DNA’s SIXTH ANNIVERSARY

Friday, July 29, 2011

Sitting in a taxi and heading to Andheri to visit Mayank, I am writing here in my latest acquisition – Dell Netbook, which my office gave me on the eve of its 6^th anniversary, as a tool to improve a reporter’s on field efficiency by n times.

Sitting here I am wondering how will this new gadget assist me in alleviating my professional lethargy which has been incessantly victimising me for the last two months? While as usual I am not getting any concrete answers, for now I am enjoying the experience of having seamlessly connected to the world wide web!

Though the future is not known and most people in office have written off this move by DNA’s management as naïve and encroaching of independence’’, I personally feel it is a matter of how you perceive and utilise this gift of technology to your own benefit.  I have decided that I will, for sure, use this technical lever to move the unrelenting rocks of hurdle that has been blocking my path for quite some time now. And what better time to implement this strategy than the company’s anniversary!

So talking about the anniversary, DNA is now entering its seventh year of launch, which means no matter what but the paper has survived on the battleground of Goliaths like Times of India and the onslaught of heavyweights like Hindustan Times. Many more years of run is in the offing and many more battles are expected, but I would personally want this newspaper to continue to be in the top two, if not the top.

As far as my sense of belonging is concerned, I can say that I don’t really feel proud to work here but that’s more to do with my attitude towards work than the paper’s ability to tear its way to the top. And it is this attitude that besides being a part of this media house for more than three years now, I somehow don’t feel that sense of belonging.

In fact, on second thoughts, I feel it is like that love which you are into but still you don’t realise because you are with it all the time. And you realise its importance only when you are away from it. It has happened with me once when I left DNA and joined NDTV. From the very first day there was a deafening hollow inside my heart and I could sense it beating against the weakened walls of my heart. And as fate would have it, after seven months I came back. Although I tried a lot to make way into bigger brands but that sense of having not contributed to my fullest potential to my previous employer kept on nagging me from within and so after leaving DNA after its 4^th anniversary, I came back to it right after its 5^th anniversary.

Now, here I am. Sitting in a taxi with my latest gift and looking forward to the sixth anniversary tomorrow. Quite a journey!! More to come later.  

KUDOS TO KINDNESS

There is so much of goodness in the world around which goes unsung. All of us are so busy thinking about ourselves that we fail to appreciate the small acts of goodness and kindness that we see around. Besides, our ego, and the scramble for inner realisation and satisfaction of that inflated ego,doesn't always let us see beyond that one thing - I. 

So i have decided I will keep my eyes open to the goodness around and try to propagate it and pay ode to it by writing about those small episodes of kindness around me.

By this, although I am not making any substantial difference to the society we live in, but at least I am doing something in my own small way. These write-ups will be my way of praying for more of such goodness and happiness in the world as also my way of saying thank you to those unsung good Samaritans.  So here I go. However, it doesn't mean that I will confine myself to recording only such events in this blog, as this blog was meant to be something and anything that i feel, and i feel strongly about.  So, it will have humour as usual, emotions as usual and at the same time these special write-ups. 

So, it all started in this way which made me feel good about this world.  I was, as usual, very disturbed with my personal and professional life in spite of having a good dream run intermittently since the start of this year. But as I am, an ambivert of the first order and hardly conditioned to accept the things as they are, I was feeling very low in office yesterday. Was sad about a lot of things happening and a lot of things not happening with me as expected. So after an arduous day at office, the only good thing that I was looking forward to was a movie at a theater just walking distance from my home, where Singham was playing. An Ajay Devgan flick which promised a lot of action, and I was looking forward to it with great anticipation, action being my favourite genre in films. 

So as soon as I reached home, around 9.15 pm, my stomach crying with hunger due to an unforgiving lunch at office, I threw my bag on the bed, changed into a tee and rushed for the theater. But unfortunately got late as my cousin and aunt from Kolkata called me and started and started their tease-infested bantering on me not keeping in touch with them, as is done by almost every person in my family (I am infamous for that). So the crux is that I could just hang up at the nick of time and rushed for the theater and unfortunately could manage a grab a bite at something to quench the writhing pain in my stomach of hunger.

I sat down for the movie promising my helpless stomach that it will take care of it in the intermission and sat down to watch. The movie, as expected was packed with punchy dialogues and large than life action scenes and me and my poor stomach forgot what hunger is. But in the back of my mind, the promise was still firm. 

So, just when the intermission sign flashed on the screen, I jumped off from my seat and launched myself at the food counter, where the best you can get is samosas and a coldrink, but for a famished soul, anything food is tandoori chicken. But as it happens in life, the same happens at rush hour food counters, no mater how fast you are there are people who are always faster than you, and you are always the fourth or the fifth best. 

