I work in the IT industry and needless to say I have to deal with a lot of desis. Now, that has lots of perks. You get to hang out with buddies and fellow Indians. You get to ogle at Indian girls. And you can get over the fact that the American girls will never really want anything to do with you. Along with that, comes a fair share of idiosyncrasies which a lot of desis share. Now, I am taking a dig at the official communications with the desi employees in office. Also, I am not poking fun at people with bad English but at those who claim to be the elite English speakers with the entire Webster's' as their vocabulary. Before I start, let me clarify, that I am no English pundit. So, if you find any grammatical mistakes and /or anything else related to my writing skills, I am making my backside secure by saying that 'I am writing a blog' not an essay in English class. But seriously, if you find any, suggest corrections and I will make those.

I am sure you have met one of these high and mighty souls in your life. Now, I am not saying what they write is wrong. But, it just doesn't sound right. Let me give you an example. Ever read mails saying 'I shall take care of this' or 'I shall call you back'. Now if you look at the sentences, there is absolutely nothing wrong there. But then, if you look up your dictionaries you will find that 'shall' is an outdated word. Its not wrong to use it but its just not happening. Now some will argue, we use the British language as opposed to American (and that's an excuse most cited by the elite Indians). I agree, but, even in England how many people (other than the queen) use such language. When I read such mails I feel I am receiving commandments from Moses 'Thou shalt fix the bug'. The same applies to people who use 'would' instead of the simpler 'will' in sentences when what they really mean is 'will'.

Let me tell you about my English teacher in school who corrected me when I said that 'Rajesh and I have done the homework'. She insisted that I had to say that 'Rajesh and me had done the homework'. Being in class 5 or 6, I did not have the sense to look it up (and yes it was in the pre-internet days) so I had been using that ever since. Not till I started studying for the verbal section of GMAT, did I know that I was right in the first place. I thought of all the people who might have had fun at my expense all these years. (Yeah, if I find something funny, I laugh. The guilt about laughing at someone's innocence spoils the fun. So, I try to avoid getting it in the way. And I can take a joke when you laugh at me). Coming back to the point, I am thinking of how many poor souls might have been (mis)guided by their English teachers during their schooling.

Have you ever met a person who introduces himself as: 'Hi, myself Rajesh' (I don't know why that name has got stuck today). Yes, sure 'You are Rajesh'. But, how much does it take to learn to say, 'Hi, I am Rajesh.' or 'Hi, My name is Rajesh.' It just isn't the right way, Rajesh.

My point here is not to berate the English of fellow Indians. We are on the verge of becoming the largest English speaking population in the world. But, we seldom forget the basics and we are too proud to accept our mistakes when we are corrected by someone else. You may say that the point is to communicate and as long as the emails convey information, it should be okay. It is definitely 'okay', but wouldn't it be 'great' if we could do it in the right way. I make a lot of mistakes and maybe my English makes people laugh at times. But if you can correct me then it will save me from more embarrassing situations in the future. If not, just have fun at my expense.

Lately, following the Indian teams fortunes is like buying a lottery and hoping that you hit a jackpot. But then, people still buy a lottery, so whats wrong in rooting for India. So what, if they lose to the second string side "South Africa XI" (or something like it). I was following that match closely and I am writing this, solely, to vent out my frustration which creeped in while following the ball by ball coverage on the internet.

Indian team should be duly credited for certain things. Firstly, have you ever counted how many careers we have revived in the past 10 years. People who had forgotten the art of scoring runs came to India (or called India to their home country) and have become the best players overtime. Remember Chanderpaul before India's tour of West Indies in 1997? Or remember Matt Hayden before Australia came to India in 2001. Younis Khan in 2004-5, Gayle in 2003 ...well, too many to list. So here's a cue to the rest of the boards, if they think they have a potential batsman who cannot live upto the expectations, arrange a series with India. We will help you. We are nice people and we dont disappoint foreigners. West Indies team was almost dead and buried before India's tour this year. And now, suddenly we have given them hope. Now, we have a relatively easy task. South Africa, although jaded, is a good team. All they need is some matches with India and they should be all set for the World Cup. Its not fair that Aussies dont get the taste of Indian blood before the WC. I am of the opinion that everyone should get a fair chance. So, a series with India before a crucial tournament like the WC should be based on bidding. That way each board gets a fair chance and our board makes money. English Board members, you need Trescothick for Ashes, have him play against India. We will put a smile back on his face and get him out of depression.

