never stop laughing. Hero enters the dens alone barehanded and makes the bad man fall on his knees after a full action packed hour fighting with the under dogs under the command of the bad man…and think again for what good reason is he taking all this pain.. correct.. Love..of some kind, Kidnapped Mother / Assaulted Sister / Long lost bachpan ka bhai / Sapno-ki-raani.

When we were kids we loved watching every kick and punch and used to enact the same at school while at recess with friends pretending to be villains with chorus of every action with a post dramatic motion as the hero did in the movie. That was fun.

 If i had been a director certainly with action movies would have brought some transformation which would at least be appreciated by the true fans and not just by the tapori crowd.