I was the fifth person in a hugely distorted horizontal queue and by the time my turn came to buy up my rightful piece of evening snacks, the crowd from this single screen theater had already flooded the counter and started exerting unnerving pressure from behind, reminiscent of a local train of Mumbai, the only difference is that in the latter the pressure comes from all sides. 

So, coming back to the pressurising situation, because being fifth in the serial number and with the burden of the entire theatre bearing heavy over me from behind, I found myself in a situation of a sandwich. So much so that I just couldn't move and the granite slab of the counter almost tore into my hungry stomach while a heavy huge Goliath-bodied person was equally aggressive to buy his share of snack. 

I made a sound of pain, incomparable to any living being I can think of, I looked back with whatever movement the crown allowed my neck. I told him let me please move out and you come in front, expecting a crude look and an ugly ominous face to nudge his way through me. 

But surprisingly, the person, with the help of his heavy-built made way for this skinny piece of flesh and bone. Apologised with his eyes and let me move. All this time, I had still not collected my samosas and Pepsi. So, now while I was behind him, I was struggling to put the samosas on this frugal piece of newspaper when this 'Good Guy' helped me put them on the newspaper plate, momentarily forgetting about the competition of buying a depleting stack of snacks. he helped me put them on the plate and gave a friendly smile and that was the moment of the day. All the sadness of my day melted into respect for this person, a little act of kindness took over the dull and bleak happenings of the day and made me feel good. 

This is my ode to that person and a prayer that his this act of kindness should deliver him from a gruelling time that he might come across in his future life. 

Kudos to Kindness.  

Promit - 23/07/11

What's the solution??

31/05/09 – Sunday  (1.45pm)

Sometimes I really strain my brain cells to cork-screw-turning-in-my-head condition thinking how to deal with those demon-headed cold-hearted human bulls that go on rampage whenever things don’t fall in their expected scheme of things.

With minds bloating with a fall sense of power, that they have self-proclaimed owning to their allegiance with either an upcoming goon or a fledging or otherwise political party, they are those menial wannabe politicians or prospective goons who have no respect for the sublime things of life like compassion, integrity, peace and non-violence.

And in their wake to prove that they are beyond right, they maul up anything that is simple and common as far as a human being is concerned.

I had a chance encounter with one of those so called inhuman species last week, comfortably and proudly claiming his position in a civilized society, when I was moving out of my office after the day’s work.

I had just walked out of the rear gate of my office feeling happy that the day went well when I saw a thin and petite little frame in flesh and bone riding a bicycle heading straight to a motorcycle, probably a bullet or a pulsar (but that’s not important), coming from the wrong side of the road and the law.

While relying completely on his presence of mind, the 20-something boy instantly shifting his weight between the two peddles of the cycle successfully managed to avoid a collision that would have led to severe damages only to him.

However, as we humans are made, whenever we manage to outdo an unexpected turn of events, an instant and unprepared verbal reaction emanates from our vocal chords. Now depending on what could have been the turn of events in case our maneuverability with nature was not syncronised, we emanate a cheer or a curse!

And an instant curse was what escaped the lips of this poor little fellow, who had managed a heroic feat seconds ago saving himself, the mobike rider and his pillion of wounds and bruises.

The moment the curse resounded in the ears of the two monsters riding the bike, the rider screeched the bike to a halt. While the rider found his first occupation to kill the engine, his pillion had another important duty foremost on his mind.

What was this pressing duty? To inflict the damages on the poor fellow which he had just tactfully managed to give a dodge. And why? Because the pillion didn’t find it a fact to appreciate that the curse was actually meant for him and his idiot companion riding the bike without a head-gear and on the wrong side.

So what did our villain do? Without even giving time for an amiable compromise (in fact a mumbling utterance of sorry from the motorcycle rider was all that was needed), he landed his thick fleshy right fist into the fellow’s ribs, sending him to the ground withering in pain the very moment.

That was when I just couldn’t take it and jumped into the scene to stop the nonsense that was taking place. But, I was wrong. I am, or for that matter, anybody who claims to be a part of the society with no political or financial clout could have stopped this 5’10” man in a wild boar’s body.

When I went straight into him to stop his rising fist for his second blow, that was when I got a chance to read his face and the good-for-nothing anger oozing out of all the natural openings that the Creator has bestowed on the human face.

The expressions doing the rounds on his crooked and stoned face were one of defiance of anything and everything which is weak or which was law.  It will not be a misnomer if I say that his face foolishly said that he even defied not only the civil laws, but also universal laws such as the Newton’s law of gravity and Einstein’s law of relativity.

