Sobaike BijoyDoshomi -r Priti o Subecha

There are some days in the year when you realize that a counter is being re-set.

Take the day when salary is being credited in your account :-)
It is an amazing day. Your account has the highest figure for the month. & then... sigh...

Birthdays... I know some of us are very sad when it is over. Are you one of them who count the next 365 days? If you are then you must be really young. Surprisingly i realized that as i grow older 'Birthday' is losing it sheen. Now i am waiting... no i am actually looking forward to my cousin's 25th b'day... so that i can say "welcome to the old brigade". He had pushed a pin on mine saying i had joined the 'old brigade'.[[I have become that vindictive :-p or that touchy with age :-o]]

Some friends of mine in US look forward for the 'Black Friday Shopping'
A bigger section in US must be counting days to Christmas.
A large section of this world would have re-set their counter for Id al-Fitr

I belong to a group of people who call them-selves Bangali. Bengal celebrates Durga Pujo as there is no tomorrow
There are lot of people whose livelihood centers this festival. For them counting days takes a different proportion. Irrespective of them, ask any Bengali & they will agree without any thought that this is their most awaited days of the year.
Yes Durga Pujo for a Bengali is just not a religious occasion.
Dosomi or the 10th day of the auspicious lunar month 'Devi Pokho' is the day when the festivities come to an end. & it ends on the note 'Ashche Bochor Abar Hobe'. Hard to translate the essence of the phrase, but remotely it translates to 'next year once more...'
Actually we start counting the days to the next Durga Pujo

Couple of years ago a Bengali blogging friend of mine started his blog as "I am a Bengali and am proud to be one."...
He went on to describe a Bong. Is a Bong, a mutated or evolved or uber(watever i think it means) Bengali? Found almost everywhere?
After the British it has been the Bongs who have colonised the world. Check your city. If there is no Durga Puja within easily reachable (read motorable / flyable) of your vicinity then wait... Another decade &... :-)

Jokes apart I would like to wish all Greetings

Let me try & take you through a stereotypical Bong's life
Born in a Bengali family, every year he(nothing in particular but could have been a she as well) has been celebrating Durga Pujo.
Now he has been out of his "desh" Bengal for some time. & every year he is not being able to celebrate at his home ie the place he was born his Bong natures increases a slight notch higher

Myth has it that Devi Durga went back to her Fathers house with her kids for a visit during this time & this homecoming is celebrated. Meteorologically the weather in Bengal is best. Right at the end of Monsoons. I firmly believe that Monsoons is the best time to be anywhere in India. But i think Bengal is at its best during Durga Puja.

Myth also has it that Lord Ram prayed to Devi Durga before killing Ravan. She for her own reasons gifted Ram some weapons on the 6th day of the lunar month.
In Bengal the holiday starts from this day onwards. Well for every Bengali even if he or she is working, celebrations of the homecoming has started with the Protima (figurine) at the Pandal
For a Bong this was the day of start of fun. Full holidays start whatever the situation.
Seventh day passes as Lord Ram fights Ravan.
The saga comes to an end on the end of the 8th day when Lord Ram finally vanquishes Ravan.
A Bengali prays at the closest Pandal.
Hence on the auspicious 8th day a Bong must pray at some place. He hunts for a Pandal. In a city like Bangalore significantly away from Bengal, he would end up finding one easily. If not available & there are 10 more around then the very next year there is going to be one Durga Pujo there

The ninth day is the day of celebration. After all the story is always tilted towards the victorious
As the peak of the holiday the 9th day is the most endearing. I cant show statistics lot of incident happens on this day. Every Bengali must meet the near & dear ones. All people come home. Big family dinner.
A Bong on this day must collide at least with N number of Bongs. The number N varies on the variables:
1. Proximity to Bengal
2. Population of Bengali resident in that geographic location
3. Length of time away from Bengal
4. Activity in social life
5. Affinity to social media sites
6. Age of the Bong
7. Number of close friends in that region
8. Number of friends in that region
9. Family size
10. Family income
11. Number of adda sessions in the previous month
12. Work Pressure
13. Association type to any person in the organising committee
14. Regularity of meetings of organising committee
15. Availability of options to organising committee
16. Amount of in-fighting
17. Availability of fish
18. Availability of Bong resturants
19. Error component :-)

