Reviving the blogger in me

I visited my blog and found that I have not been blogging for quite some time. This year, if I exclude this particular blogpost, I have blogged only thrice. In 2009, I wrote 22 blogposts, in 2008 the number of blogposts was 26 and in 2007 it was 11 blogposts. 2010 has been an eventful year for me both in personal and professional life and yet just 3 blogs doesn’t look right, isn’t it? Actually the events that took place in my life too have some role to play in this. I have been kept very busy with little time to spare. This blog of mine is an attempt to revive that blogger in me whom I lost somewhere. Before this year ends, I need to revive him and get him back to form.

My wife who has been a great fan of my blog too has been persuading me to blog. I would just ask her to suggest a good topic to blog about as I am not able to think of any. I guess it was not the dearth of topics that was the reason. I just lost that urge to write. I had lost the connection with the inner me, my heart. When you look around and observe things happening, you will realize that the inspiration to write is just waiting to get noticed. The only thing one needs to do is have a receptive heart. I guess this blogpost of mine will play a big role in getting rid of the rustiness.

Before I started writing this blogpost, I revisited my very first blogpost and read few of my initial posts. I then glanced through to my latest blogpost. I observed that my blogposts improved with each passing day. My very first post looked very amateur. I am not saying that my latest ones show signs of a great writer but definitely they are much better than my first one. I am mentioning this to prove that if you devote time to a particular task, over a period of time you are bound to improve in that task. No matter what that task is. Application and patience will get you through. I am sure many of us must have started learning something new and abandoned it half way through thinking that we are not capable of doing it. I guess it is one of the biggest mistakes that we commit. We give up very easily without giving ourselves a chance.  

I am hoping to roll out many more blogposts by the year end and in the New Year too.

Recipe for Corruption

I think this will be one of the oldest recipes. No other recipe could beat this one for age. It should also be the simplest recipes. Though it has been the oldest and the simplest, it has still not become obsolete.

Do you guys still want me to get into the details? Haven’t you all known this for years now? Ok, this one is for guys who suffer from short term memory loss. The simplest and oldest recipe for corruption is the following:

“Give responsibility without accountability”

Yes, you don’t require more ingredients for creating corruption. One who tastes it spreads it and hence preparing it in small quantity would be enough to satisfy the taste buds of hundreds and thousands. Also it is the only dish that gets served under the table.

We have been observing corruption around us from time immemorial. Right from the top level in an organization to the lowest, corruption exists in so many different forms. The recipe remains same yet we get to see variety. The outer body changes but the core remains the same.

This monsoon I saw the condition of the roads and asked myself this question. Is this why I pay taxes? I know if I point finger towards one organization for the condition of the roads, they in turn will point it to some other organization and it will be a never ending chain. The run up to the common wealth games is also proof of giving responsibility without accountability. Multiple organizations are responsible for one event, yet no accountability. This is exactly the issue. There is not a single organization or individual who is accountable and hence corruption rules. Let me come back to the condition of the roads as that is something very basic and corruption in organization of common wealth games is too big an issue for a common man like me. I strongly feel the need that every stretch of road should be maintained by one single organization and they should be held accountable for the condition of that stretch. The person sitting at the top level of this organization should be the person responsible and accountable for it. This is the only way to ensure that roads stay in good condition.

Until we see responsibility and accountability becoming two sides of the same coin we just can’t expect corruption to become history. I know it already has a history but I hope our future generation only sees it in their history books and not current affairs.

A young professional at work

Two weeks back, I had been to Thane station to receive my relatives who were coming from my native place. While I was waiting for the train to arrive, I saw a young boy walking with a carry bag and a shoe brush in his hand. 

Three gentlemen were sitting on a bench nearby. This young boy approached them and asked whether they would like to get their shoes polished. After lot of persuasion, he managed to convince one of them. What followed after that kept me interested for quite sometime. 

He pulled out all his stuff from the bag and sat down. He then started his work and was doing it with utmost sincerity and dedication. I could not stop myself from clicking a snap of his using my cellphone camera. The gentlemen kept asking questions to him. He answered them and at the same time kept working diligently. He seemed very experienced by looking at the manner in which he went about doing his work. 

Two things came to my mind. First, a kid of his age should be in school and not working. Secondly, he could have opted to beg or worst, steal.

