Life is full of Surprises

We must have all experienced the sheer unpredictability of life. There are numerous instances in one’s life which make him realize that life is a journey full of unexpected events. Just when you are sitting on your laurels and feel everything is hunky-dory, something will happen that will take you out of your comfort zone. Similarly, just when you feel that life is going on in a pretty routine manner and you are quite happy with the situation, something will happen that will take you by surprise and bring even more joy and happiness to your life. Well, I was fortunate enough to experience the latter.

I am here at Patiala for my technical training. I have been quite lucky in the sense that I am able to live with my parents, while pursuing my training. Everything was going on fine. We were getting ready for attending a marriage party. There had been a meeting in the bank that day and hence top executives of State Bank of Patiala had come to the city. A close friend of my father Kazmi uncle (who had come from Delhi) was also to go with us for the party. We were about to leave. Just then, Kazmi uncle gave me his phone and said: Yeh lo beta Sarah se baat kar lo. I was taken aback for a second, not because I didn’t know who Sarah was but the fact that childhood memories suddenly came to life.

My father was posted at Bhopal some 18 years ago and so was Kazmi uncle. Both families visited each other very frequently and were like family friends. Their children Sarah and Amir were just about the same age as me (about 3) and my sister (about 8) respectively. As is so often the case, children of the same age group mingle well. So I used to play with Sarah and my sis with Amir bhaiya. We had a lot of fun moments together and were best friends. She used to call me Gyom (as she could not pronounce Vyom). As Mummy tells me, we used to hide behind the sofa and play together. We also never fought with each other and played peacefully.

Well, then my father got transferred to another city and never got the posting in the same city as him. Still, they remained the best of friends and met often in meetings etc. Mummy too remained in touch with Aunty. Mummy also used to tell me about Sarah and our bachpan often. Everything was still the same. But unfortunately, I had never talked to Sarah even once all these 18 years, let alone meeting her. Yes, that is quite bizarre and unimaginable but it is true. You can call it my fault, her fault, my stupidity, you can call it whatever you want. Or you can call it LIFE.

We were supposed to talk for the first time in 18 years on 13^th February, 2009. I am saying this because when uncle did give me the phone, it was not planned in advance. Uncle had met me many times before in all these years and even Papa and Mummy had talked to uncle and aunty on phone many times. The talk had just not happened. It was a sheer coincidence that uncle was talking to her at that moment and incidentally gave me the phone. We talked for some 10-15 minutes and could not believe that it had been such a long time.

After the talk, I was really excited and wanted to renew our childhood friendship (not that friendship had been broken, it had just been invisible). For the last 5 days, I have been talking to her on internet, by SMS and even phone. We are getting to know each other and just can not stop talking. We have found that we have a lot of similarities too. She says that I am her photocopy. Isnt it amazing? Well, I can not believe it. She still calls me Gyom (remembering moments from childhood). She is just as excited as I am and she has already informed friends in her college about this. While talking, it doesn’t seem that we have been out of touch for 18 years. I am very comfortable talking to her (those who know me can understand why I am saying this). Life has come up with such a pleasant surprise and has made my days so much happier.

Well, I have not been able to see her face yet. She has sent some photos but those are not the latest. Her webcam isn’t working properly either. Honestly, I really want to meet her in person. When that will happen, I have no idea. Well, I will try and ensure that it would not be long before that moment arrives.

Sometimes ‘No Planning’ works wonders…

The title may seem quite weird to most, but that is exactly what we found out one Sunday in our trip to Surat.

There was a wedding in Surat in Shaurya’s family about which he had told us long back. He wanted us to go along and give him company and we were quite game for it. After all, who would not want to have a day’s outing amidst a boring trimester in college, just to get the mind out of a tangle? Though we were more or less certain about going, we didn’t book tickets beforehand and thought of making a decision on the day itself.

And ‘It was a SUNDAY.’