Myth has it Ravan was a great king. A brilliant person. Had he been victorious then the myth would have surely been different & may be history too. The last rites for him were performed on the 10th day.
Myth also has it that this is the day when Devi Durga left along with her kids
For a Bengali this is the last day of the festivities. Bijoy Dosomi. With a tear in the eye The Protima is sent off. Priti (Love) & Subecha (Greetings) are shared with all.

I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone Bijoy Dosomi r Priti o Subecha

Genesis of a word

Global Language Monitor, a Web site that uses a math formula to estimate how often words are created, claims more than 14 words are added to English every day, at the current rate.

Change is a sign of life & for any language to survive, it needs to evolve over generations if not @ what Global Language Monitor says.

Many English words have taken a permanent place in our vocabulary.
Take "time". I don't remember when i have heard "waqt" or "somay" or in any other language.

I have heard an interesting story of 1 English word whose genesis can be traced back to India among many others.
The British settled in India around the then Koli-kata(Kolkata/Calcutta), Sutinati & Gobindopur.
Imagine yourself as an 1800 East India Company official or family staying in or around the place around the British settlement
You wake up one late in the night with people (or natives as they were referred to), screaming "Bollo - Hori - Hori - Boll"
Next day you get to know that when there is death in a Hindu family the dead-body is cremated. And while carrying the dead-body to the river bank for cremation the natives would be screaming that.
For you who have stood in deaths wearing black at the crematorium, the whole concept would be .... Horri-ble


Now that i have completed a lot of random introduction, let me put in some updates as well. I recently came back from a marriage at Hospet.
Congratulations Vijayndra & Samyuktha.

It was one of the best trips i had in recent times.
Thank you Sangeetha for organizing the trip to the finest detail. I believe that everyone enjoyed so much because you ensured that the trip went as per the finest detail.
Any trips i plan or act to organize are messy. I am confident that those are messy because of me.

The best part for me was as always the nights, especially the last night in the train. The following is inspired from it

Hospet railway. A train is at the platform. 1 compartment is nearly filled with the relatives of the groom. Among them travelling is brides’ room-mate of college. Geet.
Shahid the closest cousin of the groom had visited the college & hence knew Geet.
Somewhere near mid night the train stops at a railway station. Shahid gets off the train to buy some water. Geet follows him in search for some tea.
Shahid passes on the water bottles & joins Geet. They are standing at the door of the train & enjoying the steaming hot tea when
Geet : Main aaj tak koi train miss nahi kari
Shahid: Wow
The train blows a whistle
Geet: This is the first time main train main ja rahi hu
The train blows another whistle
Shahid: get in the train
Geet: Mujhe chalti hui train main charna hain
The train blows another whistle & begins to move
The tensed relatives find Geet walking into the coupe with a tea cup & giggling. Concerned they ask where Shahid is.
Geet: Uske upar chay gir gayi
Shahid enters all furious & starts explaining: Geet gave the cup to me to hold & got on the train. Then she took the cup & door "mooch" di
What?!!
Before & after all possible interpretations of "mooch" it dawns upon them that "mooch" is the kannad for close.

Readers please join me in trying to list all places where we can use "mooch". Like... This project needs to be mooched or Post mooch

Insane Driving

If you are here trying to get tips on driving you are surely either on a very wrong page or else a very correct page.

Confused?