The first point was very concerning but it could be quite possible that he might be going to school in the earlier part of the day. I hope this assumption of mine holds true. I did not get a chance to verify this with him. The second point made me think highly of this kid. Instead of opting for an easy way to make money like begging or stealing, he opted to do it through dignified labor. The kid definitely has the right attitude. I only wish that his right attitude meets with good opportunities to help him achieve success in whatever he decides to do in life.

2010 so far

Since the blue moon day of 31st December, 2009 I have not posted an article on my blog. It is very unlikely of me to have ignored my blog for so long. Too many positive things happened in my life after the blue moon day that kept me very busy in my personal life.

I got engaged on Valentine's day and marriage followed very soon in the month of March. Marriage is definitely a major turning point in one's life. The way my marriage worked out is no less than a fairy tale. This when I was not looking forward to such an event in my life with high hopes. It has only helped to reinforce my faith in God. He knows when is the right time for everything and I have been guilty of questioning Him at times. I also learned that patience plays an important role. So smooth has been my transition from being single to a married man that I simply can't stop wondering whether it is reality or dream. The way 2010 has shaped up makes me feel that it will set the trend for the coming days.

I am looking forward to my future with renewed faith. I am pretty confident that things will now move in the right direction.

31st December, 2009 - a Blue Moon Day

31^st December, 2009 is definitely a date to remember for me. It happened to be a blue moon day and an eventful day for me, both for personal and professional reasons. My love got the green signal from my girl friend’s parents. On professional front I was informed that in the New Year I will be getting to play a new role. I felt as if I was on top of the world. In the evening I had met my girl friend and walked hand in hand and also asked her to pinch me hard because it was an unbelievable feeling for me. I wanted to confirm that I was not dreaming. She did the honors and I was assured that it was a reality.

Our first meeting happened online in Orkut.  Soundlight a strange and different name sent an add request on Orkut. I wondered why but still went ahead and added her. The next day she happened to be online and I asked her the reason for adding me. She said that we had lot in common. I went and checked our mutual friends list and realized that we had 4 friends there. Two of them happened to be my childhood friends. One of them happened to be my ex-colleague. Then on we started chatting each day and with each passing day our friendship grew. She happened to visit my blog and was impressed and I liked the way she analyzed my articles and came up with questions that made me think.

One fine day over chat I gave her my cell number and we started forwarding sms and talking too. Our first meeting happened thanks to her birthday. I wanted to give a special gift that no one else would have given her as she was a special friend [not yet my girl friend :-)]. I gave her a hand written letter to her outlining the events that happened from the day that she added me in Orkut. I have done this only for a few special people in my life. She was mighty impressed and told me that she has never received such a special birthday gift. Since I was not sure how she would receive this gift, I had also gifted a wind chime and a chocolate [a backup gift you can say…….:-)].

After this meet, we started meeting quite often in the evenings. With each passing day I was getting closer to her as we had similar opinion on most topics that we discussed. Yet, I was holding myself back from taking our friendship to the next level. She was giving subtle hints indicating that she has fallen for me. I deliberately ignored those.  I know it was not appropriate to do so but this act of mine was prompted by bitter experiences in the past. She also communicated her feelings through a common friend but ensured that I do not figure out that she was involved in any way. The subtle hints gave way to a direct approach by her and I was put in a spot. I asked her for time to think and one fine day I said a yes* to her. That asterisk besides yes is not a typographical error. It implies that it was a yes but conditions apply. I do not wish to disclose what those conditions were. However, she had some valid questions raised against those conditions to which I didn’t have an answer and the yes* gave way to a YES.

On 28^th December, 2009 I informed my parents about her and presented my case. I insisted that a horoscope check need not be done because I didn’t want to lose her for any stupid interpretations of planetary positions in the sky at the time of our birth. They were a bit hesitant but they knew that if I take a stand I am not someone who will budge. She informed her parents too. However, her parents were inclined to do a horoscope check. When I came to know about this I became concerned. My girl friend too insisted on not getting a horoscope check done. However, her parents had their way and a horoscope check was done. Luckily, even the stars were in our favor and 31^st December, 2009 happened to be that special day when her parents gave a call to my parents to decide further course of action.

I am looking forward to the year 2010 to open a new chapter in my life with my life partner. I am sure each passing year will be filled with romance and love that only grows with time.