And just when you think that you’ve reached your limit….and the only thought on your mind is the feeling of sweet peace you will feel when your head touches the pillow….life will make sure that you are able to hold out for that much longer.

Its at that moment that ONLY you can push yourself ….

“We bout to have a party
Let’s get it started”

– Shake that ass by Eminem 

I am not a cricket fan. Whilst i do enjoy a batsman sending the ball into orbit just as much as anyone else, i do not believe that life begins and ends with cricket. The IPL was something i was looking forward to, not just for its entertainment value but also as something that keeps our economy moving.

The world is in recession and we in India, though shielded somewhat, are clearly suffering. Growth had rapidly declined and we are spluttering. Something like the IPL is just what the country needed…..to ensure that we dont splutter to a stop…..and to jumpstart it.

The IPL makes people spend…it makes the economy move….it consists of tons of money changing hands….and is something that the Indian economy is in dire need of. The ripple effect of this event is huge! Travel, entertainment, tv, advertising, food, beverages – it transgresses all sectors and revitalises India.

The confusion and lack of clarity in the stand taken by the various state governments finally culminated in the IPL being moved outside India….its plastered all over the news. We Indians lost our jumpstart.

Why? Because some politicians didnt have the political will to provide security. Because the few who did were made to withdraw it. We all know that the worldwide cricket calendar is something that is planned way in advance and given the number of international players, its something that is integral to the IPL being played at this time of the year. No other dates would do.

Then comes the other question. Are the elections not important enough to warrant cancellation of the IPL? Of course – we Indians have to choose our leaders dont we?

The actual question is – wasn’t the IPL important enough to save somehow? We all saw Lalit Modi pleading with the governent(s) and being extremely flexible to play around with the schedule (atleast to a reasonably point, beyond that – there’s not much even he can do!)  Yet the Government refused to budge.

In an economy that is spluttering, where we all are crying for more work and pushing hard to ensure that we stay on the path of consistent and strong growth, in my view, the IPL was something we ought to have saved.

http://ipl.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/BCCI_meeting_to_discuss_IPL_fate_starts/articleshow/4299420.cms

I finally did it……hit the gym with a vengeance……It was so overdue…..i had let myself go…..and now, its time to reclaim myself…..

Sometimes, when it becomes too much to handle, it all right to let go…..its allright to throw your hands up and tell the world to fu%k off…..cause you need your space.

And then when you find yourself, you find the lost energy within you….you’ll find exactly where you left off and you’ll find the energy to push on…harder and further…..

I’ll see you sooner.

Nothing like having an opinion to wake one up, outta the restful and blog-less slumber that i found myself in. Yeah, life was peaceful, running along fine like a sweetly humming motor, until these 10 idiots decided to invade Mumbai and make everyone’s life a miserable hell, giving me an opportunity to realize just how close i was to cheating death (Trust me, i got late, i got lucky!). 

I’m not gonna go into the gall, audacity or other aspects of the attack. I too (like most people i know) am sick of the constant conversation on this topic. What i sought to venture an opinion on was the manner in which the government reacted, and the action by our armed forces.

There can be no doubt that given the infrastructure they had, our armed forces did a fantabulous job. There was absolutely no hesitation in jumping in the jaws of death and the bravery was evident in each moment of the 48 (or so) hours the NSG took to cleanse and sanitize the 3 locations once they brought in. We understand that in order to minimize hostage losses, there was the need to go slow etc etc.

My question is slightly different.

We all have seen movies like “The Rock” and the like where these tracers are shown. These show a command post where a particular soldier is and enable radio communication to the said soldier through a wireless headset in the soldier’s ear. Similarly, there are things like “night-vision goggles“, “infra-red cameras” to transmit the picture to the command post, where the officers are able to identify, account for and locate each terrorist in order to clinically neutralize them. These gadgets are in pretty much any action movie we see nowadays!

These gadgets enable each commando team to sneak in, use technology to know the exact location of all terrorists, and then ensure that the team is able to pick them off, one-by-one, or collectively, using the appropriate weaponry (bomb, pistol, sniper, etc.). Such equipment is standard issue in commando services across the world. (The Israeli, US and UK commandos are known to rely heavily on these).

