1.  Like 2009 (when I traveled around 28,000 Kilometers), 2011 saw me traveling for around 25,900 kilometers (Yes. I keep a kilometer by kilometer account of my travels). I traveled to around 13 cities which included a few never-before-visited ones like Amritsar,Bikaner, Ranthambore, Barmer & Wagah (Attari).

Wagah & Amritsar

2. In June, I once again became unemployed & unbalanced as I decided to pursue higher studies.
3. After spending close to 3 years in dry deserts of Thar, a move to Mumbai with its random downpours was quite an experience.
4. After many years I experienced 0 degrees Celsius (in Amritsar). I also experienced temperatures above 50 degrees! (Read about the experience here).
5. Started another strangely named blog for my financial rants – Essential Associate Aktiengesellschaft….. And closed it for some personal reasons
6. Received a prize from talented travel blogger, Shivya of Shooting Star fame in celebration of her 200^th post.
7. I struggled throughout 2011 to revive my reading habit. Currently I have around 5-6 books which are waiting for me to lay my hands on them.
8. For me, Rockstar’s Nadaan Parindey is song of the year.

As far as 2012 is concerned, I have decided not to keep any specific resolutions. I just hope that Mayan prophecy (of doomsday on 21-12) is proven wrong and we get to see another 22-12.

Happy New Year.

A lizard in my house got hold of a huge insect. Looking at size of the insect, it was difficult to understand how the liz would swallow it. But it seems liz’s body is governed by unearthly elasticity parameters.

Stationed near a window, liz was enjoying the insect. This window had glass blinds tilted at an angle which did not allow anything to pass through them. But there existed a crevice near top right corner of the window, which allowed objects no broader than a liz to pass through it.

Out of nowhere, liz got this divine enlightenment that I was a threat to her life and decided to run away from me. She decided to take the small-crevice-highway to get out of my view. But problem was that it was still holding the monstrous insect in her mouth and was not able to enter the crack. Either she would have to give up the insect (pleasures of life) and stay alive or stay with the insect and face my wrath!

Assuming I was a threat to her life, liz had to decide whether to stay in the party [have insect(ful) delicacy] or run for her life without any tasty baggages.

What liz did further is irrelevant. But it did teach me a lesson.

Sometimes, you might be having the time of your life. But external uncontrollable elements may force you to give up everything and be decisive about your actions.

It is like saying that you should be ready to leave a party when you don’t want to.

What are your views?

Time is everything.

After Inception, it is the first sci-fi that has managed to give me some philosophical kicks. Movie is full of acid dripping painful truths. I share a few –

Lesson #1: Time is the real currency.

Lesson #2: If you waste time, time will waste you.

Lesson #3: Since we are not immortals, everyday is a gift for you. Treat and live it like it is the last day of your life.

Lesson #4: Everyone is after your time. After all it is what they all survive/feed on. You just need to love yourself and protect your loved ones from those who are out there trying to steal time.

Lesson #5: You can find allies and comrades in strangest of places. So be on the lookout.

Lesson #6: Most people live their lives without knowing what they want. Don’t be one of them.

Lesson #7: You should be ready to take the jump (risk). And as they say, ships are safest at harbors but that is not what they were built for.

After showering you all with life lessons from someone like Justin Timberlake , here is what I got as a bonus of watching the movie.

Watched the movie from a seat next to the gorgeous lady who drove a F1 car – Gul Panag!

Lucky Me :-)

Dark Side of Strength : Weakness

If you like what you see, click here and Like the pic.

Are we bloody barbarians?

How can you treat a woman like that?

Why should a woman be punished for her husband’s mistakes? And that too in a manner like that!

Where exactly are we heading?

Jobs No More – iRecession is here

Interestingly, a World Cup triumph could not inspire Miss Pandey to live upto her promise. But Mr. Hazare’s fast made Yogitta Dandekar and Jenny to embrace tricolours in unimaginable ways. Even our very beloved Angry birds got a competition from ‘Angry Anna’.

I read it somewhere that “Anna has lit a fire. It’s for us to keep the flame of hope alive.” All the online & offline forums are busy appreciating Anna’s efforts. Anna has indeed done a repeat of RDB. Everyone is ready to light candles and sit on dharnas.

