Saying Bye to 2007....

Just a couple of days more, before the "yy" part of dates will read-08. Anyways, thats not what prompted me to pen down something. Had some time to kill, as my office bus comes only after 8 p.m... hence thought to read the testimonials which people have written about me on orkut. You do feel good when people say something good about..and esp. those who are close to you, whom you call you friends. And thats why I think why dont we express that often, both in our professional & personal walk of life. On professional front, One pat on the back or a couple of good words can make a big impact. It motivates the person like anything. He/she gets this feeling that yes,the good work which I m doing is getting noticed and appreciated. The effort which I m putting in is not going waste. And that pat on the back actually helps him/her remain self motivated when in middle of something challenging or when things are not going his/her way. Similarly on personal front, when someone hears something good about him thats satiates his hunger for motivation on emotinal level. Not just praise, I believe, even small(and i guess apparently very common) phrase like: "Dont worry, I am wid you", or "i understand" make a lot of difference(though, in a subtle way)..
Many a times, I have said to a friend that the most poverful 3 words in this world are: "I love you". When you say it someone(or hear it from someone) with all your heart....it shows...and irrespective of how the other person responds to it, you feel so good saying those words. And I can bet that even if the person responds negatively, they do feel good listening to those words(ofcos its a different mattter, that they may not express the happiness)...

So if you have something to say to someone..go ahead... say it will all your heart...

Good bye 2007!

The bond that Unites India

One would often read/hear that "nothing unites India like cricket does." And this statement was on display today. Cricket which makes a Vice President and the peon ask with equal excitement "score kya hua hai ?"; cricket which makes you frnds with the Auto-Rickshaw driver...Cricket which makes you hug people, whom you have never seen before....Cricket which makes you dance...makes you laugh...probably makes you cry as well.

Today India has won the World Cup for Twenty-20 Cricket.

And the feeling was something beyond words...Its something special...you call up your frnds..you are excited like a kid...jst everyone you see has a smile on his face...there are people dancing on the roads...music being played in full volume...people distributing sweets. What a team of 11 people does in a oval shaped groud, for the period of close to 3 hours..can bring smile on the faces of 100 crore people! Thats incredible...beyond any comparison. Needless to say...Nothing unites India..like Cricket Does.

Dedicated to MBA-04

Why they call me senti...

First things first, They very rightly call me "senti"!. For I dont see any other reason why I am writing another post regarding "Chak De India". Yeah, watched it for 2nd time today. Thats automatically proves..I have really liked the movie.

Nonetheless, here I am not going to talk about the movie all over again. There's just one particular scene...which I would like to mention/talk about.

Its the scene, where the reaction of SRK is shown...after the Indian womens team have won the world cup final match against Australia. In real life,almost all of us would have faced this..when we were part of a winning team. The moment, immediately after winning...that is something to cherish for your whole life...that moment when you actually dont know how to react...that moment..when you suddenly realize..yes! we have done it. One's emotion @ that particular are amalgamation of so many emotions. In the movie too...this particular part has been picturised simply superbly....There's tht little disbelief(That yes! we have finally won it!) in the eyes...tears automatically trickling down...getting a little week in the knee. I must say, for me that has to one of the best scenes I have ever seen !

Thats it! Bas yehi kehna tha. And yeah...They rightly call me senti!

Gulzarish-II

Some more...

1. Unka hum-safar ban saku..
aisi kismat kaha..

Mere hum-safar bane...
itne wo bad-kismat nahi!

2. Rishto ko Panapne ka mauka to do..
Jazbaaton ko apne...
kabhi aawaj deke to dekho...

Mohabbat Itni bhi buri cheez nahi
Iske aagosh mein aake to dekho.

3. Baatein us se na jaane kitni hoti hai
aur na jaane kab se hoti aa rahi hai..

Par fer bhi kabhi...
Jee bhar ke baatein nahi ho paati us se

4. Use umeed bhi thi...
aur intzaar bhi..
Ke guftgu karunga main jaroor...

Aur shayad...aisi hi koi umeed is taraf bhi thi.

5. Sab kuch waise hi hai..
jaisa roz hota hai...
par shayad sab kuch waisa nahi..

darasal...kuch khafa si hai aaj wo.

