Chahe kar lo duniya tour
Aai gajab hai Kanpur
The two-liner above may not be the best in poetic history but Kanpurites associate themselves with it like a fish with water. Hometown of the wacky and sophisticated alike, Kanpur has always been the land of…. Pickpockets?? (Sorry, ‘dreams’ was already taken!)
That’s what I’m talking about. Be it Birhana Road, P. Road or even Chunniganj for that matter, you’ll always find the people smiling. Yes, we face power cuts but do we let it diminish the brightness of our face? No, we don’t. Yes, we have more of potholes in every road than gravel, but do we let the fact affect the dimples of our smiles? The answer is a big capital-lettered NO.
We, the people, have faced almost every crisis imaginable and have emerged shinier than ever! We have faced weeklong power shortages, water-shortages have become a way of life, the mercury has broken every record maintained in the MET but we do a thing that many fail to do. We accommodate.
We adjust our way of life according to every scenario. Power shortage? Play carom. Water-shortage? Chhod yar ek din nai nahaenge to mar jaenge kya?(Will we die if don’t bath for a day?) etc etc
So this one’s dedicated to all the wonderful Kanpurites (who’ll probably read this and then roll it up in a cone to hold their bhelpuri) Jai Ho Kanpur!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Love of The Game
‘Why do you play?’ ask this question to any sportsman and you’ll get the same, standard reply: Because they love playing. Period. Not one sportsperson would tell you they play for the money and the glamour. Similarly, the casanova doesn’t follow women around because he loves them, he does it because he loves the chase, the hunt of another beautiful woman to add to his list of conquests.
I quote Mae West, ‘The score never interested me, only the game’. So, what is it that people just can’t get enough of? Is it the adrenaline rush? The feeling of accomplishment as obstacles give way in front of their efforts? Surely not the sheer feeling of elation as they achieve what they expected? Who knows? I wouldn’t as yours truly has never played a sport in his life, let alone win it.
But in my defense, I’d say winning is good but does become boring if there’s no competition. If I bowled a ball to Sachin Tendulkar and he hits a six (the if isn’t required, I know), he probably wouldn’t feel the same satisfaction as he would have felt if he hit a six on Shoaib Akhtar’s ball.
It’s only natural. A hunter’s main purpose is to follow the hunt and devise ways and methods to trick it and finally kill it. Where would all that planning and plotting come to use if his prey stood in front of him and submitted to his will? Where would he get chances to improvise if his kill had a suicide wish in mind?
We say competition has increased in our lives. But if we just change the way we look at things. If we just saw our life as the ultimate game, I’m sure there’s nothing that’ll be able stop us from succeeding.
I quote Mae West, ‘The score never interested me, only the game’. So, what is it that people just can’t get enough of? Is it the adrenaline rush? The feeling of accomplishment as obstacles give way in front of their efforts? Surely not the sheer feeling of elation as they achieve what they expected? Who knows? I wouldn’t as yours truly has never played a sport in his life, let alone win it.
But in my defense, I’d say winning is good but does become boring if there’s no competition. If I bowled a ball to Sachin Tendulkar and he hits a six (the if isn’t required, I know), he probably wouldn’t feel the same satisfaction as he would have felt if he hit a six on Shoaib Akhtar’s ball.
It’s only natural. A hunter’s main purpose is to follow the hunt and devise ways and methods to trick it and finally kill it. Where would all that planning and plotting come to use if his prey stood in front of him and submitted to his will? Where would he get chances to improvise if his kill had a suicide wish in mind?
We say competition has increased in our lives. But if we just change the way we look at things. If we just saw our life as the ultimate game, I’m sure there’s nothing that’ll be able stop us from succeeding.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Boredom...
Boredom is the key to success.
No, your eyes are fine. The word above is actually ‘boredom’ not ‘hard work’.
I know the eyebrows of many readers would have risen to the point where they became part of their hairlines but after reading this, they would agree too that boredom really does help people.
What is boredom? ‘A state of mind when we are dissatisfied with our surroundings and wish for something more interesting and meaningful’ could be a good definition. Now, if a person is dissatisfied with his surroundings, the next logical step for him would be to involve himself in something more meaningful. Voila, you have growth!
Critics may say growth needn’t lead directly to success. I agree. Growth is just a part of it. The other part of success is called mental peace. When a person is at a point in his life where he’s peaceful with his surroundings, his family etc, I’d consider him successful. Your next question will predictably be ‘How does a man get mental peace in boredom?’ You are correct. He doesn’t. Therefore, he works towards obtaining it.
So you see, my friends, ‘hard work’ is just the tool used to get to success while ‘boredom’ is the cause of it. Next, you’ll be thinking what kind of a lunatic has written this but just think for a second, the lunatic in question wrote it to be read and it is being read.
