new broadband, new beginning to blogging. i hope.

got a new airtel broadband connection. had enuf of 'you telecom' 10hr-a-day downtime! also the reason why i just couldnt post at all. hope the new connection wil change that.

The Wagah Posturing!

was at the wagah border at attari last month. got to witness the 'change of guards' at sun down. thats when the indian and paki soldiers march to the gate separating the neighbours, shake hands, bring down their flags and close the gates till the next morning.

frankly, i was a little disappointed by the whole act... had heard so much about it that i was half expecting goosebumps like the day they played 'jana gana mana' at grand central where shahrukh khan was shooting.

far from it! the army men from the two sides seemed like they were trying to itimidate and out-shout the other... we had speakers blaring with patriotic bollywood songs while the folks with green flags on the other side were chanting the supremacy of allah. a columnist once described this event as 'where allah meets bollywood'. how appropriate! there cant be a better summation of this posturing by the two sides.

on the drive back i was reflecting on what i had witnessed that evening. i had read about the 'world citizen' which i had been discounting as a phrase that describes a person always on the go. but somehow it kept coming back in various contexts and seemed to have a different, deeper meaning... where similarities of issues faced by different parts of the world seem more compelling than the geo-political boundaries that divides it... where poverty, religious wars, global warming are faces more familiar than that of priests and politicians... where humanity, without any doubt, comes before patriotism.

its almost as if the human race has lost itself in a bid to identify itself with a set of beliefs we call religion.

working on a script

am working on a script... called 'bahut hua gyaan'. plan to make a movie out of it... i mean... get someone to make a movie out of it.

the movie is about 3 guys and their journey through college and first job who are subjected to a lot of useless theory, endless discussions, complex analysis to try and achieve an end. this they term as gyaan which has no logical conclusions or executable actions coming out of it. they realise that the focus seems to be more on glorifying the means than on achieving the ends itself. they spend a whole lot of time on planning to execute and reviewing the execution than on the execution.

thats where i am at right now. plan to take the script deeper into anxiety and disillusionment for the 3 characters. they conclude that large firms only capitalize on a proven idea but are grossly inefficient. the bext experiences are to be gained by being a part of the idea generation, set up and roll out. they finally break free and decide to do their own thing and how!

rest depends on where my imagination takes me. the characters might just get institutionalised into the bureaucratic way of working and all ambitions of enterpreneurship might get squashed.

watch this space.

woods and glades!

drove down to silvassa on dec 1'06... with folks. was good fun. got to my first glance at a union territory. silvassa is the capital of dadra and nagar haveli. 20 kms off silvassa is daman and diu, another UT. silvassa means 'woods and glades' in portuguese.

the constitution says that these states are under the presidents rule... thats the reason we didnt see any billboards of politicians marking their territory, like dogs peeing around to leave their mark. but that also means that this state is not top of mind for allocation of center funds... which is very visible. the only thing these guys live on is the tourist traffic and limestone trade. we could see huge chunks of marble being hauled in and out tof the town for finishing work i guess. by huge, i mean one block of 10 ft x 10 ft x 10ft. H - U - G - E.

anyways, if you are headed there sometime... here is a big time saving tip. daman is divided by damanganga river into moti (big) daman and nani (small) daman. from mumbai nani daman is further off than its bigger sister, but dont even try to go there. the beaches are awful! moti daman on the other hand has better beaches and has my vote hands down. silvassa is 185 kms from mumbai which is a 4 hour drive. a good weekend getaway away from the crowds. thats my dad in the pic. i think he liked the place.

looking for some inspiration!

gotta do something on my own.... cant work as a part of an organisation where nothing is under my control. am looking for some inspiration... have been juggling with ideas for a while but havnt got anywhere.

how about getting some help from people... for a business idea. i am going backpacking to the north east... will take my video cam along to make a documentary out of this. along my travels i intend to pop this question to people i meet - if a venture cap were to approach you and say, i will finance you son, go ahead and start your own thing - what would be your choice of business?

am not looking for easy ideas; rather just some stimulation to get myself started... and if i dont even get that, what the heck!, the film would atleast make interesting viewing.

i am off... to figure out what equipment i need for this.

in a bit.

about time.

about time i create a post.

way to greet!

came across this old pic... my school gang... exchanging.... err.... greetings.

Why Surf's Up?

... asked vikya this morning referring to my blog title. Never struck me to write about that... It wasnt just a cool sounding name that I picked up... everything I have to say about life in general is so conveniently captured by this phrase.

Surf's Up!, I reckon, is primarily used by the surfing community. They hang around at the beach, waxing their boards, waiting for the surf to pick up... and when it does, they know that its a good time to venture out and hit the water.

I would like to look at every day in life like a day at the beach... you are confronted with situations that get you thinking... should I make my move now or wait for the right time? Think 'acting' (one way or the other) works in the long run... and surf's up! seems to suggest just that. I dont claim that I do that all the time... but its just one of those things which I like to fall back on. I guess its one of those A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E things.