We woke up at 12 pm (Sunday is one day which gives this luxury).We left the house at 12.45pm in hope of catching Suryanagiri Express which leaves Bandra at 1.30pm. Knowing we would struggle to get it from Bandra, we went to try our luck at Borivali. Utsav, leading the two of us (myself and Shaurya) bought 3 general tickets for Surat at Andheri and we were on our way to Borivali in the local. Having reached at 1.30, with time in hand for Suryanagiri, we were waiting at platform number 4 as we saw a train arriving on platform no 6. It was Bandra Jaipur Garib Rath Express. Suddenly, out of nowhere, something clicked in Utsav’s mind and he asked us ‘Isme try karma hai kya?’ That moment, we didn’t even know whether this train had a stop at Surat. I told Utsav that it was not possible to catch this train even if it did stop at Surat. Even as I was speaking, he was gone running over the stairs and on his way to platform no 6. Left with no other option, we followed him and somehow reached platform 6 where the train was still standing. Utsav had found the T.C and just started talking as the train began to move.

We were confused as what to do as Utsav asked us to get into the train quickly. We entered and Utsav and T.C followed. Utsav got the tickets converted from general to Third AC and we got our berths on the spot. Wow what a way to get a train!!! It was surely the first time I got a train this way.

As we settled down, we got to know that the train would take just 2 and half hours for Surat. Suryanagiri would have got us to Surat at 5.30 pm and now we would be in Surat at 4 pm, traveling in one of India’s fastest trains. We were amazed at our luck. 5-10 minutes had past when I thought of calling Papa (in Patiala) just to ask him whether some car could be arranged in Surat for us. Papa said that it was a Sunday and I should have told him earlier. Still, he said he will try and let me know in a few minutes. 10 minutes later, Papa called back to inform that the car had been arranged for us and it will get us to the wedding place after a brief tour of Surat. The car would also drop us back at station while returning. I told this thing to Utsav and Shaurya and we were all happy.

Really, when things are going right for you, everything seems so easy and comfortable.

So, we were at Surat at 3.50 pm and were received by the driver outside the station. And we were having a short round of Surat in an Indica, in which we saw Raj Empire (a multiplex), had something at McDonalds, had a round of Big Bazar, saw some malls buildings, ate Kulfi and finally reached the wedding place at around 6.30 pm.

We enjoyed the wedding, had a lot of food, especially deserts. Chene ki mithai, tawa sweets, jalebi, icecream, icecream filled pan were my pics. We finished having all this at about 10.30 and then went to the room with Shaurya’s parents. We all talked about the college, our faculty and lectures and all and laughed aloud while saying the truth in front of Uncle Aunty. We had a fun conversation for an hour or so before leaving for station again.

We reached station at 12.15 am and bought 3 general tickets again. In a similar situation as in the afternoon, we waited for any train to come and trying out our luck again. The first train came at 1.15 am: Saurashtra Janta Express and we ran towards T.C’s. We ran from one end to another, only to hear one big NO from each T.C. Even offers of bribing them couldn’t work. There wasn’t a single seat available. The train left and we sat again, feeling a bit disappointed. Still we knew there were more trains to follow. Soon after, Lokshakti Express came and we ran again and we got the same response again. NO NO and NO were the only responses coming from them. When Utsav asked one T.C “Uncle koi doosra rasta nahi hai?” he replied angrily “Teri keemat meri seat nahi hai”. We were beginning to feel that luck was probably not on our side now. Having said that, there was a sense of comfort, being in the company of Utsav and not for one moment did I feel any panic. I knew very well that we would somehow reach Mumbai. Being alone at 2 am at an unknown station running around wouldn’t have been a very encouraging situation.

So, we sat again waiting for more trains. Next was Golden Temple Mail. But the name of the train was the only difference. The train was again packed to the rafters and rest was same as before. Another train left the scene. We were feeling tired as we had already ran so much but that was a thrill in itself. The next one on the list was Gujarat Mail. We counted the number of A.C coaches in the train and the number was stunning. There were 11 AC coaches (more than half the train). More importantly, it was another attempt which didn’t bear any fruit. Another interesting response came from a T.C when Shaurya got frustrated and asked a bit harshly “Kuch to kar do hum student hain, kal college hai.’ T.C replied “Meri upar late ke jayega kya”.