First a few personal updates.
1. I have shifted to Bangalore
2. I am working with Dell now
3. I am putting up with 2 very close friends or Joydevians
4. I am sorry for not writing for some time << as though any 1 cares >>
5. I am also sorry for not being able to let all my friends updates. If you don’t have my current number then please sms @ my Hyderabad #

Now that i have rambled enuf let me get to the topic

Hyderabad had given me a fair share of experience of driving.[{[previous blog at Hurdles on road ]}]

In Bangalore i have a pretty interesting experience till now
Take 1
My office is right at the beginning of a long stretch of road. Since a U turn would be a long journey the auto-walls charge a premium. A colleague of mine narrated how she would fight with the auto-walls. Inspired i have taken a similar stance. One day leaving early & looking for an auto i realize i can cross the road & by-pass the premium. When i crossed over after a bit of patient waiting & got an empty auto. I was surprised that it was the same auto-walla who had asked for the premium right at the gate. He still claimed the premium. When i asked why. He responded "ghum ke to aaya na"

Take 2
Ok another auto-walla.
Imagine the scene. A heavily populated road just before a junction. I am on the footpath looking for an auto. A auto crawls to a stop in front of you. As soon as i looked at the autowalla all my anger (for crawling at a slow speed & playing loud music) evaporated. He was huge & was attired just like Rajnikant. He put off the music & nodded his head to ask where. I said Dell office & he nodded at me to get in. Started his engine & while i was wondering if i should get in he quoted a price which was neither the right price nor much dearer than it. I agreed & directed him to drive faster. I reached office in 5 mins where in the traffic it takes over 10 mins. On-route the Rajnikant auto-walla honked out a scorpio. I am a die heart Rajnikant fan now.

Take 3
Another colleague was a rally car driver. Currently he has sobered down but drives pretty fast. In his swift he hits 100 when he shift into 4th gear. After that i felt not putting on the seat-belt was definitely a mistake

Take 4
My apartment mate loves machines. He has been riding around his bike for some time. Pillion riding with him i got the best advice ever. His point is simple. No one hits from behind. So take off your rear-view mirrors.

Scene kya hain - Equus ferus power

Background
A group of friends land up in a tourist spot in the western ghats
They have come to the base of the tourist spot in a car & would now take horses to the peak.


Act 1 (2mins): 2 guys first get on the 1st pair of horses & 1 handler with them leave ahead of the others. Another trio gets on & leave with an handler. The last handler ensures the last 2 guys of the party gets on the horses properly.
By this time the 1st set of people are way ahead. In the 2nd set one person has been riding for some time & moves ahead while the handler is right behind with the 2 horses.
The last 2 have watched a lot of National Geographic, Discovery & Animal Planet to discuss between them how best to ride a horse.


Act 2 (2secs)

Suddenly there is a commotion

Camera 1 (The camera is set in the front & pans back towards the last 5 riders):
One of the last 2 riders (Advanced) is hugging the neck of the horse & racing
< wow this guy really knows to ride >.
Suddenly in the canvas the other of the of the last riders streak in with the rider (Retarded). It seems that he is also an excellent rider
< this guy is not stable on land but put him in another situation & he becomes bond >
< these people are so good riders that they are racing each other amazing>

The horses are apparently racing each other & as they pass a clump of trees Retarded is found missing from the horse & on the ground.
The horses are about to jump over a trench when they stop & Advanced drops from his horse like a free falling "orange" from an tree.
Retarded is still on the ground & as the camera pans back the the handler is seen shocked & rooted at the extreme end



Camera 2 (Advanced):
As the discussion on horse riding was full-on, the horse on its own turns from extreme right of the road, to take a left alley. The reins were loose & as the horse picks up speed the reins slip completely out of his hands.
< all concepts of horse riding vaporize instantly & survival is the only agenda >
Advanced holds on the saddle for dear life. He realizes that at that speed it is an extremely bad proposition & hugs the neck of the horse.