Isn’t he successful? The answer is yes.
And this particular lunatic actually wrote this because he was bored.
I rest my case.
No, your eyes are fine. The word above is actually ‘boredom’ not ‘hard work’.
I know the eyebrows of many readers would have risen to the point where they became part of their hairlines but after reading this, they would agree too that boredom really does help people.
What is boredom? ‘A state of mind when we are dissatisfied with our surroundings and wish for something more interesting and meaningful’ could be a good definition. Now, if a person is dissatisfied with his surroundings, the next logical step for him would be to involve himself in something more meaningful. Voila, you have growth!
Critics may say growth needn’t lead directly to success. I agree. Growth is just a part of it. The other part of success is called mental peace. When a person is at a point in his life where he’s peaceful with his surroundings, his family etc, I’d consider him successful. Your next question will predictably be ‘How does a man get mental peace in boredom?’ You are correct. He doesn’t. Therefore, he works towards obtaining it.
So you see, my friends, ‘hard work’ is just the tool used to get to success while ‘boredom’ is the cause of it. Next, you’ll be thinking what kind of a lunatic has written this but just think for a second, the lunatic in question wrote it to be read and it is being read.
Isn’t he successful? The answer is yes.
And this particular lunatic actually wrote this because he was bored.
I rest my case.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Simpler Than Thou
Writer's block - often experienced by writers, even the most experienced of them because it's not the experience that counts here rather it's the experience of not being able to experience that elusive experience of churning out an article that will provide the readers a good experience.
Confused? I am too. The whole point of the above paragraph was to explain the meaning of the phrase - 'Writer's Block', which could have been done in about 10 words, but since the majority of us believe that the talent of the author can be measured by how complicated he can make it sound, so a big 'Hurray!' for me.
Hundreds of people have come and gone trying to tell us that 'simplicity' is the need of the day but we, the higher mortals, turn a deaf ear to their fantastic ravings and go about our normal routines trying to make life more complex than it really is.
For example, a 17-year old, giving an exam comes across a question which he can answer in 3 steps, but thinking that the answer couldn't obviously be so simple, attempts the longer way of doing it and ends up doing it wrong. End of story.
How many times has it happened that we are looking for an answer but refuse to accept the one staring us in the face?
From people like Gandhi, Lennon to the superstars of today like Naseerudin Shah, Nana Patekar, all have found their peace and contentment in the simple so why not us? Why should we run races we don't have to run? Why should we look for reasons to add another problem to our already tension-ridden lives?
Think about it.
Confused? I am too. The whole point of the above paragraph was to explain the meaning of the phrase - 'Writer's Block', which could have been done in about 10 words, but since the majority of us believe that the talent of the author can be measured by how complicated he can make it sound, so a big 'Hurray!' for me.
Hundreds of people have come and gone trying to tell us that 'simplicity' is the need of the day but we, the higher mortals, turn a deaf ear to their fantastic ravings and go about our normal routines trying to make life more complex than it really is.
For example, a 17-year old, giving an exam comes across a question which he can answer in 3 steps, but thinking that the answer couldn't obviously be so simple, attempts the longer way of doing it and ends up doing it wrong. End of story.
How many times has it happened that we are looking for an answer but refuse to accept the one staring us in the face?
From people like Gandhi, Lennon to the superstars of today like Naseerudin Shah, Nana Patekar, all have found their peace and contentment in the simple so why not us? Why should we run races we don't have to run? Why should we look for reasons to add another problem to our already tension-ridden lives?
Think about it.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Name Chronicles
"What's in a name?", William Shakespeare once wrote, "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
He should probably have spoken to one Akanksha(not Akansha not Akaanksha) though, before writing that one.
Leave the girl alone and we have one of the most prevalent complaints of today's society. Especially in the countries which have specifically weird names that sound atrocious when pronounced wrong.
Take mine for example, Shibesh is pretty much decent-sounding but get me an imbecile and you'll know what's so atrocious about the pronunciation. ( Sibes )
Mine is still not as objectionable as a guy named Tomasz Kuzszczak might rightly object. (If you're wondering who that is, try checking out the Polish football team)
But if we set the weirdly named people aside, we get a lot of easy-named people who have a few problems of their own.
I remember a guy named Bangor, (for all you perverts out there no his first name wasn't Dick!) who faced a lot of problems here in India and went through all the variations that his name can probably go through.(From Bang-Oar to Bang-oor to Baang-Oar)
Moving on from people, we get to places with names which sound like poetry gone wrong when we try to pronounce them.
However hard it may to believe, there is actually a place in Wales called Pontrhydfendigaid. God bless its people!