We realized that: When things are not going for you, there is nothing much you can do about it.

Some thoughts had started to arise in the mind about taking a bus or waiting till morning etc when another train arrived. The time read 2.30 am. It was Avantika Express. We ran one way, Utsav the other, asked all the T.C’s one by one. And surprise surprise, we got a negative reply again. Then, Utsav asked one police officer for any option available. He said that we could try in the handicap. We ran the entire length again and reached the handicap compartment. Alas, the officer there closed the door saying that no more could come in that. Well what more we had to do to get into a train! Then the officer came out and we pleaded to him again. The general compartment was next to handicap and he asked us to go inside that. The train had begun to move and we went inside. We were now in a crowded second class compartment trying to find a small place to sit. We somehow found small places for ourselves and reached Borivali at 5.30 am. We were back home at 6.15 am.

What a turn around it was: We boarded a moving train on both occasions, the difference being the Third AC in one of the best trains on one occasion and Second class in a good train on the other occasion. Would we have got these experiences if the trip was planned in advance? Definitely not. We would never have experienced the extreme feelings of joy and agony. Sometimes, too much of planning takes away the charm of a trip and we miss the unique circumstances which arise otherwise. Only when we go though these situations do we get stronger and understand how to react and take decisions on the spot.

These were our 17 hours and 30 minutes of fun filled unique experiences. I would conclude by saying this: If you don’t want your journey to be prosaic and want some thrill and adventure, then

DO NOT PLAN, GO BY YOUR INSTINCTS

THE SICKENING MEDIA

What is the job of the media? What is the responsibility of the media? The job of a responsible media is to put things across people exactly as they have happened, give a complete coverage of all the facts and let people decide what is correct and what is wrong. What does the Indian media (especially the news channels) do these days? The news channels do exactly the opposite. They blow everything out of proportion, make a controversial story out of it, and present only those things which give some credence to their story and hence persuade people to believe in it by showing the same audio visuals again and again. This is the sickening reality of India’s media today.

Let us put some of the happenings in the ongoing tri series involving India-Australia-Srilanka into perspective. It all started even before the series got under way. The Indian ODI team was selected after India pulled of a historic win in the Perth test. The selectors, along with Dhoni went for youth and exuberance over some of the experienced but a bit old and jaded players like Dravid and Ganguly. Infact, the only significant exclusion was Ganguly because Dravid was not there in last ODI series either and also looked out of touch in the test series. But there was this massive hue and cry created by the media over this exclusion. The news channels made stories suggesting Dhoni played politics, Dhoni didn’t want to play under the influence of former captains, that the young inexperienced team would collapse under pressure and even went to the extent of saying that the team would lose the edge as a unit (The same team is 1-0 up in the best of 3 finals!!!). When questioned about the selection, Dhoni didn’t mince words and clearly said that he wanted youngsters (who could field and run well between the wickets) on the big Australian grounds and his word was taken in the selection. When Dravid was at the helm under Coach Greg Chappell, everyone criticized Dravid for being too shy of voicing his opinion and capitulating under the pressure of Greg during team selection. But, here was a man who had his say in selection and didn’t shy away from media in accepting the same. Unfortunately, the media made him the bad boy.

Moving on, as our top 5 batsmen were not scoring enough runs in the first half of the series, Dhoni, when asked about the lack of form of top order, made a frank statement that if Viru, Sachin our top 5 get good partnerships, then it would be much easier for him and Uthappa to come down the order and play freely which was not happening in the series up to then. Again the channels stepped in to create another controversy saying that Dhoni now had Viru, Sachin on his radar, that he was now planning to get them out of the team and other similar rubbish. I couldn’t understand what actually they wanted: A diplomatic laid back captain or a straightforward frank captain…

Quite a few people had expressed concerns about Sachin’s form in the series. The harshest comment came from Sanjay Manjerekar who described Sachin as an elephant in the room whom no one had the courage to talk about and Sachin’s failure must be addressed. Just before India’s crucial match (virtual semifinal) against Srilanka, Tendulkar was interviewed by the Star Sports Team. When asked whether he was concerned about his form, he denied and I believe, made a straight dig at Manjerekar saying that sometimes people tend to react more than they should.