But I don’t feel that what happened, happened for the good…

Will Lokpal Bill serve its purpose of eradicating corruption? I am not sure. But what I am pretty sure of is that corruption is in our blood and it is here to stay. It’s in the very fabric of what represents our Indian society today. And just a Bill might not be sufficient.

Indian government is already facing problems of high inflation and slowing growth. But instead of focusing its effort on these issues, it is forced to deal with Anna(s). The focus is more on fire fighting and less on working towards sustainable growth and development. And this does not auger well for country. If one person can derail a duly & constitutionally elected government and make a complete mockery of the Constitutional process, then what kind of growth can we expect in such a country? Who will have faith to invest in a country which has such unstable political environment? An imperfect democracy is far better than a perfect dictatorship. The claim of Mr Hazare and his gang that they are actual representatives of Indians is not democratic but dictatorial. Indian public is much more concerned about earning its daily bread than it is about corruption. And the worst part is that even the Middle Class is finding time to get involved in these ‘disastrous’ events! And I swear that if this trend continues, all bets on India would be off. But if people, somehow do regain sense and go back to work instead of taking part in agitations, only then will the good times be ahead and not behind us.

I read it in an article that a lot of important economic issues like formation of an Indian Sovereign Wealth Fund, FDI in multi-brand retail are pending for final decision. But our government does not have the time. It has to deal with ‘our savior’ Anna.

The image in this post says it all – Anna Arrests Government.

PS –After March 2010, this is the first month when I have written more than 2 posts!

A notification has struck your online life.

Did you expect it coming? No? Doesn’t matter. You have still been tagged.

I was discussing the Culture of Tagging with a close friend AA. And not surprisingly, both of us agreed that life is not as it used to be. [Last sentence makes me feel as if ours is a generation past its prime]. In good old days, we were required to make phone calls, write SMSs or letters (!)/emails to make people realize that we still remembered them. But now, all it takes is a few keystrokes, i.e. @Name and bingo! You have achieved a feat that did not even exist a few years back. You have tagged someone! And the tagged person gets to know that you care for them. You have him/her in your mind. You have not forgotten them.

Disclaimer – If by now, it seems like another of my loud-thinking posts, I won’t blame you. The reason for taking up such redundant topics ‘may’ be attributed to this.

So, ladies and non-gentlemen (men should not be gentle ), being a part of this revolutionary Age of Tagging, I put forward a radical and disturbing thought.

You would agree with the fact that only time, when you are socially inactive is when you are sleeping. Now what t. f. would happen, if thanks to technological advancements, people are given the ability to tag you in their dreams??

Just imagine

You wouldn’t be wrong to say that I am referring to MultiVerse (Multiple Possible Universes). In which, the only difference between 2 logically ‘adjacent’ universes is one event. For simpler understanding, read the next few lines -

Look back and think of a particular juncture of your life, when you had to make an important decision. You obviously have an idea about what you decided. Now, assume that you had taken an altogether different decision at that moment. How would have things changed after that? What course would have your life taken after that? Where are you in your life and where ‘could’ you have been?

This leads us to deduce that the life we are living right now is one of the many possible ones. Even Bhagvad Purana (a Hindu scripture) has a similar take on the issue–

The countless universes, each enveloped in its shell, are compelled by the wheel of time to wander within you, like particles of dust blowing about in the sky. The śrutis, following their method of eliminating everything separate from the Supreme, become successful by revealing You as their final conclusion.

Decision Making in Parallel Universes

The post is neither meant to be judgemental of anyone’s decisions nor a way to prompt others to start evaluating their past lives. Past is past. Period.

The post is more of a Lazy–Sunday–Morning-Loud-Thinking.

PS – “Far more than our abilities, it is our choices that show what we truly are” (Albus Dumbledore)

On the left side, there is nothing right, and on the right side, there is nothing left!

For the record, I inform my readers that I am not devoting my entire time to my financial blog (link). Rather I have started with my post-graduate studies in Mumbai. And this blog, after surviving for more than 2 years in the dry heat of Rajasthan, is now being completely drenched (almost everyday) in Mumbai’s irrationally exuberant rains!

Coming back to myself, a similar change happened a few years back (2008) in my life (with tons of soup and tea). At that time, I moved from college to corporate life. And now, after re-entering my college life, I am unlearning a lot of things I picked up during the last 3 years.

And by the way, Mumbai is gorgeous…