Stop this bullshit !!!

If your initials are SB from CoMo, dont read further

Jus saw a brilliant Bahrain GP......Ferrari 1, 3. Good stuff........and Alonso comes in #5...he deserves it after blocking Kimi in the initial laps. After the scintillating race, picked up today's Times (pg 17, culture curry) and was flipping through it when I came across an article titled: " Sachin Vs SRK" It was abt "Why blame only the cricketers for doing ads? Blame the filmstars also!"

WHAAAAT ?? Wasn't in the mood to read bullshit, so I just went ahead, but the whole (il)logic of the title was so hard to ignore, I had to go read how the author (wannabe Mr. Anil Dharkar, whose daughter has those lips made of bicycle tire inner tubes - fully inflated) had reasoned out.

In short, he had this to say: " When movies flop, people don't blame movie-stars. That's because movie guys don't play themselves, they play characters. So cricketers should not play themselves....because ads generally show them to be winning all matches with a wave of their bats. They should be shown as failures who fail again and again. Then they won't be blamed"

Kya bakwaas hai yeh!!! You curly haired old geezer, the logic is this:

Filmstars' jobs DEMAND that they act for a living, everyone knows that. They don't sacrifice movies for TV ads.....and frankly, who cares if a movie nixes? It doesn't involve NATIONAL HONOUR, PRESTIGE , PRIDE.
Cricketers' jobs demand they bowl, bat, field, WIN. Not model credit cards in unbroken pansy voices, or show off brown-streaked locks as if they were in a hair-oil ad. They represent our country at the international level.........in front of the world.

Amitabh Bachchan may be dressed as a villager for Cadbury, but everyone in the world will appreciate him. 4 idiots running through crowded streets and turning into tigers at a railway station (where there are no trains, only a hippy crowd shouting hoo-haa-blah-blah) and then losing matches the next day WILL NOT BE.

Dharkar uncle, do your job, stick to writing about logical stuff. If you have to write for money's sake, don't. Go do an ad.


See SB, I asked you not to!!

Pudhe Chala !!

These two words, instantly conjure up an image of a khakhi-dressed, harried conductor in a lurching, crowded BEST bus full of sweaty tired passengers for anyone who's been in Bombay long enough !

A conductor: the person who punches out the tickets and collects the correct fare for your journey. That's the job profile. But he is also the person who can alter your mood, make you belligerent by acting stuffy, make you plead (for your life, onlookers might think) when he says "kya hai?....chutta nikalo nahi to uttar jao" in the bus which when running exactly on schedule comes in intervals of 50 minutes.

There is this one conductor who I bump into infrequently in early morning buses on Route 79. A complete joker.........he'll keep a smile on your face all through the journey by passing harmless but amazingly funny comments at all the passengers alighting, boarding or just sitting in the bus.

There's another in the 8:35 # 322 bus from Santacruz to Vidyavihar. Have been seeing him regularly for almost 4 years now..we smile and acknowledge each other, but 2 semesters ago, when I boarded the bus during exams with notes spilling from my hands......he gave me my ticket and then started speaking to me...
"What engineering are you doing? "
"Mechanical"
"You like it?"
"Bahut"
"Electronics Engineering kaisa hai? "
"Bahut accha field hai. Kyun ?"
"Meri beti Electronics Engineer hai"
The quiet pride on his face made me see him as a father, and not as a conductor for the 1st time in so many years. And now whenever I see him, I don't see him as a conductor...but as a person I know.

Another incident......while preparing for my GRE, I used to revise my verbal flashcards in the bus each day. One evening, while I was going through a massively difficult set, this conductor sits down next to me and asks:
" Yeh kya hai? "
"Exam ke liye English padh raha hu"
" Yeh exam kab hoti hai? Kyunki tum sab poora saal yehi karte rehte ho"
"Jisko jab dena ho, tab exam de sakta hai."
(Incredulous look on his face....must be thinking I am pulling a fast one on him)
"Accha, to iss se english kaise seekhte hai? "
I explained him the funda of the word in CAPS in front, and the meaning and its usage behind.
"Bahut accha tarika hai yeh." ...Pause... "Maine english sirf school tak padhi thi. Aur padhne ka mauka nahi mila....lekin seekhna hai. "
And I got a low-down of his life then. Just a very interesting narrative........and it was a wonderful experience.