6. Kaise dikhaye mohabbat ki inteha hoi...
jazbaat hai ye...koi numaish ka samaan to nahi

7. Kuch khaalipan sa tha din mein...
ek adhoorepan ka ehsaas liye...

tujhse guftgu na ho to...din mukkamal nahi lagta

8. Kabhi Socha na tha ke itni mohabbat hogi kisi se...
kasoor mera...ya khoobi teri kahu ise..

9. Aati to hai unhe bhi humari yaad...
Humse guftgu ka mann to unka bhi karta hai...

farq sirf ye hai ki..
unhe kuch chupana bhi bakhoobi aata hai.

10. Zindagi se koi khaas mohabbat nahi mujhe...
...armaa bas itna hai ke tere aagosh mein dum nikale

kamas-kam wo maut to sukoon ki hogi..


To b contd...

Chak De India...

Vinay very rightly said that by Sunday morning, there will be a post on my blog regarding Chak de India. He was my roomie for more than 12 months or so, n hence he knows very much about certain aspects of me...and how I digest a movie is one of such aspects.

Today afternoon..saw Chak De India. Good n clean movie. I am not a SRK fan, but he deserves a applause for his role here. I rarely like SRK movies...Swades was the first one, and Chak De is the second entry in that list.

Around 30-40 minutes back, I visited the official site of Chak De, and therein the Synopsis page contained following lines

"...it is not that we cant win. Its just that we have never believed we can."

and I believe, nothing best can describe the essence of this movie, better than this sentence. It's all about believing in yourself...and when one believes in something, then it becomes his/hers passion. Passion, which is hardly to be seen anywhere around us...at least I havent seen such a thing in past year or so. People seem to be doing something, more or less for the sake of it...Its like playing hockey...to get a government flat under sports quota! But, in reality...it has to be about holding that stick...and experiencing the rush of blood inside you. The passion..which comes from the fact..that you are playing for India...you are representing India.

I have been a decent sportsman in last 22 years of my life...of cos, havent played any game @ the big stage. But I do know, what it feels to win...and win against all odds. I indeed had that passion about my game...passion which made me believe...that yes..we can do it! And seeing this movie..I was reminded of our cricket tournament victory in MBA. That was something special. That bunch of 14 players was special...indeed everything associated with that team was special.

Will recommend this to everyone..who has been passionate about something in their lives. May be it'll motivate you to chase that dream...chase that passion.

Vinay...you know me so very well!

Slovakian Serenity

Landed in Bratislava late on wednesday night.. And the Slovak Police did its best to keep us away from bratislava(capital of slovakia), as long as possible! We had to wait for close to 1 hour for the immigration clearence...and at that time I was really having second thoughts about visiting this country for a 2nd time. Anyhow, we finally entered Bratislava. Its pretty much contraty to its neighbouring capital Prague. While Prague is a typical cosmopolitan..beautiful...full of people...lots of hustle bustle...Bratislava is instead a quite, but nonetheless pretty beautiful city. Life moves at a easy(but definitely not lethargic) pace here. Had a couple of good meetings, before the weekend finally set in. Over this weekend, we travelled to High Tatra mountain ranges... one of the most famous in this part of europe. Its about 4 hours drive from Bratislava. And its just awesome..simply breathtaking natural splendour. I mean.. i really dont have words. Will soon be sharing the pics of this trip..and it'll become more clear then. Infact not only the High Tatra's...the whole 4 hour travel across Slovakia, presented some beautiful views. Large grasslands spread along with the highway...very very beautiful indeed. It was indeed a welcome break frm the frenzied pace of activities, to which we are getting used to.

The trip is in its last leg. We'll be boarding the flight back to prague on tuesday evening..and then have a flight from Prague to Delhi(with stopover in Amsterdam) on 29th morning. In all probabilites, will be reaching delhi around 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning on 30th. The trip has been a mix of varied experiences..both on personal as well as professional front. The best word, which I could find as of now to describe my experience is : Learning. Its indeed been a good learning experience...hopefully it realizes into something materialistic as well...

