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I experience these just some years back :) ...and now I feel old :(

The Soldier...

On the 12th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas...here is a very touching poem about a soldier and his thoughts...of how the country and the countrymen have forgotten his contribution to the country...(btw I haven't written this poem...) and it is a repost...

"
How you play with us, did you ever see?
At Seven, I had decided what I wanted to be;
I would serve you to the end,
All these boundaries I would defend.
Now you make me look like a fool,
When at Seventeen and just out of school;
Went to the place where they made "men out of boys"
Lived a tough life …sacrificed a few joys…
In those days, I would see my 'civilian' friends,
Living a life with the fashion trends;
Enjoying their so called "College Days"
While I sweated and bled in the sun and haze…
But I never thought twice about what where or why
All I knew was when the time came,
I'd be ready to do or die.
At 21 and with my commission in hand,
Under the glory of the parade and the band,
I took the oath to protect you over land, air or sea,
And make the supreme sacrifice when the need came to be.
I stood there with a sense of recognition,
But on that day I never had the premonition, that when the time came to give me my due,
You'd just say," What is so great that you do?

"Long back you promised a well to do life;
And when I'm away, take care of my wife.
You came and saw the hardships I live through,
And I saw you make a note or two,
And I hoped you would realise the worth of me;
but now I know you'll never be able to see,
Because you only see the glorified life of mine,
Did you see the place where death looms all the time?
Did you meet the man standing guard in the snow?
The name of his newborn he does not know...
Did you meet the man whose father breathed his last?
While the sailor patrolled our seas so vast?

You still know I'll not be the one to raise my voice
I will stand tall and protect you in Punjab Himachal and Thois.
But that's just me you have in the sun and rain,
For now at Twenty Four, you make me think again;
About the decision I made,
Seven years back;
Should I have chosen another life, some other track?
Will I tell my son to follow my lead?
Will I tell my son, you'll get all that you need?
This is the country you will serve
This country will give you all that you deserve?

I heard you tell the world "India is shining"
I told my men, that's a reason for us to be smiling
This is the India you and I will defend!
But tell me how long will you be able to pretend?
You go on promise all that you may,
But it's the souls of your own men you betray.

Did you read how some of our eminent citizens
Write about me and ridicule my very existence?
I ask you to please come and see what I do,
Come and have a look at what I go through
Live my life just for a day
Maybe you'll have something else to say?
I will still risk my life without a sigh
To keep your flag flying high
but today I ask myself a question or two…

Oh India …. Why do I still serve you?"
-Anonymous

Mumbai 13/07

I don't know whether Mumbaikars heading to work on the 14th July 2011 is a sign of resilience or resignation that nothing has changed and nothing might....

Another eligible bachelor goes :)

Sender : Meet Sagar Singh Rajpal
Message: 'Hello, Good Morning :) I have good news to share. I am engaged :) chalo ab congratulate karo :) ...'

And I was barely awake that early in the morning as I paged down to find out what the joke was...And then it finally hit me :)

I called up Meet and my first sentence was 'Abe yeh koi message karke batane waali baat hai' and the standard reply to any good news 'Party kab hai' :)

And as I and Angad were talking the same evening...apne group mein Meet and Abhay hi the jinka sabse pehle engagement ka scope tha ;)
So this post is to congratulate my batchmate, my hostel wingie for such wonderful news. Here's wishing you and amazing life ahead...

PS: I hope I don't get the message next year 'Congratulate kar do..I am now married :) ' :P

Meet, party kab hai???

Travel cafe

Yesterday Vishal, Mudit and myself had to spend to spend the peak afternoon time waiting @ Hauz Khas village for Vikas to come back from his office where he is interning for the summer.

The hands down choice was Kunzum Travel cafe (http://kunzum.com/travelcafe/). Now to admit the truth I had no idea what the concept of a travel cafe was or how was it different from a normal cafe. :?

So, it was a small cozy place with pictures sent in by travellers adorning the wall, travel books which one can either read at the cafe or buy. Free wifi and the unique concept of this particular place - you can have coffee and cookies and pay whatever you want...

You can sit the entire day and laze around, use the wifi and there is no compulsion to buy anything...you can  sit on the sofa, the cane chairs or even on a comfy rug on the floor.

Spent a couple of hours lazing around talking about nothing in particular and wishing I could work from home from this great place. :)

Puff Away

CIGARETTE: A roll of paper with fire on one end and a FOOL on the other....

On this Anti Tobacco day 2011, suddenly everyone except the smokers themselves was talking about quitting. A radio channel 104.8 FM went even further and invited listeners to leave messages to get Shahrukh Khan to quit smoking...bhai uski cigarette, uski marzi...and infact why persuade just him to quit, there are other actors who smoke..why don't you take messages for them as well..

What is the use of someone telling someone else to quit. I have a senior in office, very hardworking, and he has been blessed with a daughter some months back. But he needs breaks every couple of hours to go out to the shops just outside the office to smoke. Now he is educated, no doubt knows about the ill effect of smoking...I don't think he needs someone else to tell him smoking is bad before he quits.

Yes, you can tell about the ill effects of smoking to people who aren't educated, but since the tobacco lobby is so powerful in India, the plan to introduce pictorial warning is yet to see the light of the day after i guess 3 postponements. The next date is 1st December. Lets see what the next date after that is...

I feel that it is up to the smoker to realize how they are harming themselves and their families with their smoking...Nobody can do that for them.

Reverb

Date : 25/05/2011

Venue : Reverb, The Great India Place Noida

Reason: Team Party o.O

Meet was supposed to give us a prty @ Reverb some years back when Vishal was in Delhi oops Dadri :P , but Vishal ka woh sapna sapna hi reh gaya :)

Lets hope the place lives up to its reputation..