Even the relatively easy ones like Loughborough get pronounced like Lurgerburger, so there isn't really a "weird-name" parameter that makes pronouncing difficult.
It's us who think it'll be offending to the other if we simply ask them how to say their names.
So, people, next time you meet me and i tell you my name, just ask me how it's pronounced before you try the same.
Ciao!!
He should probably have spoken to one Akanksha(not Akansha not Akaanksha) though, before writing that one.
Leave the girl alone and we have one of the most prevalent complaints of today's society. Especially in the countries which have specifically weird names that sound atrocious when pronounced wrong.
Take mine for example, Shibesh is pretty much decent-sounding but get me an imbecile and you'll know what's so atrocious about the pronunciation. ( Sibes )
Mine is still not as objectionable as a guy named Tomasz Kuzszczak might rightly object. (If you're wondering who that is, try checking out the Polish football team)
But if we set the weirdly named people aside, we get a lot of easy-named people who have a few problems of their own.
I remember a guy named Bangor, (for all you perverts out there no his first name wasn't Dick!) who faced a lot of problems here in India and went through all the variations that his name can probably go through.(From Bang-Oar to Bang-oor to Baang-Oar)
Moving on from people, we get to places with names which sound like poetry gone wrong when we try to pronounce them.
However hard it may to believe, there is actually a place in Wales called Pontrhydfendigaid. God bless its people!
Even the relatively easy ones like Loughborough get pronounced like Lurgerburger, so there isn't really a "weird-name" parameter that makes pronouncing difficult.
It's us who think it'll be offending to the other if we simply ask them how to say their names.
So, people, next time you meet me and i tell you my name, just ask me how it's pronounced before you try the same.
Ciao!!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Preparation Time
March : The time of war!!
But before it begins, comes the crucial month of February : The time for the preparation for war!!
Really, it is a very crucial time, for in this time you get to see people like my friends run around from coaching to coaching, trying to gather the notes they did not make (or forgot to make, more specifically), during the whole year.
You also get to see people like me, who are least interested in matters of education and prefer spending their time in updating blogs and writing songs.
This is the time when the hard working put in all their efforts in trying to achieve that elusive 100% grade while the rest of us get depressed just by seeing them work so much because our efforts seem minuscule compared to theirs.
Hm..
It's time I got going and got down to some serious studying (after a session of serious guitar playing and songwriting, of course!) so gotta go for now..
but will surely come back with a vengeance after March!!
But before it begins, comes the crucial month of February : The time for the preparation for war!!
Really, it is a very crucial time, for in this time you get to see people like my friends run around from coaching to coaching, trying to gather the notes they did not make (or forgot to make, more specifically), during the whole year.
You also get to see people like me, who are least interested in matters of education and prefer spending their time in updating blogs and writing songs.
This is the time when the hard working put in all their efforts in trying to achieve that elusive 100% grade while the rest of us get depressed just by seeing them work so much because our efforts seem minuscule compared to theirs.
Hm..
It's time I got going and got down to some serious studying (after a session of serious guitar playing and songwriting, of course!) so gotta go for now..
but will surely come back with a vengeance after March!!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
A Day at HT Office!!!!!!!!
Ok I promise I'll start at the start and will surely end at the end.
I have absolutely no intentions to start in the middle and end somewhere else.
Since I'm blabbering now, I think I should start my story.
Well, here goes, yesterday I went to the Hindustan Times office to show them an interview I took.
Naturally, when I entered I was clueless about where to go so I asked the security guard sitting there the way to the editor's office.
He was a simple man and did tell me the way to the editor's office. Except that he pointed me towards the Hindi editor's cabin instead of the English one.
Unaware of this, I knocked, entered and stated my position. He took a look at my article and told me I'd brought an English piece to a Hindi newspaper.
Puzzled and befuddled, I was just about to head back home when he told me to wait coz the English editor would be arriving in a short while if I was ready to wait. I could have kissed the man there and then.
Looking back, he was a pretty nice man and the people sitting there were very supportive too. Then, he called one of the English journalists from outside and told him to look at my piece and get it published if possible!
He told me to keep up the good work and come to him if any help was required. Genuine nice guy.
Well, then I went with the reporter from English he had called and explained my situation to him. He read the piece and really advised me well as to what my career path should be if I wanted to join the news industry.
He pointed out the flaws but also added that I write well and should keep on doing this.
Okzzzzz, now we come to the part where the editor from English enters.
Mr. Haider Naqvi, first thing that came to my mind when I saw him was "Now I"m intimidated!". But then as I started talking to him and showed him what I had written, I realised how wrong a first impression can be.
He's nothing what he looks like, the guy's friendly, funny and helpful in every way that one can imagine. I shouldn't be saying this but I think he was impressed with the piece.