Suddenly Advanced notices a horse alongside him racing with-out its rider.
< shocked out of his senses >
He observes an deep trench in front & prays for his life. As he hugs the horse tighter it suddenly stops & turns. As the horse turns Advanced raises his head & sees Retarded on the ground. He immideately decides that the ground is the safest place & tries to get off the horse.
His left feet gets stuck in the stirrups & he falls on his back with his leg still stuck to the stirrups.
< lucky to be alive >


Camera 3 (Retarded):
While the discussion was on how to best adjust to the rhythm of the horse, Advanced horse starts crossing over from right & cuts across. Retarded's horse also tries to take the left & Retarded pulls the reins with his right hand to get it back on the road.
The horse flings his head & the rein slips from Retarded's right hand. Now the horse starts to chase the other horse & Retarded is riding it with the rein in just 1 hand.
As the horse picks up top speed, a tree with a slanting branch looms up on the right. To avoid the tree Retarded leans back on the left. As he is congratulating himself he realizes there is another tree right in front of him at a much steeper angle & itz approaching fast.
Retarded already dis-balanced, leans even more to realized his back-pack is too heavy & is now way out of the ideal line for central of gravity. A last ditch attempt to pull himself up with his left arm on the rein is fruitless & he falls down.
Retarded watches his horse race away from him & catch up Advanced horse & then they stop & Advanced with his orange back-pack also lands on the ground. Retarded heart comes to a stop when he sees his horse come back & passes prancing & extremely close to Advanced who is on his back buzy to free his feet stuck to the stirrup.



It is unfortunate that the camera's were not in place when this incident took place live.
It is even more unfortunate the relief on the face of Advanced is not captured when he realizes he escaped unhurt & is alive.
The biggest miss was the incredulous expression of the horse handler who was initially frightened to have caused mayhem in the life of his 2 customers when one responds (to the question that if they wanted to ride any more) "fir se girenge!!!! use zyada aaur kya hoga..... usi ghore pe charna hain"


A close brush with extreme danger for 2
A regular feature for a few
A blur of activities for some, to realize something massive has happened only after it was over
A comic incident for some

Just a question
What do call a person who laughs when he comes to know that his friend is down

FIFA World Cup

Now that the top 16 have been formally declared i think i need to post some on ...

After all football is my favourite sport. I know quite a few eyebrows are up. Me & sports...

But football... Swimming is what i enjoy the most. But if i ever played any sport with passion it was football.
Also i was born on a day when the then defending champion Italy played out a dour 1-1 draw against Cameroon. No i have no memories of that. But in 1986 all my father had to do was to come sit beside me & say Maradona is playing. I would instantly crawl up irrespective of however much sleepy (or asleep) i was, to right in front of the tv & plonk my self there. That Man is God in football. He is ofcourse more interesting off the pitch perhaps. But when he is there you know you will forget reality.

Before i start on the teams & my views on them (dont worry i am in no way planning to become a sports writer) i have a couple of suggestions.
In the Champions League there is an extra referee behind each goals. This has two fold advantage. One is there are better refereeing. Also there is better exchange of views & carry over of best practices of refereeing. I am not very happy with the standards of refereeing this world cup. Supposedly 2014 WC we shall be able to see this. How about a ball with a chip & a homing device right under the center. No need of linesman to let people know if the ball was out of play or not.
Nor am i happy with the ball. Any shot which flies anything more than 20 yards is totally unpredictable. Also the ball is seemingly difficult to grip. The goalkeepers are now forced to punch out the balls & i do sympathise with them.



Before the teams some really good players.
Obviously i have to start with the mesmerizing Messi. Then there is Forlan, Higuain, Elano, Villa, Tevez, Ozil, Sanchez, Santos, Sneijder.......


But I am not trying to be the sports writer.

On the prediction though <<< I by the way have got all my predictions wrong in the last few years.... still >>>...








Argentina plays Brazil where Brazil the only team to have won outside their continent shall ....

Towel Day

Today is Towel Day

1 ex-colleague, senior,... had once commented.
There exists God iff God is equivalent to DNA.
Where DNA stands for Douglas Noël Adams

I was floored the 1st time i read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or H2G2 as it is generally referred.
And then i read the Dirk Gently series.
I am not competent enough to comment on His writing skills but would warn you that you require a minimum amount of intelligence to even comprehend what He is writing. Also rarely has anyone (i know who has read His writings) been able to figure out what He is writing, on the 1st read.