Why were these gadgets not used?

If used, they would enable our commandos to avoid an expensive (we lost 2 commandos) game of cat and mouse, avoid significant conseqeuntial expenditure and minimize the risk of hostage losses. Moreso, something like this would have taken the team like a few hours in each of the locations, and thereby reduced the time taken.      

The answer is obvious.

Our commandos are expected to work without these gadgets. Whilst this only shows how brave and courageous these individuals are, and speaks wonders of their ability to work without the ‘usual‘ infrastructure, a terror attack of this kind speaks of our inability to clinically execute plans to neutralize small numbers of terrorists.

Given these gadgets, chances are that our men would have been able to finish off the Oberoi, Taj and Nariman House with far less consequential damage and possibly, less human loss (of hostages and commandos).      

Which brings me to the conclusion, given the fact that our Government insists on paying the police and the armed forces a pittance (this fact is well known) and refuses to give them life saving equipment (which is actually standard issue the world over), it can be said that the Government has no qualms about letting our protectors risk their lives for no good reason. Its a fact that the risks involved for our soldiers in each of these operations (whether Taj, Oberoi, Nariman House or otherwise) can be brought down significantly…and yet, such equipment is denied to them.

The politics behind this decision is probably, “the procurement of such equipment isn’t profitable enough to warrant procurement“.

Tell THAT to the families of Unni and other heroes.   

Do you wonder about the world we live in…and whats becoming of it….?

I sit alone on the eve of yet another journey and that usual feeling kicks in. I dont know if its hit early this time because its a saturday and i had time to think a bit….or whether its because i’m down with some serious congestion which i described to her as the ‘i can’t breathe’ kind….but as i stepped in for a shower, i heard that another bomb had gone off in Delhi!

Of course news like that 12 hours before i leave for that very place is kinda sorta numbing…..but it sure as hell makes me wonder why in God’s name these idiots are out to kill the innocent.

- What is the purpose of a terror attack? Why kill the innocent? What good comes of either of these?

You may say that the people behind these bombings are crazed brainwashed innocents themselves but i seriously doubt that. I remain of the view that it takes the mind of a killer to willingly take a bomb laden vehicle and park it in a public place.

So now we come to another piece of reality we gotta face, accept and come to terms with…..that with each passing day, there are a (growing) number of brainwashed depraved individuals amongst us, who are out to kill the innocents by placing bombs in public places and who apparently do this out of a sense that they are doing this in the name of religion or the like, where such crimes and killings are required. Quite a sucky no-option situation we find ourselves in right? 

In my view, and its a very very personal view, any individual who thinks like this and carries out such depraved acts, ought to be behind bars, if not more. If you find these guys, make sure they get a quick trial, make sure there is unimpeachable evidence and make sure that they get the harshest punishment available in law for such acts. Though, i’m sure that there are other who think differently…..  

Got this forward which was too good not to share. Am not quite sure of its veracity but the contents contain a lesson for each of us and therefore, are a gem. Enjoy.

Love,

~ P

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

This is Adrian Tan’s convocation speech to NTU’s (singapore) graduating class of 2008. He is a litigator for Drew & Napier in Singapore.

Life and How to Survive It

It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband. My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me. On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process.” The good news is that they’re wrong.The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste. If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work. Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living“. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work lends you a certain dignity. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Be wary of the truth.The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved“. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Love another human being. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise.

Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way.

Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy!

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

Yeah i know….it hit me the same way and thats why its up here for you….:)

When was the last time you tried to find yourself in this manic rush we call life?

Strangely, i recall days where i was free….to enjoy…..to be pensive…..to be…..and today, all i have is a list of ’shit i need to get this done’.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Clearly there is no one else to blame but we ourselves…..and in this mad rush for success, it appears that we’re losing out on something extremely important….ourselves!

The problem lies in finding a balance and more often than not, we as humans have this horrible tendency to fail to find this balance.