He told me that they could and they would publish it but after it had been edited.
Hm, edit a 1600 word piece to a 500 word one?
Sounds easy but actually took more time than I had actually taken in writing it!
Enter journalists Priyanka and Kratika.
Starting with Priyanka di, a very focussed woman who could, like, edit an elephant to fit the size of a mouse, if you get what I mean!!
Working with her, I learnt the ways and the tricks that could be used to separate the important things from the unimportant ones and the different ways in which a story can be presented.
We spent nearly 2 - 3 hours deleting words and adding new ones. Finally we reached 600 words. We just couldn't delete more!
Showed our work to Mr Naqvi and he brought down 25 words in just 5 minutes of looking at the piece!
Guess that's why he's editor.
He then told us that we don't really need to keep the original sentences as long as we can preserve the essence of what is being said.
Using that tip, we brought down almost a 100 words in 10 minutes. Piece of cake!
During all that work and editing, there was fun loving and talkative reporter sitting next to us and constantly coming up with new topics to start conversations.
I liked her instantly (partly coz of the fact that she kept referring to me as Bhagawan!)
All in all, I got a first hand experience to what a journalist's life is like. The constant buzz as latest pieces of news are being discussed and the non stop jokes and comments being passed around.
Didn't really feel like leaving but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. So, with a heavy heart and a lot of goodbyes later, I was back on the streets, heading home as my feet itched to go back.
Will always remember Saturday, 30th of January 2010 as the day when I took the first step towards the kind of life I've always dreamt about.
This is Neil, signing off.
Sayonara folks!!
I have absolutely no intentions to start in the middle and end somewhere else.
Since I'm blabbering now, I think I should start my story.
Well, here goes, yesterday I went to the Hindustan Times office to show them an interview I took.
Naturally, when I entered I was clueless about where to go so I asked the security guard sitting there the way to the editor's office.
He was a simple man and did tell me the way to the editor's office. Except that he pointed me towards the Hindi editor's cabin instead of the English one.
Unaware of this, I knocked, entered and stated my position. He took a look at my article and told me I'd brought an English piece to a Hindi newspaper.
Puzzled and befuddled, I was just about to head back home when he told me to wait coz the English editor would be arriving in a short while if I was ready to wait. I could have kissed the man there and then.
Looking back, he was a pretty nice man and the people sitting there were very supportive too. Then, he called one of the English journalists from outside and told him to look at my piece and get it published if possible!
He told me to keep up the good work and come to him if any help was required. Genuine nice guy.
Well, then I went with the reporter from English he had called and explained my situation to him. He read the piece and really advised me well as to what my career path should be if I wanted to join the news industry.
He pointed out the flaws but also added that I write well and should keep on doing this.
Okzzzzz, now we come to the part where the editor from English enters.
Mr. Haider Naqvi, first thing that came to my mind when I saw him was "Now I"m intimidated!". But then as I started talking to him and showed him what I had written, I realised how wrong a first impression can be.
He's nothing what he looks like, the guy's friendly, funny and helpful in every way that one can imagine. I shouldn't be saying this but I think he was impressed with the piece.
He told me that they could and they would publish it but after it had been edited.
Hm, edit a 1600 word piece to a 500 word one?
Sounds easy but actually took more time than I had actually taken in writing it!
Enter journalists Priyanka and Kratika.
Starting with Priyanka di, a very focussed woman who could, like, edit an elephant to fit the size of a mouse, if you get what I mean!!
Working with her, I learnt the ways and the tricks that could be used to separate the important things from the unimportant ones and the different ways in which a story can be presented.
We spent nearly 2 - 3 hours deleting words and adding new ones. Finally we reached 600 words. We just couldn't delete more!
Showed our work to Mr Naqvi and he brought down 25 words in just 5 minutes of looking at the piece!
Guess that's why he's editor.
He then told us that we don't really need to keep the original sentences as long as we can preserve the essence of what is being said.
Using that tip, we brought down almost a 100 words in 10 minutes. Piece of cake!
During all that work and editing, there was fun loving and talkative reporter sitting next to us and constantly coming up with new topics to start conversations.
I liked her instantly (partly coz of the fact that she kept referring to me as Bhagawan!)
All in all, I got a first hand experience to what a journalist's life is like. The constant buzz as latest pieces of news are being discussed and the non stop jokes and comments being passed around.
Didn't really feel like leaving but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. So, with a heavy heart and a lot of goodbyes later, I was back on the streets, heading home as my feet itched to go back.
Will always remember Saturday, 30th of January 2010 as the day when I took the first step towards the kind of life I've always dreamt about.
This is Neil, signing off.
Sayonara folks!!
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