Dhumrapan Neeshedh

Thats hindi. In english its called "No Smoking." Its hillarious to see to what limits people will go to articulate "smoking is injurious to health." If see on cigarette packets from Singapore, they will have all thes cancerous photos sticking on. It gives an horrendous outlook to the whole packet. But most enjoying is the in-flight annoucement.
I am not a frequent flier. Though most of the weekends I remember shuttling between Pune and other cities, 90% by flights. So I am more than a frequent flier. :)
There is always a candid annoucement made that " Smoking is prohibited in-flight. There are smoke detectors in the cabin and in the toilets. " What was that again? In the toilets too? If its your lucky day and you are travelling in the domestic shuttles, you cannot help but observe that there is an ashtray behind the toilet door.
What is the deal with that? If you are saying smoking is prohibited, why are you providing an ashtray at the back of the door? Isnt it to encourage smoking?
Can any body answer that?

Band-Aids

This is hillarious. A recent news article tells about how people in China are using used condoms as hair bands. It has been found in the local markets of Dongguan and Guangzhou. And a possible hazard is spreading aids that it was supposed to protect.

So it goes from "Banned-Aids" to "Band-Aids" :-)

Read the article for further reference.

No Pain.....

Somewhere I remember reading, " Pain is weakness leaving the body." The statement implies something very deep.
Recently, I am reading a string of books written by Osho. The philosophy he narrates is very powerful. He quotes Buddha, Lao and all the masters who have preached awareness as the way to ultimate bliss (nirvana). Simply put awareness is "Self -rememberance." The quality to remember oneself every moment. This bolts you to the present, without the clouds of past hovering over. Pain is one quality I found that makes us aware. How? read further....
Try to analyze when you are pain. Its very hard because you are trying to run away from the pain. Pain killers are your best bet. But what is the reason that pain is there? Ever tried think about that. Its to make you aware. One teeth starts paining excruciatingly and you are suddenly aware of its exsistence. For many years that teeth was there you were oblivious to it. And now, suddenly, its has your attention. The attention it deserved.
Then you try to do quick-fixes over it. Take pain killers, do root-canal et al. Everything you do but to give it attention. To be aware of its existence. The very purpose of pain is to gain awareness.
Try this sometime. When you are in pain, just look it into the eye. Just be aware of the part that is paining. Dont shove your mind-off. As we start attending that pain, its purpose is solved. It has got no reason to exist. Relief is nothing without pain remember that.
Its true that " Pain is weakness leaving the body" for it kills the weakness of oblivion to move in to awareness.

Maruti Omni

I am not sure why I was in oblivion to the exsistence of this engineering marvel. This awesome piece of creation. Maruti 'Omni'. Its all starts with the beauty of its structure and trickles down to engineering performance.
Where most of the R & D labs in the world are making the car structure more aerodynamic, Omni stands tall with its box-like structure. No No, please dont think its thoughtless. It must have been thought through. It is we people, or rather me who dont know the reason.
Then comes the seating. Whilst the driver comes with a plush independant seat in front, we have only 1 companion seat with the gear lever in between. Since the engine hails directly below the drivers seat, his 'feeling of warmth' has been taken care of. There are normally one or two (opposite) seats in the back. It accomodates people more efficiently if they are packed in the boxes. But if we are free, we might face some problem with each others legs as we seat opposite. But nonetheless, its a best bet to transport cargo from one place to another.
Thirdly comes dicky. Though it less of a storage space and more of a space to keep the spare tyre. But I think thats a wise decision. When there so much space in the vehicle, why keep a separate dicky space?
I have yet not had the luxury to hear the music system out of it. But I am damn sure it will be as endearing as the whole set-up. Oh did I mention that I have the good fortune of travelling by Omni's distant cousin 'Versa' before I actually got the red carpet in Omni.
Last but not the least, I want to thank to the creators of 'Omni' and wish them all the sucesses in life. It because of the creations like these that our journeys and safer, enjoyable and stress-free.
Kudos!

Its time to write...

Its time to write
about fallen dreams,
about sleepless nights.
And then how the sun rose
torching disdain and forlorn
torching hope and lights.

Its time to write
about you and me
about us and them
How we fight for
in these sacred ventures
in this bloodless mayhem.

Its time to write
about this moment
about living a life
To smile through
in health and disease
in hope and fright.

Its time to write
about the red line
about love and hate
teaching, its us sometimes
sometimes its fate.

- Adwait Joshi

Blackle

What would happen if Google turns it site into completely black? We will save approximately 750 Megawatts-hours an year!
According to a recent blogpost by Mark Ontkush, black google will save 750 Megawatts-hours an year taking into consideration the popularity of the same. Subsequently, someone went ahead and custom made a google serach engine on a completely black page. Evidently, the page is called as Blackle.
Now there is a new angle to usability engineers while designing a web page and that is energy preservation. Kudos to those people who came up with the concept. I have already started preserving energy.
Have you?

A very Bad Person.

They say people will remember for what you were, what you did and what you talked. I am a good guy, in totality. But sometimes I ask myself, why I am what I am?
Why go out of the way to help people? Why catch someone's eye and make him/her smile? Why crack jokes and lighten someone's tension? Why thrive for the betterment of some people? Why do I do it? Then suddenly in the mid of the day the answer dawns upon me.
I am not a good person at all. I am a very bad person. I want to make people cry when I die. Cry this much that they might have a hard time forgetting me. I want to touch their hearts deep enough. I want to spread love and tell them that nothing in this world is eternal. We all will pass on someday and make our appreeance as contemproraries.
I want to shout and tell the world that no one on this earth is good or bad. Its just the situations that make them. I want to tell that never form opinions about someone because when they will change you dont know. I want to tell them that every human being is beautiful in his or her own terms.
Really when I think of it, I am a very bad person. Would anyone like to spend their life with me? :)

Chala Dostoho Auyshavar Bolu Kahi

"Ugach valse shabdanche he det raha tu,
Bhidle nahit dole tovar bolu kahi,
Chala dostoho ayushawar bolu kahi."

