As a son <==> As a father!!

I feel we realize the importance of our parents more when we become a parent ourselves. I feel we also tend to become a good human being and learn patience as a parent. On 19th Jan 2010, I am blessed with a beautiful daughter Neha. It’s almost 8 months and I am writing this blog now because each day spent with my kid is helping me realize this.

I am guy who liked to have good amount of sleep everyday. I used to sleep early to ensure I had good sleep. I used to get angry whenever my friends disturbed me during my sleep. I used to shout at them for watching TV late night or keeping the lights on while preparing for exams/interviews. Now that my kid wakes up in midnight very often, I almost wake up every hour to ensure she is comfortable. I am surprised myself to see the changes that parenthood brings into one’s life.

I grew up with two siblings; my elder brother and a younger sister. My father being a weaver was the lone earner for the whole family. His earning was helping us lead a decent life. While growing up, I wanted to play with all the good stuffs that were available in the market and wear nice clothes. I always felt my father had enough money and not buying me the stuff I want because he doesn’t love me. As a kid, I never realized how difficult it was for him to say no to us for all that we wished to have. I never realized that he is sacrificing his own life to ensure we three of us have better future. Whenever I feel my daughter needs something, I ensure I buy that in the first place. When I buy anything for my daughter, I think of my father. Like me even he would have wished to get everything for us. I am realizing now that he was more aware of the reality than us.

As a parent, we tend to learn and realize lot of things that we wouldn’t have compromised otherwise.

Rahul Dravid - An Unsung Hero of Indian Cricket!!

I always feel lucky to have born in an era where Indian cricket climbed the peak of cricketing world.
I am also blessed to have seen era of four invincible, THE FAB FOUR - Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Saurav.
I myself being a hardcore Tendulkar fan never ever realized the significance of this man for helping the team to climb this peak in his own manner.
This article is about the man who stood by his own daemons to make a mark in the cricketing fraternity in his own calming way.
Rahul Dravid - "The Wall" of Indian cricket for more than a decade is now on the verge of making way to the so called "Young Guns".
After playing this cruel game for nearly 15 years with so much grit and gravity, his detractors are behind him to ensure he moves away in the same way he stayed at the wicket - calm and composed.

I was going through India All Time - XI team that was recently selected by a 10 member Jury consisting of former Indian players and sports journalists.
I was amused to read that one of the jury member was not in favor of having Dravid in All Time XI (Dravid got 9 out of 10 votes which meant one of the jury member didn’t consider Dravid as the great).
I am not sure of the gentleman who voted against Dravid but would like put forward a few questions -

What in his accordance made Dravid not fit for All time XI -
- His Technique
- His presence at crease
- His capability to play under pressure
- His attitude on and off the field
- His simple and humble life style

From skill to science, Dravid has everything that a great cricketer needs.
Like Tendulkar, Dravid has lot of cricketing records that are either improbable or impossible to break. He is the best No 3 batsmen that India has produced. You can go up one level to say the world has seen. With India not having good opening stands, Dravid stood as a pillar in the middle to guide India to all the glories.

However, one thing that Dravid lacked was exuberance that was necessary to ensure that media covers him all the time. As a soft-spoken highly humble gentleman of the game, he never got his dues.
Ever since he joined Indian cricket in 1996, Dravid never got the recognition he deserved.
From Saurav who scored a century along side him in that test match to current breed of Sehwag’s, Dhoni’s, and Singh’s; Dravid has been left in the shadows.
Dravid is a master of the old school cricket and doesn't understand the blitz and bias of the current generation.
When Mr. Vengasarkar felt he is not good enough for ODIs, Dravid kept himself to what he has been over the years. He still has lot in him to give it to the game that didn’t respect him for his greatness.
India needs a strong candidate like Dravid in the middle order to guide the young guns in order to hold the World Cup in hand.

Dhoni ka mobiles kisne chori kiya?

While watching the IPLs matches, we are blessed to watch ads in between. Some times I wonder if ads are played in between the overs or IPL matches are telecasted between the ads. One such ad that caught my attention is Dhoni’s - "Maxx Mobiles - Official Time-out Partner". The ad shows Dhoni asking people to buy their own Maxx mobile and not to steal his as he has already lost 4 Maxx mobiles. I myself have lost 5 mobiles and I know the pain of losing mobiles. One thing that flashed in my mind is how he could loose so many mobiles as he is a celebrity and not a common man like me. My theory behind this is mobiles are usually lost when you are in public places. The possibility of Dhoni losing so many mobiles doesn’t sound correct because -

1) He doesn’t use public transport like auto/bus/train.
2) He doesn’t stay in normal hotel/motel/lodges. He would be using 5 star hotels with high security.
3) The people surrounding him will be his close friends, his family members, his security guards or his team players.
4) The media almost always follows Dhoni (except when he goes for :)), hence catching the thieves wouldn't be that difficult.

