!

Zindagi hai to khwaab hai
Khwaab hai to manzile hain
Manzile hain to faasle hain
Faasle hain to raaste hain
Raaste hain to mushkile hain
Mushkile hain to hausla hai
Hausla hai to vishwaas hai
Vishwaas hai to jeet hai

Kyunki, fighter hamesha jeet ta hai!

The Will You'll Not Destroy

For me, the most important metric in calculating whether I admire a man or not is how capable he is of doing what he needs to do. I am not crazy about people who perform spectacularly well at something, are prodigies, the likes; I admire people who so-to-speak have a great hit-rate, are able to complete most tasks they are given to, with the requisite quality.

Lets try to now see what this 'capability' actually consists of and what factors influence it.

Capability = Talent X Hardwork

Capability = [Theoretical Talent (knowledge of systems, process, work methodologies) + Practical Talent (jugaad) ] X [Will (relentlessness, confidence) + Stamina (pressure resistance, sounds physical and mental faculties]

The most interesting among these factors is will. I can't analyse it further, say where it stems from, whether it is an effect of the environment he/she grows through or something ingrained. And that for me is the defining quality of a man I would admire, whose ambition and endless pursuit of a particular goal gets him there while so many others having all other qualities might fail.

Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti

[Obviously this is not an exhaustive list, just the top 3 songs in each category. I invariably end up mixing them a lot, which probably explains why I am in such weird moods sometimes :D]

Songs I would hear when in love

1. Yellow - Coldplay
2. Beautiful Girl - INXS
3. Wonderful tonight - Eric Clapton

Songs I would hear when out of love

1. Aadat - Jal
2. She hates me - Puddle of Mud
3. Metallica - The Unforgiven II

Songs I would hear when trying to fall in love

1. November rain - Guns and Roses
2. Wonderwall - Oasis
3. Annie's Song - John Denver

Songs I would hear before an important exam/interview/meeting

1. Lakshya - Lakshya
2. Woh Sikandar hi - Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar
3. Zindagi ki yahi reet - Mr. India

Songs I would hear before facing large amounts of work

1. Right here, right now - Van Halen
2. The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel
3. Kandhon se milte hain kandhe - Lakshya

Songs I would hear when I feel like doing nothing

1. Hotel California - Eagles
2. Turn the Page - Bob Seger
3. Raindrops - B J Thomas

Songs I hear when I miss home

1. Country roads - John Denver
2. Kagaz Ki Kashti - Ghulam Ali
3. New Slang - The Shins

A Stray Thought

In the long run [pause], we are all dead

Man of Constant Sorrow

Wednesday morning. Half an hour into the office. Staring at the laptop. Already visited gmail and orkut to check for any new messages. Desperately trying to think of something to write on the blog. Shitloads of work staring at me, waiting for me to begin; I slide the stack of papers out of the reach of my eyes, but still they creep towards me looking beseechingly at me.

I don't want to work.

Dilli Ki Sardi

The plane taxied on the tarmac, and passengers coming from the year-round-pleasant-weather cities of South India huddled closer together as they saw the fog outside. As soon as we stepped out of the plane, a blast of cold air hit us and as I chained up my jacket, I called out to the shivering man in a half-sweater over a half-sleeved shirt behind me, "Welcome to Delhi".

I've here for more than six years now, and all along I have battled the winters here as one does a strategic foe. You have to be on your guard all the time. It attacks you from all sides and doesn't relent, and the chill is of a quality that hurts you, not one in which you can go out for walks muffled up, no sir no, you'd better stay bundled under your rajai and watch TV/computer or read a book. The chill creeps in from all directions prickling you like needles and if you are not ready, it can seriously hurt you.

But slowly you overcome it and begin liking it. Over the years, many winter nights have been spent in front of the computer watching a movie slowly, too lazy to fastforward it or change it, then on the call of some friends mustering courage enough to get up and get some coffee outside, three-four friends all sitting together with several layers of insulation eating pizza or talking till the wee hours of the morning. For some reason, I have grown to love Delhi's winters and delayed as they were this year, I was getting irritated looking at the sight of my blankets and warm clothing lying unused. It was like itching to go home where you know very irritating siblings and cousins awaited you but you wanted to go there all same. It has become a part of me and I can't wait for them.

Now that they are in full swing, I suddenly feel very good; I am finally at home :)

As somebody told me a few days back, "if you can survive Delhi, you can survive anywhere". I like that.

On The Road

In life, we move. From one place to another, from one station to another, from one group of people to another and so on. All along, it is something we are chasing that drives us on, and sometimes, where and who we are with is not the right train to be on and we get off it and take another one. All around us, people are doing the same and we meet several people on the way, some we leave behind with a shrug, some with a sigh.

All my life, I have focussed too much on which station to get off at, what next train to take, believing that the next train is the last one, and that's where I'll put down my luggage and finally, smile. However, in the past few days, I have realized that there is no final station, the journey is endless, and you'd rather keep smiling all along or else you'll forget how to. This was triggered by a conversation I had with a senior colleague.

While going to the hotel from the airport, we started upon a conversation about what I wanted to do in life; and I said I wanted to become 'x' at the age of 30-32, 'y' by 40, 'z' by 50 and so on. And then I started outlining how I'd get there, with suitable job-changes and degrees and experiences and so on.

My colleague was silent for some time before he said, "You know you'd rather think about whether you'll enjoy becoming an x,y,z and how you could become a better x, y, z than thinking about how you'd get there. If you like being there and you are good enough you will get there, a few years here and there. You run the risk of getting into someone you don't like and screwing your life".

And then I started thinking about all the conversations I have had with friends, who have constantly asked me to get out of the 'object-oriented-programming' mode which I have constantly refused to do, and I realised that I needed to maintain an equilibrium between looking at the right time/station to get off and get on and enjoying the ride. The destination will wait for some time, I needed to enjoy what I was doing, needed to be able to do things that I liked to do. I needed to live my life.

So I have decided to try and become less obsessive, object-oriented and overall, pay more attention to things which I like doing.

On a new year, right time to usher in "The Year of The Journey".

Cheers!