Though it is understandable that it was possible that with looks of a roadside goon who just took a bath, his grey cells were not graduated enough to comprehend what was right or wrong. But what was unacceptable was that he thought even if he was on the wrong side of ethics and moral, he had a right to forcibly shove off his strength into a weaker link. And that too on a person who was unfortunately right.

It’s a pity that in a country like India, where politicians’ speeches reeks nothing but of democracy and equanimity of existence, where people are being given hopes of a leading world power, a place where on the macro level goons and vandals are losing elections, there at the grassroot level, weaker people are oppressed. And it has nothing to do with race, caste or creed, but muscle power and perhaps money power.

I wonder how to deal with these uncivilized people who don’t understand sound words spoken from a sound head. My incessant tries of asking him to stop his nuisance left him more and more aggravated to prove that he was somebody even he didn’t know who.

If an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, then why not an eye for a hand so that a lesson is learnt for all those who feed these human-headed wild boars that the weak is weak as long as he is quiet.

But that is not a solution, after all we don’t want Talibanisation of our society, we are a democracy, huh! Then what is the solution??? I am still waiting for an answer after four days of the encounter with all efforts falling flat on a hopeless territory called vain.

ROOM NO. 603

25/05/09 – Monday (11 pm)
Although I think blogging is more to do with spending your time doing nothing than doing something useful, as in reading a book, or gulping down a bottle of kingfisher strong or to be more generous - spending my time at a coffee house with a hottie… and spending 100 bucks to woo her for a night…
Well, that’s just a joke. I am a good boy and have no such malice intentions in my heart. Actually all this was just a preface to what I want to write. And why I want to write is because my sweetest friend asked me to indulge myself in some noble pursuits to bring back that fire back into my life… In fact to write the truth, my sweetest friend is actually the fire of my life… but I am abstaining myself to the word ‘friend’ because this blog is an open space where others can also peep into my life and read about my special feelings for my sweetest friend.
Anyway, I wouldn’t have got into writing a blog today but just for the insistence of my ‘sweetest’ friend. So this in fact is an ode to her… in fact these days whatever I do is an ode to her.. Well, that’s again a joke.
So, now that I have committed myself to writing this blog…. What will I write? Sure, I have a lot to write… but where to start… let’s start with something interesting. As it is from a bird’s eye view, my entire life is very interesting. Though deep down, I know… well, I know it is really interesting. So the conclusion is, a bird’s eye view or an earthworm’s eye-view…. my life is interesting. And I am proud to have this kind of life.
So to start with, after two years of maddening stay at a mini studio apartment in Mumbai, I now have a house – a 1BHK types with one complete room for me, my privacy and my ‘live-my-life-my-types’ habits. The other room is of course for my roommate (sad but his name is amit… ya true, he is a guy. Although I really wished his name was amita instead of amit with all those things that a girl has, but then this is the curse of being in India). Anyway, lets come back to the topic, as it is my sweetest friend always accuses me of digressing from the man topic everytime I get on to do something.
So this new flat which I am talking about is located in a serene vicinity of Tilaknagar, situated near a tributary of eastern express highway, boasting of its proximity to Chembur (the rk films studio fame, though off late it is more known for its connection with New Bombay – ya I still call it Bombay) and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (and that’s what gives it the name Tilaknagar).
My flat is one hell of a hotel room with a one big French window in the drawing room and French cut window in the bedroom (French cut??? Oh that’s coz the window is small, as if somebody sitting in the drawing room has just shaved his full masculine beard to a size of a French beard.. ah, forget it, it’s tough to make things clear how I feel when I see the other window).
But this is not it. The entire flooring is 2x2 white tiles which boasts of cleanliness, which comes up as an alien in a bachelors-ruled flat. But that’s how I stay. Just like my sweetest friend, I am also very finicky about cleanliness. By the way, since I am talking about this super cool flat and my sweetest friend is also finding her mention time and again, let me also add as an acknowledgement that I owe this place to my sweetest friend. It was she who showed me this road to possibility which I can sum up as… “If u wants something, that too on your own terms, you can get it. You just have to persist and believe that you can get it.” Thank you for this lesson which will stay with me for years to come.
So coming back to my flat, it’s on the sixth floor, B wing, Sun view apartment. The room numbers is 603 and peep out of the famous French window and you see, well, all high street entities such as Shopper’s Stop, Mc Donalds and of course a world class gym. The gym once again has its own story to tell, to whom I will give permission in the next blog. For now, it’s my flat.
Well, now since I realize that a bottle of beer is already waiting for me in the deep freezer of my landlord’s refrigerator (landlord.. oh, I can write another blog on him,, in short he is a wannabe shiv sena MP, who will perhaps never become one and yes, he looks like an overgrown lizard), so I am losing on my patience towards writing any further.
To sum up, like every 1BHK flat, we have a bathroom, a toilet, a kitchen and some cockroaches, one or two of real lizards, a baby lizard too and to top it all water woes. But I love his place because it is a fruit of labour (well, every flat is a fruit of labour as it is the labours who make it, but here I am using the word ‘labour’ as a verb and not as a noun.) I meant to say my labour… and my sweetest friend’s undying support to my aimless house hunting… And I love this place because it was she who passed it and gave a go ahead to this place. And also because it is huge, it is big for me to smoke and still breathe fresh air. And not bother where the smoke is finding its way as it is finding its way into the open sky… from where the fresh air is continuously pouring itself into my corroded lungs. And apart from all this, it gives me a feeling of home, of peace, of joy and some already beautiful memories.
That’s it for now. I am tired. .. Where is beeeeeeeer……. M coming!!!!

