After months and months of staying away from the blog I have come here. Was chatting up with an old friend who had put up her blog as a status in Gtalk. Clicked on it. Read it. Complemented her. Them came the question - why havent I blogged lately?? Somehow the reply that lots has happened. But after coming to my blog and reading the last post..the break was definitely forewarned. Lots have happened. I can say the second half of the year has been very challenging - both officially and personally. As the year comes to and end and I make new beginnings do I look back in regret? NO!!! No regret no guilt and no blames. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...BRING IT ON!!!!

I have taken a temporary break from blogging..there are a lot of things I want to write on...T20 world cup, Force India formula one points, my life, people close to me, people who are no more close to me and times as they go by...will be back..

Want to buy a used car but don't know how to pick the right one? Just ask veriCAR...

Are you thinking of buying a Used car in Mumbai?A very good friend of mine has started an interesting startup and like any true start up it requires your feedback and support. This service truly addresses some current pain points that Used Car buyers face today and would love to see veriCAR grow. 

 

With the currently booming used cars market in India, there was need for a service which offered expert evaluation of used cars, so buyers would know exactly what they’re getting into. While there are used car dealerships all over the country, they have a vested interest in selling all their cars, and may not necessarily always provide an honest overview of the cars they’re trying to sell.

Now, salvation may be on hand for those who’re in the market for a used car. A new service – veriCAR – has just been launched for you. ‘veriCAR is India's first buyer advisory service for used-cars. We consult and advise used-car buyers through every step of the used-car purchase process. We help used-car buyers use our expertise and buy the right car, at the right price.’

veriFY will essentially be an inspection-and-evaluation service for used cars, where you pay a pre-determined sum of money to get a full, comprehensive report on the car(s) that you may be consider buying. Among other things, veriFY reports will include full details on the mechanical and physical condition of the vehicle, and a price range in which buying the vehicle is recommended.

 

In addition to the above service, veriCAR has launched a new service veriFIND which helps used car buyers to find the used car of his choice for a fixed fee. veriCAR will inspect and evaluate as many cars it finds for the customers till the customer is happy with the choice of car.

Currently the service is available in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane. So if you are buying a second hand car in Mumbai and suburbs, then veriCAR is the used car experts on your side

For more details, visit the veriCAR website on www.vericar.in

 

Blogging has become an activity which needsa trigger nowadays. The first reaction that I now have when I experience something triggering is to blog. These days have been giving many such triggers and finally I decided to atleast blog a bit.

Reading about China is always interesting. I am reading this book called China Witness written by a Chinese journalist settled in the West. It is a different take on the lost decades of China. The decades of the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap. The basis of the book is ordinary people ordinary stories..but stories of determination in taking a nation forward, stories of self sacrifice, stories of simpleness and finding happiness in them, stories of vindication in the numerous purges....why reading about China is so interesting is because both India and China have undergone a lot. Years of oppression, inhouse corruption and a desire to do well. While both have tried the state approach, China stuck with it while India liberated. China too has liberated to an extent today and years of state monopoly and beauracratic monopoly has dogged both nations, yet they have moved on...taken leaps...some have been significant..some pale in comparision to small states like Israel. Both countries have abundant natural resources enough to take on the world...

Another interesting thing happened, Mr. Anand Mahindra was on the CNBC show in the US and they wanted to discuss the excellent response the stock market has given to the election results. The first couple of questions went well and Mr. Mahindra was quite optimist about the fact that not just Indians, even FII's have pumped in money in the Indian economy and how its good. Then came the bomber, typical of American ignorance of other nations. It was something like the beauracracy which holds Indian economy is a legacy of the British Rule!!! Over 60 years of Independance and still the US things we have a British hangover!!! Yes Indian beauracracy is holding us back in some way but is definitely not a British legacy! Its high time we take ownership of our own crap. Mr. Mahindra deftly defended the question by citing the progressive and positive role played by the same Indian beauracracy in handling the Satyam issue, but yet the issue remains...after all these leaps of developments China is a land of Kung Fu and India a land of British legacy! God save America!

Its very wierd that with some much happenings I havent been able to blog. Whats happenings is enough to add up to all that I have blogged since starting! But then life is like that. You have plans, back up plans and back up to those back up plans. Sometimes all fails. Life is like a pyramid, the central structure is the self, and from the sides are the supports pillars. Sometimes you need all of them to just be there as the confidence to withstand the whole strucure alone looks difficult. A lot of things are happening, some totally new experiences, in these times came across a really beautiful book The Spiders of Allah written by a war correspondent. In difficult times reading about people who endure much more difficulties helps you get some semblance of strength and thats what the book had done. Suddenly the enormity of the struggles that were on me, something which was definitely killing started looking like a pigment in comparision to what soldiers and war correspondents go through. Yes these are tough times, yes I would not like to see them again and yes I want to fight my way out of this and come out winning.