His writing had intrigued me find out more about Him.
I am really proud of the ingenious techniques He had used as an environmental activist. His action of wearing a rhino suit & scaling Mount Kilimanjaro for Save the Rhino organization immediately endeared Him to me.
He was a serious fan of technology & had understood the amount technology would effect future. Perhaps that is why He was so closely associated with Mac & had taken personal interest in the interactive fiction of H2G2.

My favourite quote of his: I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
Another one: Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
Another: You live and learn. At any rate, you live.
Another: To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.
Another: The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair.
Another: The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.

I can go on since i believe most of His lines are quotable

He has given us the answer to the ultimate question. It is 42. It is upto us to figure out what the ultimate question is... but the ans is 42.

He died of a heart attack at the age of 49 on 11 May 2001. A really sad day.
The biologist Richard Dawkins (dedicated his book, The God Delusion, to Adams) expressed the sentiment pretty well by writing "[s]cience has lost a friend, literature has lost a luminary, the mountain gorilla and the black rhino have lost a gallant defender."

Friends, readers, fellow mortals... join me today to pay homage to a great human being. Please carry along your towel.

The Conversation

The following conversation has not taken place. Except perhaps in my imagination
If some people feel familiar please excuse


I have a very close set of friends
We for the last some years, have been keeping a very close tab of each others.
A few of these have tied the knot & few are to going to do the social needful in the near future.




Some time in the very close future a great & final get-together of all the blokes was supposed to be organized.

LIIT: We have finally been able to gather around all together for 1 more time
Tequila: Ofcourse when we want we do it...
Beer: What have we gather for...
Goose: We have lots of grievances against each other
Kalua: Letz enjoy the party 1st. Let me put on some music
Tequila: Letz enjoy the party first. where is the nesha...
Chele1: I am having this
BloodyMary: Kalua i want Comfortably Numb
Jhonny: I want large
VirginMary: Pink Flyod is GOD
AppleTwist: Hello Hello ... Yes.....ofcours
Martini: WTF ppl r buzy on ph. Kalua push it harder

A strange background music starts... & lights are dimmed... strange shapes are formed around... which continues for some time when a flame lights up...


slowly lights are brightened & music softened... people wanna talk...

Tequila: Lovely music
AppleTwist: Ok bye... You too... what were we talking about
Goose: Changes you have gone through post marriage
AppleTwist: Lovely changes... not drastic for me you know...
LIIT: Really like what
Martini: Letz not go into that now
VirginMary: Where is Pink Flyod
Kalua: Listen to this... this is nice as well
Tequila: What are we talking on
Goose: Grievances as per agenda
Beer: What grievances
LIIT: Letz start with you
BloodyMary: Ok
LIIT: Bloody Or Virgin who ever... what grievances do you have... against anyone
VirginMary: People shoot of their mouth...
Tequila: And we have to defend for them against close friends... actually others close friend
Beer: Do we need to put up pretenses
LIIT: Don't we
Kalua: That is a separate matter
Jhonny: Yes grievances we have
LIIT: I have grievances against life
Martini: I am tired of hearing that. What is your problem
Tequila: You are not supposed to have any grievance against me
Kalua: Do we not
Beer: Do we not what
Goose: Grievances against each other
Beer: What is the grievance against me
LIIT: we have been hearing rumours that you are getting married
Tequila: Some have even gone ahead & made reconnaissance trips
BloodyMary: I will get the hats
Jhonny: I am game
LIIT: But you are yet to make the phone calls
Tequila: Tickets are ***** expensive
Kalua: Why did you not let us know that you are doing a block booking
Martini: That should not be an issue
Goose: Is it not... not everyone can afford what others can
AppleTwist: Not everyone needs to face blackmail
LIIT: Everyone is making personal reasons to support the grievances
VirginMary: Not everyone
Jhonny: I am out
Tequila: The point is everyone is high
Martini: Why bother
Kalua: At the bottom of the heart he is a Good Person
LIIT: So what do we do
BloodyMary: When are we meeting next





If some feel the characters are too familiar please forgive...