Peaceful Sunday

05/04/09 - Sunday 3.30 pm:

After weeks I am actually in a mood when I think I can write. Things have come to a point where I think no more about some issues in my life and in others life. Now I think the best thing to do is to just let things happen and time take its own course, in the meantime, I make sure, I do not lose touch of some finer elements of life.... a life where I can stop by to take a look at the developments around, take care of some important things, walk a bit, laugh a lot and feel funny and happy from within. I think it’s also time to invest in personal developments, but what actually is personal development, I am still to figure out. It’s time to learn new things, to read books, to be technically wired and to enjoy my work.

I was wondering yesterday how life changes rapidly with time. And still how nice the past times appear to be no matter how worse they were when I was living them. The crux is actually no time is bad, they are only times to live and to squeeze out some experience and fun and bright pictures out of whatever moments we live.

There are so many new tings to learn and so much time has already been wasted in amble pursuits, in pursuit of happiness and power, in pursuits of fame and recognition, in pursuits of love, trust and devotion, which we fail to, see the things that already existing and beautiful. In such mad pursuits, we tend to forget that these are not the things to be chased and conquered. These are those things of life which come if they are destined to come, the more you run after it, the more they have a tendency to run away from you. And if it is destined, no matter how much you try to keep yourself away from it, it will come. You don’t have to go out in the open and spread your hands and call for them - things like love, power, fame, recognition - they will finally find you if it’s time for your life have come. So there is no point in running after them.

I believe one should actually run after things like concrete goals, targets, run after doing well for yourself and others, for the society, for the country and the world. Run after the desire to do good and meaningful work at the job you are assigned, for your family, for your relatives and friends and for some special people. Love, power, recognition, fame and success are all the by-products of the act of doing your duty with sincerity and devotion, with a clear heart.

So this is today's philosophy. I will, from next time, try to exercise some restrain while writing philosophical stuff. Because, these stuffs are boring for the people who read my blog posts, if at all any one reads, and I don’t want to upset prospective frequent visitors of my blog with an overdose of philosophy.

Next time, the theme will be world affairs, people affairs and fun affairs, and I wish I can stick to my decision, as I have always never done.

loss is a veiled hope

February 7, 2009, Saturday

There are times and then there are good times and then there are memorable times. Without mentioning as to what actually happened inthe last two weeks, i would say that they are the most memorable times of my life. And the climax of it all came yesterday when i did something which i have never done before and perhaps never do again in similar circumstances.
I always used to think somethings are not my forte and somethings i wll never delve into although deep down inside i always longed for a moment when i just stand and speak.. and that happened yesterday.
After having realised what finally was going inside me, i took a stand. In spite of knowing that my decision will take me no where (usually my decisions take me no where and thats y i am an engineer, wanted to be in army and doing uninteresting stories as a journalist)... i walked ahead.
And ahead i walked and things turned out to be beutiful too at the outset. Even then i knew i was still floating in oblivion and it will always be just the same but still i was happy. happy, only happy?? No i was sad too that i will lose on a lot of things. But is this really a loss... yes it is and the loss pains a lot and it will pain till the time it appears as a loss. And i will always appear a loss but a ray of hope is always there. A feeling of this cannot fade away in a day or a month or a lifetime. They are to be cherished for ever in the deepest depths of human heart and in times of stress, disturbance, solitude they bring a smile on ur face... a smile veiled by a thin layer of sadness, of loss.
But i guess that is destiny, so what if it is a bit painful... and one thing that my destiny has always taught me is in spite of everyhting, in spite of the waves against you, in spite of the winds in the wrong direction, in spite of bad things and unexpected events, and in spite of somethings always written... a human being who cannot dream and hope can achivee nothing in his life.....

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