But, jokes apart, I seriously do believe that we can start winning matches. After the warm up game in SA, I thought that India's only problem is facing pace. None of our batsmen played Steyn well. That includes Rahul Dravid. You will say that he made 79. But he made most of those runs when Steyn was off the attack and he surrendered as soon as Steyn came back to bowl. So, all we need is a few changes in some 'unfair rules'. With the clout and the money power which Indian board has, making these changes will be as simple as plucking a grey Hair (pun intended). So here are the new rules:

1. Only one fast bowler should be allowed per team. Its not fair that we face a battery of Ntini, Steyn and the likes, while we give them Zaheer, Pathan, Kumble (cmon, he is the best fast bowler India ever produced).

2. Only one ball above 140 kmph allowed per over. Our bowlers get tired with that kind of an effort. SO, just because you guys are strong, you should not be allowed more. Cricket is a gentleman's game. Brute power should not be the deciding factor in winning or losing.

3. The opposition should name 2 players at the start of the game (from 11) who will not affect the fate of the game in any way. We have named Raina and Mongia already. So, now its your turn.

4. We will not take the field if we see grass on pitch. Dust and cracks are okay. You have the entire outfield to plant grass.

There might be some more additions before I submit these to Mr Pawar and Mr Modi. Suggestions welcome.

PS: Everyone praises the tactics "when the boys do well". And everything looks fine when the team wins but it also hurts as much when we start to lose. So, please, sense the humor and sarcasm in the words. We have a great team which is just going through a bad patch (the ever optimistic Indian fan's answer to Australia). So, I wish Rahul and his boys good luck for the South Afirca tour and the World Cup ahead.

While in college, I graduated to some heavier stuff like Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Sabbath, Sepultura etc. Rock music has been around for about half a century but if there's someone who has to be credited for making rock look sexy, it should be undoubtedly GnR. In the late 80s, there were only a few rock bands around and most of the people dismissed rock music to be too trashy (and not in the trash metal way). Guitar never looked so good before as it did in the hands of Slash. And there are few very people with the kind of stage presence and energy which Axl Rose exudes.

Too much talent leads to destruction if there isnt a sane mind to handle it. Ironically, GnR's biggest hit album was named Appetite for Destruction. The band members of GnR took to drugs and alcohol addcition as if there is no tomorrow. Couple this with ego problems between Slash and Axl and a split was inevitable. It was heart breaking to hear about the split and that Guns n Roses will never exist as a band again. (Yes, the GnR I will be watching does not have Slash or Steve Adler). Slash joined the Stone Temple Pilots to form Velvet Revolver while Axl is the only surviving member of the original GnR.

Its rather frustrating to see loads of talent going waste. Somehow, every genius comes with a baggage of self-destructive elements. Take the case of Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. Wasnt he supposed to be the God of alternative rock? But his suicide confirmed one thing. After all, every genius, is finally just human. You need to be superhuman to cope with the stress which comes along with talent, fame and media glare. For a common man, it may be easy to say: sure, make me a celebrity and i will cope up with the pressure easily. But very few actually have a sane mind to deal with it. Some, like members of GnR, develop fat egos, or take to drugs. Others, like Elvis in his final years, prefer basking in their past glory. Still others, like Cobain, who do not have a strong mind to deal with the pressure take up extreme steps. Its something like what we see in the superman or spiderman movies: With a great power comes a greater responsibility.

The association of Slash, Steve Adler and Axl Rose lasted less than 5 years. But that short period of time saw them chrun out hits like Paradise City, Sweet Child O Mine, Welcome to the Jungle and so on. Appetite for destruction has been the highest selling debut album of all time. At one point, both Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 were vying for the top spot at the same time. This will probably be a unique case of such an occurance. In that time, they rose from nobodies to icons. I always wonder what it would have been if they could settle their creative differences and make music the way only they could. Post slash era has been pretty mediocre for GnR and their new album Chinese Democracy has been in the making since the last 8-9 years.

These thoughts apart, I am pretty excited about watching GnR show tomorrow. I have just one thing to say to Mr. Rose.....Take me down to the Paradise City...............