Tendulkar played an important innings in the match helping India reach the finals. Now instead of celebrating the fact that this young Indian team had reached the finals by playing some good cricket, one of the news channels(INDIA TV) named their half an hour post match show as ‘Dhoni Ko Tamacha’ with Dhoni’s and Sachin’s pics facing each other. The channel tried to prove that Sachin wanted to teach Dhoni a lesson. It tried to prove that Sachin’s comment in the morning was aimed at Dhoni and his knock would silence Dhoni from criticizing him (Actually Dhoni never singled out Sachin in his comments). I want to ask INDIA TV whether Sachin played that knock because he was (in their opinion) targeted by Dhoni. Was Sachin just playing for the sake of playing in the earlier matches? Was Sachin’s knock to silence Dhoni or help India reach the finals? There is no way in this wide world that INDIA TV would have an answer to these questions. That half an hour, they just went on trying to prove their baseless senseless story instead of praising the team for an emphatic victory. That was the moment I could not stop myself from going all holds barred against the media. This is something that does not just happen in cricket. It is pretty much the case in every field.

It is high time now that the media understands its responsibility and become a boon for the country, which I must say, is heading in a totally opposite direction at the moment.

A GREAT SIGHT FOR EVERY INDIAN

How often have we heard statements like : 'Thats a fast delivery from Brett Lee and the batsmen had no clue about it', 'India collapse against the pace and bounce of Australian bowlers', and so on...
The Indians have always been on the receiving end of tall fast bowlers and have struggles to cope with them many a times. We as Indians, have always wished if we also had someone who can hurry and trouble batsmen with his pace and bounce. We have always been looking for a genuine fast bowler. Have we found one in ISHANT SHARMA??? Ishant's performance on the Australian tour has been nothing short of phenomenal. He has bowled fast very fast, got great bounce and has troubled everyone with his line and length. He has dismissed the world's best batsmen at the moment Ricky Ponting 3 times and at times made him look like a novice. He has also dismissed likes of Gilchrist,Hayden,Clarke, Symonds and Jaysuriya with his awkward pace and bounce. He has bowled with great attitude running in every ball no matter what the situation. He has become the spearhead of the Indian attack in only his first series. He has even crossed the 150km barrier(never done before by an Indian) making him the fastest ever Indian bowler.

What a great, refreshing sight it is for an Indian to see an Indian dishing out some serious pace and making batsmen hop and looking hurried and ruffled. The new ball spells by Ishant have been amazing to watch throughout the series. I firmly believe that he will continue the good work in this series and I can hardly imagine him having a real bad game with the way he is bowling. But is this the first time we have seen an Indian bowling at a lively pace. No. There have been quite a few Indian bowlers who started off at a lively pace but soon gave up the extra pace for line and length(quite notably Munaf Patel and Irfan pathan). This is one thing that we have to ensure doesnt happen with Ishant. He is just 19 and has the build of a fast bowler and according to Wasim Akram(a legendary bowler), Ishant can only get stronger and faster with age. And Ishant has already got faster game by game. Realising the fear of Ishant giving up pace, Harsha Bhogle made a great comment: 'After Ishant goes back from this tour and someone tells him that Ishant you should extend your carrer, just cut down on your pace and think about a long career, Then that man should be deported'. Ishant has to avoid such people and continue bowling fast. He can be a deadly weapon for India in all forms of the game. We all want Ishant to remain the same after this series too... We want Ishant winning matches for India in future, not just this series.

For God's sake, we dont want to lose Ishant. He is India's biggest find of the tour...

