Thursday, October 30, 2008

Three's a crowd

There's a saying which goes something like, "Everyone remembers who won, No one recalls who came second."
 
So, imagine the fate of those who came third!!
 
I always came third in class growing up. There'd be competition between the same two guys for first and second, and always the same two guys for third and fourth. I almost always won the race for third.
 
Thus, third was always a fascinating case study for me.
 
And always my favourite..
 
        There was always Mark Waugh to Tendulkar and Lara
 
        Always Becker to Lendl and Edberg
 
        Gold Spot to Thums Up and Limca..
 
Good enough to get to the top, and in another era would probably have been the best.
 
But never really knew how good things could have been, because the top two places were always taken.
 

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

All that glitters...

19 January 2009

Everything was packed.. He looked around one last time..

Tomorrow they'd leave back for their original home.. 8 years in this house, and it was time to move on.. It was his last job ever.. It all seemed so easy at the start.. His dad too had been in the same job all those years ago, and he had a walk in the park..

No more would he ever have to work again.. Even for all the money in the world.. And to think that this was what he wanted to do all his life..

He'd just go back home and do nothing.. He'd aged at least 20 years in the last 8 years.. That's what his wife always told him.. She'd been the one person who'd believed in him all these years.. Probably the only in this world who believed in him any more.. He'd given up on drinking about 20 years ago, but man.. what would he give for a drink right now??

He'd been through so much over the last 8 years.. Probably the only time he really had fun was at his daughter's wedding.. She looked so beautiful that day.. Probably the only day when he'd not been thinking of his job.. It all looked so serene that day..

The only day he'd felt peace.. Tomorrow night probably would be the second time in 8 years that he'd feel at rest..

There was only one thing he could do any more..

George W. Bush held his face in his hands and cried..

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Sandgroper's Investment Science... Part I

Schadenfreude...

... is an English word of German origin.. It means deriving pleasure out of someone's misfortunes.. It's what I always feel like, when someone tells me despondently that they lost money in the stock market..

I seriously enjoy their despondency.. Because it's stupid.. You never lose money in the stock market.. You are only in trouble if the company goes bankrupt... Else, you are doing fine even if the price of the stock is down.. because all that means is you don't sell it now.. You just wait till the price is right... Stocks pay off only if you have time on your hands...

Ergo.. If you have a 5 month old, and you want to pay for her marriage, invest in stocks now and sell when you feel the price is not going to get any higher.. If you have a 25 year old, and you want to pay for her marriage, get a loan from HDFC..

And hope that it's stock falls enough for it to crash..

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Thought for the day

Is it me, or are there just too many experts in this Internet driven world?

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Thank you ladies..

I called them the "H4 St. Jude Widows - Valencia Chapter".

They were 5 women, each Indian, each married to someone who worked in the company I worked. Not all of them had the H4 visa stamp (only 3 of them did) but they all were born and brought up in western India 3-4 years apart, and all happened to land up within the 4 mile city called Valencia.

Husbands went off to work and thanks to the INS (and the 9/11 terrorists), the H4 widows couldn't quite go to work themselves, till their green cards (or EADs) arrived. They were each other's support structure, some had cars, and so often times the week's Safeway trip was taken care of. There was a Mother Hen, who'd take care of all her "brood". She drove the agenda (and the Beetle). There was a Wise Owl, who'd be the one who everyone turned to for advice. Then there was the Little naive one who'd have to be explained everything, but her enthusiasm and simplicity would bring a smile to everyone. There'd be the traditional Indian wives, who'd do everything the husband said..

All in all there was a bunch that you made Hindi serials out of.. The good ones, not the Ekta Kapoor ones... There'd be an occasional birthday or festival, where the perpetrators of getting them to Valencia would join them and good fun would be had by one and all.

That was almost 3 years ago.

Kids happen. People move on. None of the H4 widows live in Valencia any more, and with Yogi having quit St. Jude last week, every single one of the husbands are now working in different organizations. When we call anyone of them, they confess, they don't quite know what's happening the lives of the others.

I don't know what life would have been for me, without them. But almost definitely, my wife wouldn't have had as much fun in her US tenure.

This is the least I could do, to salute the H4 St. Jude Widows - Valencia Chapter .

Friday, October 17, 2008

Epiphany

It hit me in the shower this morning…
 
The only reason I go to work, is that that's the only "safe" way I can pay for my house.
 
The day I pay off my house, I see no reason why I should continue to have a job..
 

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Go Cardinal

Browsing the net, I found something that I never EVER thought would happen.. So, I decided to publish it before reality strikes...

 

Friday, October 10, 2008

Terror comes home

Have you met a terror suspect?

I have..

I have met Mohammad Asghar Mansoor Peerbhoy...

I won't say how.. I won't say when.. It's not fair to those who are close to him

Long long ago..

At a time when there was no Hindu or Muslim in our world..

At a time when we were simply XYZ's brother and XYZ's classmate ..

At a time when nothing really really mattered..

Who do I blame for this??

How can I blame anyone for this??

Is he guilty, or is he innocent??

I am not the one to decide.. even "He" cannot decide..

There may be no "He"...

If there is a "He", "He" would be ashamed..

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Blogger's Block

That previous post read like a 3rd standard essay, didn't it?
My writing has become sooooooooooooooo bad...

Life in a 4 Wheel Drive

I am the driver of my car...

I make mistakes - drive fast, occasionally hit slow moving vehicles, many other things - but I am the driver..

The safety of all the passengers in my car is my responsibility..

One thing I cannot do is sit in my own car in the navigator's seat.. It's unbearable..

And one thing I cannot stand is people insisting to drive my car..

And people in my car hinting that I am a bad driver..

So that's two things I cannot stand..

I don't quite mind getting lost..

But I take responsibility for getting lost..

And I don't regret getting lost..

It only shows me new routes of going from point A to point B... Can be used in an emergency..

When I come to a fork, without directions, I go on a hunch.. And no regrets later, even when I get lost.. There's always a U-Turn available..

Or a left / right turn.. and I get back where to I should be..

That's me in my car..

And if you are not that fond of it, you can sit in a different car..

Identity Crisis

Which of these describes me best?