Contrary to the norm, there were comparatively few big movies released this summer. Da Vinci Code and Superman to name a few. And seriously speaking, I dont know if Departed was aimed to be one of the big ones. Publicity wise, there werent too many advertisements. TV trailers started just 15 days before the movie released. But then with a stellar cast of Jack Nicholson, Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg you dont have to spend too much on publicity. And if you spend 10 bucks just to watch these guys together, you wont come out disappointed.

Coming to the story, its based on the Irish mafia in the Boston area. The police department plants a rat (Leo) into the mafia. And to make things interesting, the mafia headed by Jack Nic, have their own snitch in the police department in the form of Matt Damon. Both, the mafia as well the police department know that there is a spy among them. However, each of them is unaware who it is. The plot builds up into an amazing thriller which I would not want to give away. If I did, believe me, you wouldnt appreciate it.

So rather than concentrating on the story, let me talk about why you should watch it. One obvious reason is Martin Scorcese. If you have grown up on his earlier movies like Casino or Good Fellas, then you would know what I mean. There's no doubt that there are gonna be a couple of Oscar nominations here. The direction is focussed and editing is tight. Once the intitial story unfolds, you would prefer waiting for a restroom break till the end of the movie.

The star of this movie is undoubtedly Leo DiCaprio. Personally, I thought that Leo could do only roles what we term as chocolate hero roles in India. But he delivers a powerful performance and overshadows everyone else. The best lines, though, are reserved for Jack Nicholson. Watch out the way he says those in a typical Boston-matter-of-factedly manner. Matt Damon cannot do much wrong when it comes to playing lead in thrillers. I was expecting a meatier role for Matt but, by the end of it, I wasnt complaining. The supporting cast of Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin is formidable in itself and, together, they do no disappoint.

Watch out for the scene where Leo talks about his trauma to the shrink and tells her how his hand is always steady. Also, feel the tension when Matt Damon calls on Leo's cell phone. Each of them know that that phone call is by the spy on the other side. The call gets connected but no one utters a word.

And if you from Boston (as I am), then you will love the sights you see. Right from Beacon Hill to Long wharf. I have added 440 (hope i got the number right) Washington Ave in my places-to-visit list.

Now coming to the negatives. Okay, I may be overwhelmed by the movie but to make the review interesting it was mandatory that there be negatives. The ending comes very suddenly (i refrained from using the word abrubt). There are too many things which happen in very less time at the end. Sudden it may be, but shocking it certainly is. See, I told you I would find a positive here as well.

I was waiting all summer for a perfect summer thriller. Summer went without it. But fall did not disappoint me.

Happy viewing guys!!!!

When I reflect back at life, it seems to follow the same pattern. We pick up the fragments of life and try to make it organized (or maybe try to get in a comfort zone). Its like a bowling alley, where everytime the pins are lined up, their sole purpose is to get toppled by the next bowler. Now this is not necessarily negative. Random does not have to mean chaos. It can be beautiful. Look at the stars on a clear night and you will know what I mean. Again, some geeks might argue that the stellar positions can be determined. But add a shooting star or two in the mix and everything becomes random once again. This universal mess or at least its tendency to attain a messy state is what keeps things moving. It prevents the mind from stagnating. With the new mess, you can cook up a new way of arranging things. They say, initially, all the continents were a single land mass. Imagine having to live in world, where there wouldnt be any diversity. So, the next time your mom asks you to clean your room tell her that you are merely following the law of nature. (Let me know how it works out for you).

That brings me to the third point which I mentioned in the title. God. To me, God is a mathematical probablility of occurance of an event. Before I start on this, I am not an atheist nor am I a believer. I can put myself safely as an agnostic (how diplomatic huh?). What are the chances that some chemicals say water, some protein molecules etc (i dont know too much biology) come together by themselves (naturally and spontaneously) and form a cell. This looks very unlikely because, for a fact, it looks more like organizing something than disorganizing. And hence, against the very second law of thermodynamics. Let us, for a moment, assume that such a process, in fact, does increase entropy. Still, what are the chances of getting the combination right? Scientists had to struggle for years to create a living cell out of random chemicals. Now, the very chance I refer to here is in mathematical terms called probability. Some may call it supernatual or God. Belief or faith is nothing but hoping that the probability comes true. Every time a coin is flipped, we know it will be heads or tails. What if there were billions of possible outcomes? And what if we were betting on one such outcome x? Wouldnt this thought automatically cross your mind: "God, please let it be x"? In reality, what you pray for may be too complex but wouldnt it be possible to break it down to a mathematical probability? My intention here is not to hurt anyone's beliefs. But am I being to sacrilegeous by thinking about God as a mathematical entity?