Looking at these scenarios I strongly feel that Dhoni is either lying saying that he has lost 4 mobiles or police must thoroughly investigate people who surround him for theft :)

Its unfair on Dhoni’s part to blame or hold common man responsible for the loss of his mobiles (that too on TV) as the chances of him being with them is very less :)

I can foresee some common man lodging a "Defamation Case" against Dhoni in court accusing him of hurting the public sentiments and calling him a thief in front of every one. He will become a star overnight and media would cover him till the case is resolved. :)

DHP - What an idea sirji!!

After we finished our engineering and moved to Bangalore in search of job, we never thought we would one day own a house in Bangalore. All we wanted was a decent job that would promote our family from BPL (Below Poverty Line) to AMC (Average Middle Class). Few of us (number still counting) moved to Bangalore and rented a house in Kamakshipalya (room rent was 900Rs per month and six of us were staying in that room). We had initially told the owner that only four of us will stay in the room. As most of our friends wanted a job in Bangalore, they all poured in. The number rose from 4 to 5 to 6 and then we lost the count. Looking at the ever increasing count, owner softly asked us to vacate the house. We moved to Rajajinagar from Kamakshipalya and rented another house (this time rent was 1700Rs per month. We could manage because one of us had a decent job). We told owner that four of us will stay in room. But again where will others go without a job in hand? The number started increasing from 4 to 5 to 6. This time owner noticed the ever increasing pair of chappals outside our room. Every time owner came to collect rent from us, they would see any additional par of shoes/chappals outside our room. Within a year we were asked to vacate house. This happened one more time in Rajajinagar. We were frustrated with owners throwing us away from the houses and wanted to have house of our own. By this time we all had a decent job and one of our friends (Vinay) gave an idea of constructing an apartment of our own with all friends staying in single apartment. We all liked the idea and sat together to decide on going ahead with the plan. Finally six of us decided to go ahead with the plan. We looked around for a good/reasonable site. Our weekends were spent in search of site. By this time we were introduced to Vinod (Real estate agent). We zeroed in on one site (60 x 40) in Yelenahalli near NICE road. We purchased the site. The plan of constructing an apartment with basement parking + three floors (GF, FF, SF) with each floor having two flats was approved. We named our project as DHP - Dream Home Project. We approached DHFL bank for home loan. They asked to first decide on having flats against our names for loan approval. Now is the most interesting aspect. Who will own which flat in the apartment? We decided to have lot system. We first decided flat names as GF-01, GF-02, FF-01, FF-02, SF-01 and SF-02. We then wrote down all our names in a chit. The first name drawn will own GF-01, next GF-02 and so on. With all ups and downs, pains and gains, fortunes and fears of constructing an apartment in Bangalore, the time passed quickly. After almost 20 months of struggle, travel, fight and frustration came the time of fulfillment. The DHP was ready to occupy. Now we have an apartment of our own in Bangalore having the same bunch of friends who came to Bangalore in search of job, vacated multiple houses because of ever increasing count, moved to Chennai, Pune, and Hyderabad to secure a job in IT industry.

Advantages of DHP:

• The cost of construction/ownership is much less.


• Friends and their families stay together in single apartment.


• We can support one another during different times (my wife is away in her home town for almost 8 months now and I am having breakfast/lunch/dinner in my friends house).


• As there are only six flats, it doesn’t look as crowded as other apartments.


• As the whole apartment is owned by us, we can take decisions on our own.
  
  There were difficult times and difficult challenges that we had to go through but that made the journey more interesting.
  
  All in all - all is well that ends well. End??? No not at all....it’s just the beginning...abhi story bhaaki hai mere dost….
  
  
  DHP - What an idea sirji!!
  Thank you Vinay for giving such a wonderful idea and also introducing us to Vinod.

Common Man from "A Wednesday"!!

Off late we have seen movies breaking all time records for the amount they gross. From Sholay to HAHK and then to 3 Idiots, the number seems jumping.

By looking at the numbers one thing I always wonder is what makes a movie a super hit?

• Is it the amount the movie has grossed?


• Is it the star value?


• Is it the story that transform the thoughts?

I saw movie called "A Wednesday" couple of months back and I still see that movie whenever I get a chance. I have stored that movie in my iPhone and watch it while I travel.

This movie

• Has no superstar.


• Has not grossed the amount like the above movies.


• Was not promoted in any reality show like how the movies are promoted now.

One thing that makes this movie different from other top grossers is its story and the way story has transformed to reality on screen. It is a movie that will transform your thoughts. It is difficult to write about this movie and also I dont want to review the movie here. I can just say watch it once to feel my words.

Note: I have not been offered any money from Producer/Distributors for promoting this movie :)