Strive…..try….and if you fail….try that much harder ……cause unless you find that balance….you’ll end up a useless lump…..to yourself and to the rest of the world…..find that energy that is able to push you harder and higher…..find that one who is able to make you want to be a better person…..for when you find the one, you will find in yourself the power to give…..sow the seeds and reap the benefits ….of a happy and content you.  

I begin to find that the more i discover, the deeper i fall….and whilst scary as it may be at first, when you find yourself beginning to understand what you are going through….the joy and contentment it brings is uncomparable….the power of the moment of peace you savour is multiplied manifold and the energy that flows through you makes you feel that the world is your playground and makes you jump higher and play harder……and of course, the sleep that you get is that much sweeter…..you feel alive and energized.  

 ”It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.”

–Viva la vida by Coldplay

10 Signs That You’re Too Drunk
 
- The whole bar says ‘Hi’ when you come in…
- Mosquitoes catch a buzz after attacking you.
- Hey, five beers has just as many calories as a burger, so forget dinner!
- You can focus better with one eye closed.
- Two hands and just one mouth… – now that’s a drinking problem!
- 24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case – coincidence? – I think not!
- Your doctor finds traces of blood in your alcohol stream.
- Your job is interfering with your drinking.
- You have to hold onto the lawn to keep from falling off the earth.
- You argue with non-living objects and still you lose the argument.

“I get knocked down
But I get up again
Youre never going to
Keep me down”

–Tubthumping by Chumbawamba

It’s there….you can feel it in ever move you make…..there is no escape.

You try as you may and the only thing you may be able to do is reduce its intensity but then, when you do that, you realize that its not a good thing…..and you actually prefer to feel it in toto….you see, its a sweet pain you have and its something you begin to enjoy, as i am slowly beginning to do.

Yes, i’ve started working out……and pushing myself harder and harder with each passing day……each day is about eclipsing yesterday’s record and striving harder and higher…..its about taking things to a new level and making sure that by the end of it, you crave that hot shower and a hard bed….

This ride is like a roller coaster….at times you’re off the wagon because you just can’t take it no more…..and at other times, its  the high you’ve been waiting all your life for. Kinda depends on which way you’re looking at it.

The hardest part is getting in….but once you’re in and on that treadmill…..you know that the journey has begun and then, its simply a question of pushing the pedal to the metal…..as i am now doing.

“So why spend all our time undressing our bandages
When we’ve the ultimate key to the cause right here all underneath.”

–Underneath by Alanis Morissette 

Dont you love what we have become?

The last week has been sheer insanity for us Indians. We wake up each morning to find newspapers screaming drama filled headlines and by evening, circumstances have changes so much that the next morning is filled with headlines quite contrary to what we read the day before. A political see-saw of sorts and for a country that prides itself on being a democracy (and thereafter achieving 8+% growth and more nonsense), we sure are a confused lot.

Is it that we don’t know who to vote for because the choice before us is between the devil and the deep sea? Or is it that we just have stopped caring?

It was for this reason that a proposal was made some time ago that we need to have an ‘abstain‘ button on the electronic voting machines…to put it simply, the voter pushes the ‘abstain‘ button if he wants to make a point….the point being ‘fine, you got me here to vote (which used to be and is still a major issue), but none of you clowns are good enough’.

I don’t think we need any more evidence for the need for this kind of a button when we see the manner in which our elected leaders have behaved in the recent trust vote. Lets face facts, it was simply a question of how much one party was willing to offer……a money-for-vote scam……and for that, we have only ourselves to blame……cause directly or indirectly, those idiots are up there because of us.

The scary part is, we see this behaviour permeating through the various realms of society where the very fundamentals of who we are as people is challenged….Needless to say, repercussions run deep and hard and if this trend continues, the future is slowly but surely losing its glimmer.

Of course, another point of view can be that in such adversity, we find opportunity to glimmer because a lone candle standing in the dark is easily seen, even from a distance, if you get my drift.

“Hey girl, you’re late
And those planes, they don’t wait”

–These days by Rascal Flatts