Disclaimer: I dont claim to be a physicist or a theologist. My understanding of physics is limited to what I interpreted from the classes in school. All the thoughts expressed here are solely mine and I dont intend to impose my ideas on anyone. Nor do I intend to hurt anyone's religious sentiments.

Winters in Boston can be pretty dull and depressing. So, when summer comes, its time for everyone to pull their adventure boots on. Not content with activities like camping, hiking, trekking and white water rafting, we decided to take on Mr. Newton himself. Some of us did have sleepless nights a couple of days before the adventure but we dare not admit it in public. The day of the dive was one of the best of the entire summer. We reached the base camp in time for the instruction lesson. It was simple, you ride a small plane upto the height of 10000 ft and jump in tandem with a professional who is strapped on to you. We had decided to get videos of the jump. So there was another professional videographer who jumped along with us to capture our moment of glory...or whatever.

We wished each other luck and were taken two at a time for the jump. The plane had 6 people (2 of us + 2 tandem jumpers + 2 videographers) and a pilot. The moment the plane took off I realized that its not a controlled environment like that of a roller coaster. As we went higher, I saw the houses turning into tiny ones like those in Monopoly. Whats more, my instructor showed me that we were flying over a graveyard. Anyway, the next 20 minutes were full of anxiety so I decided to enjoy the view. We passed over the clouds and the wind became chilly (or was it just the chill in my spine?). As the altimeter hit 10 k feet, we knew it was time. I was the second person to jump so I had no choice but to see a human being fall off the plane right in front of my eyes. The moment that happened, I remember shouting "holy cow" (or something like that). The next thing I knew was: I am at the edge of the plane with my feet dangling in the air and I am off. I can never forget the next 2-3 seconds when we tumbled in the air. There are many things you might think at that time. Like, why am I doing this? For some, their entire life may falsh in front of their eyes in those 2-3 secs. For me, it was the mix of both. But thereafter, it was the best thing that has happened to me since a long time. The free fall lasted for about 40 seconds. They had told us that we can reach speeds upto 120 mph. But I did not care for speeding tickets here. My tandem diver told me to look ahead and there was the videographer who had jumped along. I was waving my hands and flapping them like wings making sure that the camera doesnt miss any action. The parachute opened (yes or else I wouldnt be writing this) after 40 seconds and from then on it was a joyride for the next 5 minutes. We flew around the whole place and took a couple of of mid-air spins. When I landed I did not have words to express my feelings (even for the camera). It was a mix of joy, ecstacy and achievement. Everyone who did this had used every possible superlative in the dictionary after landing to describe the experience. We couldnt stop talking about it for the next couple of days and thats what inspired me to share this wonderful (well I am out of superlatives now) experience.

Until we do something more crazy, keep the faith.

PS: I admit I have shamelessly used the caption which I saw long time ago on a Fosters' hoarding as my title. Cliche as it may sound now, I couldnt think of anything else which would aptly describe my experience.

Everyone has an alter ego (or at least, everyone wants to have one). Not everyone may want to be in the shoes of Peter Parker or Clark Kent. Nor, do I think, that anyone would want to be a Prof Nash (A Beautiful Mind) or Tyler Durden (Fight Club). Before any questions come up as to how Prof Nash made it here, let me make a point saying that I consider schizophrenia an extreme case of satisfying one's alter ego. So, coming back to the point, I intend to use this blog as a platform to satisfy my alter ego. Hopefully, it will not be limited to just one personality but be more on the lines of MPD.

And yes, there's always good old me to write stuff about myself. All right, I hear y'all saying 'Who the heck wants to hear normal boring stories from a regular guy?'. But, believe me, a normal-no-frills-attached-human-life does throw up some interesting insights. Everyone has felt that at some stage, but seldom do we share it. So, here I am making my debut.

PS: If anyone still has any doubt why the name 'Barmy Sagacity', its just an oxymoron which describes one of the many facets of my personality.