--- Sandeep Khare

Loose Transalation:

"Go on, take unnecessary twists and turns in you words, till the eyes meet, we will talk about something. "

Aapke Dil Mein....

Aapke dil mein thodi si jagah chahiyeMere ...?
Aapke dil mein thodi si jagah chahiye----

Jaaiye jaaiye jaaiye

Pass aane bhi deegiye na itraiyee
Ha haaPass aane bhi deegiye na itraiyee

Jaaiye jaaiye jaaiye

Apnaa dil lekar abb kahan jayegnehaahaan
Tut ke katra katra bekhar jayenge
Wah !
Aapke bin sanam hum to mar jayenge
Hamari halat pe aakhir tarsh khaahiye

Jaaiye jaaiye jaaiye j j j Jaaiye jaaiye jaaiye

Phele to adab se app pesh aaiye
Kaun hai yeh mujhko app batlaiye
Phir bolenge appko hum aaiye aaiye aaiye
janaab aaiye aaiye aaiye

Appne dil app zara kabul rakhe
Acchayuh na khule aam aanhe bharehai
zamana bura thodi parwaah kare
jaake dil kahin aur behlaiye

Jaaiye jaaiye jaaiye Jaaiye jaaiye jaaiye jaaiye na

Can you guess whom I have written this for?

Inner Demons

Have you ever had a nightmare? A kind of a dream where you are running and running and nobody is there to help you. You dont know what you are running from. Then suddenly you hear screams. Shrills, cries of agony with pain. Cries for help and you are bewildered. Who is asking for help to someone who is running himself.
Then you run towards the sounds. Its darkness. Nothing of it makes sense. Then there is silence. Only sobs are heard. Then again silence. An errie silence. You open your eyes. The fan above is revolving with a humming sound. Its was unreal. But so real.
You sit up and pray for your near and dear ones. You thank god it was a dream. Thank him because he has brought that out. That inside which kills you. You inner demons. Who might come silently in the night and grip you.
The next night you will sleep beleiving more in God, Love, Prayers and People more than you did the earlier night.

The Lake House

They say love knows no limitations. However romantic that may sound, we always know there is something that limits us. How I wish a love story would be so like the movie “The Lake House”
Here it starts, the literal timeless love. It revolves around a house by side of lake with a mailbox. Kate (Sandra Bullock) is a doctor in an uptown Chicago hospital in 2006. Alex (Keanu Reeves) is an architect in 2004. Did I get the years right? Sure I did. The movie tells us a story of two (prospective) lovers separated by 2 years. One dwells in other’s past. One dwells in other’s future. Awesome screenplay slowly takes you through the ups and downs in their relationship. And what is their communication medium? The mailbox by the side of the lake house where they post letters so that each could read.
And a day comes when she finds him dead in her own hands on Valentine’s Day. No the movie doesn’t stop here. She knowing the future, tells him to stop on that road where he was supposed to meet with an accident. And tells him to wait there for 2 years and return back to the lake house. Where they meet in 2008 for the 2nd time.
Nothing I write about it will do justice to the concept so unnatural and heart-warming. Do watch it or ask me for that DVD- pro bono. And yes, don’t forget to watch the first time they meet.

Laxmi-Keshav

The lay-off program has worked positively for me a number of ways. Apart from getting time to read some ground-breaking books like “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and “Psychology of Selling”, I personally got time to do what I love the most: traveling.
Since childhood, when I last visited it, I wanted to know the history of my kuldevat (God or Goddess of a race)-Laxmi Keshav (Lord Vishnu). So this time around, I thought I will do some nosing around and get a little knowledge about it. Here is where and what I found out.

1)The serene temple of Laxmi-Keshav is located in Kolisare. Barely a village, it is 45 km from the town of Ratnagiri in South Konkan. An ST bus for Jaygad drops you at a cross-road which connects you to Kolisare. You have to take a rickshaw from there.

2)As you walk down the red-soil, you come across steps which take you to the backside of the temple. The temple is about 700 years old. Though it was been rejuvenated lately, it still has the archaic look-and-feel.

3) Last registered, about 800 years ago, the statue of laxmi-keshav goddess was hidden in the “Rankala Talav” in Kollhapur. The reason being anti-hindu attacks. After being there for 200 years, she gave a spiritual message through a dream to 3 individuals-Joshi, Vichare and Kane. Living in a village of Varavde, these people got a message to move her out and establish her elsewhere.

4) The place decided was a village of Reel in Konkan. So the campaign started. After moving her close to Reel, they camped overnight in Kolisare. Second day, the statue was unmovable to any human force. After trying for a day, the again slept overnight. In a second spiritual message, the goddess told them to establish her here itself and not else where. The day sthapana (establishment) happened, a miraculous water-fall started near to her feet.

5) The water still runs pure and clean. The “Panchsukt Pavman” abhishek is done by that water only. The temple brings in its wake the calmness and new degree of spirituality. It was a heaven-like experience for me.

This information was provided to me by Mr. Sudhir Phadke. He and his family have been with the temple for generations. I thank him a lot in appreciation. Hope all the “Shandilya Gotra” Joshi’s find this informative. And yes just so you know, don’t forget to visit your kul-devat at least once a year.