DHONI AND ISHANT: India's Best In The Series

As Dhoni scampered back for two to give India a crucial victory against Srilanka virtually assuring them of a place in the finals, it was fitting to see India's heroes of the series Dhoni and Ishant hugging each other to celebrate the victory. When Harbhajan Singh got out to a Malinga yorker in the second last over with 2 balls left in the over and 3 runs still to go, Ishant had to keep atleast one ball out because if he got out of the first ball, it wud have left Munaf against fiery Malinga and then only god could have saved India. These were exactly the instructions given by Dhoni to Ishant to keep out atleast one ball. But the stump microphone captured Ishant's reply which was: "Maar doonga fast bowler hai hum bhi dalte hain." Well this was an amazing reply and just showed how much confidence this kid has it in him. He did survive the 2 balls and Dhoni finished of the match in the next over.Dhoni finished with a superb 50* under pressure playing what can be called truly a captains knock.
Right through the series, Dhoni has been praised for his captaincy and keeping, but he has also been the highest run getter for India in the series. He has played cool, sensible cricket in almost every match. He hasnt had any failure till now and has played according to the situation everytime(almost everytime against his natural attacking instincts). He has taken the responsibility of a finisher in the side and his risk free cricket in crunch situations has been the highlight of the series. Even though Yuvraj was the highest scorer today(he was also backed by dhoni inspite of failures), it was Dhoni's knock which ensured India crossed the line safely. His 50 not out had no boundaries at all epitomizing the fact that he played risk free cricket and ran beautifully inspite of a slight strain. Dhoni has been a revelation in this series.
Likewise, India's bowing star has been Ishant Sharma who has come a long way in the past 2 months. His pace, accuracy,bounce and his consistency with line and lengh has troubled everybody. He has bowled splendidly well oozing confidence and has led the Indian attack brilliantly in only his first series. He hasnt bowled badly in even a single match.He has been the India's biggest find amongst the younsters and at 19 years of age, he may get even faster which is a great news for India.

THE IDEAL VOTING SYSTEM FOR TALENT HUNTS

A question for everybody to ponder upon: Why do we never see the best singers winning the talent hunt competitions??? Well many knowledgeable people may simply say that the voting system is flawed, its not correct to let the audience decide the fate of the contestants, let the judges decide the winner and so on. Well there is nothing wrong in any of these opinions… But why does every competition go for same system since the Indian idol started the trend. The answer is pretty simple. This system brings in lots of money to the channels and producers. As every person is given the freedom to vote as much as he wants and with so many people voting, one can easily imagine the sums generated by this system. Also this system automatically provides for more viewer response and viewing eventually leading to higher TRP’s. Hence the system works wonders for the organizers.

When the organizers are asked about the credibility of the system, they have an argument that after all, the winner has the support of the whole nation, so what is the problem? But are they correct? Does the winner have such all round support? No not at all. The winner is invariably decided by the zonal votes and not by nation votes. This is where the whole system goes wrong and falls flat. Let us see what actually happens in this type of voting.

The competition starts with certain no of participants. The viewer listens to all of them, likes few, dislikes few but he almost certainly chooses his favorite. The favourite one is generally the one belonging to his city, area or state. This is because he can emotionally connect with that contestant and obviously wants him to represent his own city. Now, every episode, no matter how that contestant performs, the viewers vote would still go to to him. Many would find this observation harsh but this is the reality. Hence the contestant who can garner most support from his region stands a great chance to win the competition. The support may include contestant having influential contacts who will increase his vote counts or simply the enthusiasm among the people of certain regions.

Hence what started as a fight for the best singe in the country sadly becomes a fight among the zones. Naturally at the end of the competition, the zone and people of that zone win(in the form of their contestant) and singing loses. The best singer is left cursing his luck and the winner takes all the accolades.