Probably my last post before I am back in India.
Till then..cau(means bye in Slovak)

Welcome to Prague: The land of Budwiser...Skoda..and Beautiful women

Had a pretty relaxed sunday...got the room @ 2:00 p.m. Unpacked.. freshed up...had a brief nap... and then went on explore little bit of prague. And I must say, I fell in love with the city @ first sight..

Famous things about Czech..Skoda..pretty much evident on the roads...Budwiser...(for the records a can of Budwiser or Pilsner costs you 30 crowns(Czech Currency), while water costs you 35 crowns!! )..and then short skirts!! Well Delhi has its share of modern/happening people...and some of them are indeed bold enough to sport some short skirts..but boy..here it seems like as if short skirts are the national dress for women! However this fact should not undermine the beauty of Czech ladies... simply beyond comparison... ofcos second only to the elegance of their indian counterparts....

The first meeting today, went on pretty decently...lets see how the remaining part of trip shapes up...

Meanwhile, as promised..some glimpses of Prague...

The Journey so far...

Writing this from the hotel lobby in Prague(Czech Republic). Reached prague around at 9:00 a.m... managed to get out of the airport in another 10-15 mintues.. Must say Prague is a beautiful place...infact beautiful looks a little small word to describe the beauty(watever I have seen in my travel frm the airport to the hotel...and I m sure with some sightseeing n all, this belief will get further strengthed. )

How was the Journey?? well...decent..thats it! The Delhi-Amsterdam flight of KLM hardly had nything when it comes to in-flight entertainment. Some real oldies as air-hostesses(no offences meant to the elderly ladies...but i m sure, an airline of KLM's status can look @ little more younger when it comes to their cabin crew!...between, we thought that only Air-India or Indian Airlines has those elderly airhosteses.). Amsterdam-Prague was much better...although it was a short flight, of jst 1 hr. The plane had a good leg space..very much comfortable... and indeed... some lovely ladies ;) .
need to spend some time here n there, to b precies till 2 p.m.; since only then we'll get our room. Plan to go for a couple of drink with our business partner, and then a light lunch. Will rest in the later part of the day.... and hopefully some work in evening...
Have some good snaps clicked..will upload them soon...

As of now..bbye!!

Another first...

The last 14-1 5 months have witnessed many firsts in my life. My first day @ office...my first salary...my first +ve response from a customer...my first year @ office...my first promotion...
And if all goes well...sunday(19th aug) morning at 00:52 a.m., there will be another first in my life-My first foreign travel...my first travel by plane!!

So, how am I feeling ? To be frank, havent actually got time to feel anything. Things have happened thick n fast. And once it was decided that yeah I'll be going...then it was all onto fixing appointments, getting the visa done, getting the tickets done...and all those logisctical things...Nonetheless, many of those associated with me are indeed happy. Namely my parents...some of my close frnds...

Have done some decent hard work for this trip...lets hope..its successful!

For the time being...bbye India!!

Monsoons date with Delhi...

This is what one night of rain resulted into....

It usually takes me anywhere between 45 minutes to 1 hour to reach office.... This day it took me 3 hours 30 minutes.... who says that only mumbai suffers in rains..delhi also gets its share!

Gulzarish-I

A summary of my attempts at being gulzarish...

1. Ek baar fir tere shehar se hoke guzar raha hu...
...ek baar fir...yaadon ka silsila chal pada hai...

2. Roz ki tarah
aaj bhi guzar raha tha us raaste se...
...wahi raasta jispe ek mandir bhi hai

kabhi dil kia to do pal..
..khuda se bhi guftgu kar leta hu..
chalte chalte..

aaj bhi hui guftgu...
bas itna kaha ke...
...uska khayal rakhna...

3. Kuch ajeeb hi hoti hai
mohabbat ki majbooriya...
usko batana chaho..aur usi se chupao

4. Kehte hai mohabbat mein shaksh pagal ban jaata hai...
aur jo pagal na bana de..wo bhi koi mohabbat hui!

5. Ajeeb ittfaaq hai ye bhi
Jis se izhaar-e-mohababat
karna chahe ye dil
wo suane ko taiyar nahi..
aur sunane ko is dil se...
koi kuch kehne ko taiyaar nahi!