Then there are bullies......forever frowning, forever scowling, even if I told them my best PJ, they wouldn't be able to laugh. With pockets bulging with change, they'll still trouble people for exact change. Saw one some days ago....a kid asked for a half ticket. This guy instantly started shouting at him.....itna bada ho ke 11 saal ka bolta hai apne aap ko? Sharam nahi aati? blaaah blaaah.....poor kid was petrified ! He didn't ask for any ID, any proof....just let it rip !

But imagine a job where you have to be on your toes..literally and figuratively for hours together, handle massive 4 digit transactions in petty change in each day and then account for every 25p coin that has been collected in the day, have man-management, PR, HR, time-management, deadlines, strict schedules each day, every day. No Sundays off, face the wrath of everyone who has had a bad day, be pushed, shoved and at the end of it, get no thanks but the small salary you get to take home.

Its hats off to these guys........and I will miss this breed when I go abroad (hopefully, I'll get veeejhaa! ). Coz abroad, all I'll have a fat driver grinning at me when i drop my fare into a box and then tell me "Mind your Head".

Conductors, Pudhe chalaaaaa !!
(That's move forward, in Marathi....!)
Two famous ex-conductors: Rajnikant and Johnny Lever

Life's rulebook - my learnings so far

Never take loans, it means you start out with a negative balance.

If you can't do what others have done, if you can't even appreciate it, ignore.....don't pull them down.
This came from today's (April 06, 2007) viewing of Bill Gates biography on the History Channel. Everyone kept complaining that BG monopolized the industry..and controlled the market.....and didn't allow others to come up blah blah. Its a simple rule.make something better than BG and the market will be yours. People always look out for a good deal, good value for money.And Google did just that...........and they've not had complaints against Microsoft.....its vice-versa :)
Same thing portrayed in the Aviator, Guru etc etc.

Love unconditionally......get knocked out before you give it up.

Once knocked out though, make sure you don;t carry those ills into the next relationship..every one is different.

Follow your gut, brain or heart whichever feels appropriate at that moment. Do what feels right, because then you will be able to defend it with valid reasons, else you'll end up saying " I don't know why I did that !" And THAT's foolish.

Follow dreams.

Work damn hard......take up jobs others won't if you FEEL its right. Sometime later, you'll realize why you FELT it was right.......

I follow the policy that its better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven.

People aren't lucky. They take up all available/difficult opportunities and try working them to fruition, and when they succeed, people say they got lucky.

Talk to people. Make friends.

Offer seats in public transport to ladies (especially the old and pretty ones. They both smile very sweetly !)

Lie for valid reasons.

When all things are going wrong......start feeling happy, because the only direction things can take from there is upwards and towards better stuff.

and the best one..........the ultimate truth :

All that happens is for good...........

you may have to wait a minute, hour, day, month, year or longer......but be assured.....you'll realize why that particular thing happened then and you WILL be glad for it.


I'll keep updating this as and when I learn !!


Love,

whodunlivingthislifewell ?


P.S : Someone calling himself/herself 'youknowhu?' posted the following in the comments section.........the best ones are published here:

Don’t think about what you have been, think of only what you want to be... u are sure to progress.

Never underestimate to brain of a kid, he can shove things up right at your face and u will be left speechless.

(I would use juniors, instead of kid)

Adapting to changing lifestyles is the only way we can survive!

Trying to understand problems from someone else’s point of view helps you grow to be a better human being.

Never give up your friends in the process of falling in love because if it weren’t for them, you wouldn’t be who you are.

Do not brood over spilt milk, I disagree…
Brooding helps you understand what you did wrong n helps you grow!

Never let someone come in the way of your career, maybe they may not exist tomorrow, but your career will help you live!

Life is only a bed of thorns. To get accustomed to it, one needs to walk through it rather than running away!

Life doesn’t give you an option for who's your parents, your neighbours, your school etc… it gives you a choice in two things, your career and your friends. Make them both right because that’s what’s mould you into who you are!

Love unconditionally because without falling in love you would never know what it means to get hurt!

If something hurts, stop, think rationally n then proceed in what you do; trust me rational thinking never goes wrong.

Two things to be remembered: Never make promises when your happy n never take decisions when your angry!

Never make promises such that you can never fulfill... it’ll pinch you later... n when it pinches, it pinches swell hard.