Then what is an ideal or atleast a better system which would still connect well with the audience and at the same time produce the most deserving winner? If the winner has to be decided by the audience alone to keep them interested in the competition, then I have thought of a system which could give much better results. It goes like this: The viewers are asked to vote for the worst rather than the best contestant. Each viewer can only give one vote to the contestant he liked least during a certain episode. The contestant getting the maximum votes gets eliminated. Now as we have discussed that the favourite of any viewer is not likely to change everytime, but definitely the singer he likes least may and will change from episode to episode. This is because the viewer will not have any preconceived thoughts while choosing the worst unlike in current system. Therefore, the people belonging to a region would still have different choices as the least liked and their votes would differ. Also as there is only one vote per person, this eliminates the possibility of source voting wherein a group of people would keep voting for the worst or best resulting in false outcome. Finally this would all contribute to impartial voting and a deserving winner. Ofcourse this system would reduce the cash quotient for the organizers quite a lot but still they would earn enough to satisfy their needs. Atleast the primary objective of the show would be achieved: The best singer must win.

No system can be completely flawless but I believe that the this one is the closest we can get to a perfect voting system. What say everybody???

TALENT HUNTS OR MERE MONEY MAKERS AND TRP SEEKERS!!!!

Ever since indion idol was launched 3 years back, there has been a flood of talent hunt competitions on indian

television. Even though saregama n then saregamapa were the oldest running singing competitions running on

zee for many years, they were not like indion idol.they were just competitions in which the judges

had the last say on who won n who lost and they were not publicised n hyped as indion idol. But as indion idol n sony

came up with a masterpiece of making money by completely handing the fates of the contestants in the hands of audience

n asked the audience to chose their idol who will be called indion idol, it became a huge success. Sony made loads of

money from the voting and the winner got the so called support of india(though that was misleading according to me).

First of all, how can u ask people to judge n decide the winner when most people vote on emotion, not knowing much

about singing. Naturally the talent which came out of it was no special. There is a major flaw in the voting where u

vote for ur favourite. If there ever was a way of deciding the winner by voting , it cud have been that u had to vote

for the worst n not the best. That wud have given impartial voting n much better result. But that wud have meant less

votes n less money!!!!And thats where the real motive of these shows comes into question???

But unfortunately this is not much of a question....the answer is ridiculouly clear. Since indion idol's

succesful campaign in raking in lots of moolah by the senseless voting system, all others have followed suit.

there have been fame gurukul again on sony,indion idol 2 and dissapointingly even zee joined in the fun with saregama

mahayuddha of music directors. And hence the show which had been running quite popularly for a long time

also got lured into making money and competing with others. Though there was some great talent on display

in the mahayuddh(way better than indion idol n fame gurukul),but the eventual winner decided by the people was definitely

not the best. And then there are the controversies created in these shows due to fights(mostly false) between judges.

also the so called x-factor n performance seeked by judges in some of the shows. All this stuff to get their trp's

at the top of the charts eventually leading to more viewer response n more money.

All this money making is still ok as long as u atleast have good talent on display so that if they cant win due

to the hopeless voting system, but they can still be noticed n if they r deserving can get some work in industry.

For instance, in this season, there were three major talent hunts. There was Indion Idol 3 on sony, the saregamapa vishwayuddha on zee, and the

star voice of india on star plus. All three major channels on indian tv gave it their all to get

that elusive number 1 status. The zee n star plus even took the same time slots for their shows in a fight to

outclass or shud i say outstrategise each other and get the nod of the audience. But the most unfortunate thing which came out was that the quality of singing in the show which started it all i.e the indion idol dipped even further. Infact some of the singing was so ordinary that even I(ordinary singer) honestly felt like I had a chance to atleast clear a few rounds there. On the other hand, there were some wonderful talent on display in the other two shows.

But it does seem that slowly but surely, the desire to make more and more money through voting and unnecessary controversies

is beginning to overshadow the talent which this great country has to offer.

The bottomline is that the winners coming out of these shows are not going to compete with the major singers

in the industry unless they have exceptional talent. Even exceptional talent wud get only some work as of now and

have to establish themselves as their counterparts have done . Moreover the ordinary talent on display now in these

shows wud not even get close to bollywood(coz they dont deserve it) and wud be content in making money through

stage shows and all.

The channels will continue to keep making moolah and the winners too wud keep making adequate money by doing

stage shows. But what we wont be able to see is a genuine talent in the industry giving some tough competition to the

establishes ones....

Lets hope that something out of the blue happens and we see some fresh special talent making it big in the industry.