So a lot of changes around me...they try to intimidate me...some try to induce me..some repel me..all I can say this time is I have to slog away....slog away till the times change and I can play on my terms...I it were a boxing match all I would do is takea few hits, a few jabs...wear my opponent out..ready myself for a knock out....wait wait....like the eye of the tiger....stay hungry...the lyrics....so good...they are my lifes anthem....

Risin' up -- back on the street,
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance now i'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive --

So many times, it happens too fast,
You trade your passion for glory,
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past,
You must fight just to keep them alive ¨

c*it's the eye of the tiger,
It's the thrill of the fight,
Rising up to the challenge of our rival,
And the last known survivor Stalks his prey in the night,
And he's watching us all With the eye of the tiger.

*Face to face -- out in the heat,
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds still we take to the street
For the kill, with the skill to survive --

( * repeat)
Risin' up -- straight to the top,
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance,
now i'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive --

( * repeat)

Eye of the tiger....thats wat I need to have...thats what I need to keep

Formula one after four years.....this year its a resolution....try to see the races...well yes a lot of drivers which I used to root for are not there...a thorough Mclaren fan...used to root for Hakkinen...then was the BMW Williams with the duo of Ralf and Montoya....all gone......but this race today!!! Boy was that great...from lap 1 to lap 55 all full of action....the best was number 2 and 3 crashing out in with three laps to go!! New team....1,2 finish...Barrichello on podium....(heard hes become the most experienced F1 driver..a good feat considering he spent the best prime of is career as a shadow to Schumi..neways good for him....good for me...I get the have the fun watching F1 AGAIN!!!

Today after a lot of time (2 months) I could get a chance to return home in a local train..and the feeling was so perfectly familiar and kinda made me feel good....Travelling in local trains makes you feel so much a part of Mumbai that no other thing can...the usual bustle to get in..standing for some time...then getting to sit on the fourth seat...then jumping in the third seat when you get a chance and then gaping when will you get the window....and then staring out of it...it all so perfectly falls in place and you realise thats there is such a strong connect to it....you actually miss it at times! The characters there..interesting family of four...the guy looked visibly poor..had a couple of kids, the youngest kid of about 5 had no footwear, looked in complete mess, the wifey looked as if shes not eaten for a year, and then this guys brings out his sparkling new Nokia and one by one all of them talk to someone in Village...one all you can do is sit and be amazed as how this city actually makes not just two but multiple twains meet so seamlessly!

Suddenly days seem to be flying past...the speed is dazzeling...I dont know if tomorrow I am going to be happy for the speed or be sad. But if the time has gone its gone. Not coming back. So why bother. Wish everyone can think that simple. Lessons leart are learnt. Mistakes made earlier are made. Cannot be changed. Go on...make new mistakes but never repeat old ones...said my boss...so true...

Sometimes when life pulls you in all directions and you are still stuck in the same place....sometimes when life questions everything about you and you question everything about life....sometimes when you are not one with self and the self is not just about yourself....sometimes these times donot seem to end and go on forever..sometimes it just flies by...these are times when you feel you have someone close to you...holding you...helping you...caring for you...and leaving an indelible mark on you...yet the comfort that you are there to stand by yourself satsfying...these times...

This is what happens to people who dont blog. They have to face two laptop breakdowns, the third laptop at home is like the steam engine of pre independance days, the desktop..well the lesser said the better as this post is coming from it and it will surely not tolerate any form of abuses and taunts...so my deak desktop..ure the best!!!

2009 has been a rollicking year so far..lots of lessons to be learnt in the early stages of life, some things getting clearer, some tings getting hazier, some good times some not so good times and its just started!!

Slumdog has won Oscars, so all the critics who were lambasting it have gone into rabbit holes.....take it guys...AR Rehman deservered it...Resul POttukutty deserved it...Smile Pinky deserved it....ok...even Danny Boyle deserved it....but frankly cant figure out the hyper around the guys name.....I am sure not even a pinch of people would have heard his name and the various "award winning" movies hes supposed to have made...suddenly hes the best film maker on Earth......C mon I didnt even know this guy and his earlier movies.....Yaawwwnnn!!! Yah Slumdog was good, showed some real parts of Mumbai....but truth remains the truth.....what should not exist should not be glorified.....Slums are an abberation and abberations should be removed....Yes children are tortured to beg....those tormenting assholes should be removed and the kids sent to school....begging is a crime....not a "chooo cute" thing...slums are a illegal vote bank....not a "the real Mumbai"......It takes a letter from UK to set up an enquiry about the begging syndicate......Didnt anyone see Traffic Signal....where were the "Real Mumbai Elite Club - RMEC" when that movie released......but then offence is the best defence.....so we can all hope for "Slumdog Billionaire" where Jamal marries Latika, has a kid, loses all his money and goes on the next edition of Who wants to be a Billionaire (yes yes hosted by SRK!!!) and guess what......Its written yaar!!!