6. Aasmaa ke rang ko oadh ke wo bilkul aisi lag rahi thu..
maano badalo ki oat se koi pari nikal rahi ho...

7. Badalo ki oat se girte moti...
jab is chehre padte hai..
aisa lagta hai maano...
apne geele baalo se chitakate paani
ki boondein
mujhe pe daal rahi hai tu...

8. Kis ajeeb pasopesh ka naam mohabbat hai...
izhaar karne tak ki izazat nahi...
na usse..na apne aap se..

9. Kabhi to izhaar-e-mohabbat karn de...
kabhi to mauka de dil ki baat jubaa pe laane ka..

suna hai maut bhi nahi aati...
gar koi khwaish adhoori reh jaaye

10. Kal ek gustakhi ho gayi thi mujhse...
darsal 'gud night' kehna bhool gaya tha use...
aaj shiqayat ki usne...

koi haq jataye to...accha lagta hai dil ko.


to be contd...

The agony & Ecstacy of being the lone child...

Forgot to mention in my intro that I am the lone child of my parents... Yups, no siblings. It just happened that I was watching "Shakti"(Amitabh, Dilip Kumar starrer classical), and felt like penning down the good...and some not so good things of being the lone warrior!!

The good part...

Getting Pampered : You indeed are the king...for its you who orders; and more often than not those orders get ful-filled. So, be it getting mangoes from cold storage in November or getting your fav pair of jean... you just name it...and there will be whole-hearted attempts to fulfill that wish. These iklauta kids..indeed get pampered like anything!!

Apple/Banana/Grapes/Mango (whatever u may chose to call it) of the eye : Did anyone said centre of attraction! All the attention...all the love..all the care is bestowed upon u...U and ONLY U. Feels good..isn't it ?

U don't have to bother about sharing : Yippee.... if anything is there...you have 100% ownership of that. No one with whom u need to share your ice cream or the cake...or your room! No Siblings...so no fights for that pencil...or that copy...or that piece of cake...

And, now The not so good part...

Cramped up for space: When its only u..who is the centre of attraction...who is the lone focus, then at times you may not find enough space for yourself. It gets a little uncomfortable then... as there are times when you actually want to be just yourself...when you probably want to spend some time with yourself....but since you have always being their(parents) focus, and hence they might not understand this thing. And sometimes...this thing may frustrate/irritate you like anything..

No-one to share : Yeah, that was the good part...and that is the bad part well. A Sibling is one with whom you actually learn how to share. From sharing that piece of cake...to sharing your room...to sharing emotions!

One really needs someone to fight with...something with whom you can share your secrets...someone with whom share your dreams..share your thoughts. Thats helps...isnt it? I personally feel, siblings play a very important part in the growing up process... for I terribly miss not having anyone whom I could call my bro...or sis.

Don't know...whether the agony is more...or the ecstacy is...

To start with...

Another stint @ blogging...
I have tried my hand at blogging...but somehow wasnt at a comfort level with this trend. May be I belong to that tribe which finds it much easier to share its heart n soul with their good 'ol diaries. Nonetheless, am giving it a 2nd try, lets see..

This being my first post, I dont know if I should be introducing myself...for I am still unaware of the said & un-said rules of blogging. Anyways, for the sake of it...lets do it.

Officially people call me Bindesh Pandey, unofficially it can be anything from BP to Bindu. Am currently employed with Newgen Software, Delhi...trying to sell their softwares. Have spent 13 months here. Prior to Newgen, had a two yr vacation @ IIIT-Allahabad; the result of tht vacation...I was bestowed with something called "Master of Business Administration". Basically from delhi itself, have spent almost whole of my life yr(baring a couple of years here n there). I used to be highly passionate about cricket...but of late, in this rat race, that passion has declined sharply. Another passion of mine was music...almost same story with this one as well; havent been able to keep track of the new albums hitting the market(would have loved to hear Gulzar reciting Amrita Pritams poetry, or Zikr by Ghulam Ali...but for my a little hectic schedule any ofcos my world famous laziness..).

To start with, I guess this should be good enough....