Doha Diary

Well definitely not talking politics or glamour , just a write up on life in Doha seen through my eyes and as experienced by me.

Weekdays
Well there is the sun, the sand and babes, and while all three are very hot , that seems to be the problem,they are available together only during the winter else theres the dust , theres the sun blazing in real hot( not even summer, hot winds blowing around), while i work my butt off( work??).Well the babes are all hot except that they give you a cold shoulder even though the eyes are smouldering!!!!

Now for what i do on weekends, wake up at 9 , search for friends online and maybe catch up on a movie at the multiple.Just play the line over and ver gain and thats my story week after week

The living room conists of a couch potato area and a cybercafe. Between all the noise we do manage to have fun discussing what else babes, movies and office politics....From heights of ecstasy to depths of frustration at not being in India life goes on...

We envy ex-colleagues in Dubai partying the night away, ex colleagues in Bahrain for leading a cheaper lifestyle, lastly booze all the blues away takin pot shots at each other.

As they say "All in a Days Work"".... that reminds me cylinder's empty gotta eat outside...(rupee's appreciating , mite as well have fun..off to the MARRIOT!!!!)

communism and capitalism

are they bang opposite??

Well a recent article said it all, a person's father in singur lost his land due to communism. after years of hardwork , the guy had bought some land in the same place.Now due to the TATA car accquistion this guy is forced by the police to cede his land to the capitalists.

Well which makes one wonder which is better or are they any different??

Perseverance

One of the biggest strength of the human race is the ability to endure, we're talkin here about perseverance against the harshest of environments.But there are some men who being born a genius still have to endure, especially when we usually think that being naturally gifted they hardly have to do anything.

I was reading A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nassar the story of John Nash the now famous Nobel prize winning economist and whom one would connect Game Theory. While it was indeed a very moving depiction of the character by Russell Crowe in the movie the book I had only had a glimpse of it.The book therefor was a welcome read into the mind of a genius , a person above the ordinary but one who loses it all because of an illness of the mind,schizophrenia!

Schizophrenia is one of the most interesting diseases. The person has all kinds of delusions , from the fear of persecution by one's own people to an attack by aliens and even the most out of the box thoughts.When somebody said a thin line separates genius and madness they probably meant this disease.John was one of the most brilliant mathematician and economist .He believed in his superiority ,also thought some superior beings gave him those wonderful ideas. He feared the disease which would separate him from the normal people would also separate him from the beings who gave him those sudden inspirational ideas.Somewhere he had to struggle between choosing to be a normal person and being the superior but diseased individual. A lot of his lifetime is spent between the university and the remission hospital.Many of the guys commit suicide because of the severe loneliness and isolation.

Somewhere this genius struggled to be a normal person for his family after a 20 year period and had to struggle to even get his nobel prize a thing which a lot of people felt he was long overdue for , but a lot of ppl also said that he was mad and didnt deserve it.

This man now at the age of 70 is now again tryin to get into research again after being normal again and is hopeful of making his next publication.He's also struggling to cope and help his son cope with the same illness .Schizophrenia is usually heridatary and his son's story almost is similar, a promising mathematician and now schizophrenic!!!.Imagine how much would John Nash have to endure and yet he is making that effort for the publication Now thats perseverance against all odds.

Something which has really inspired me in my short stay at Doha, its been a month now and i hadnt picked up any business after a lot of calls, was only handling client issues and was frustrated. I came home early and read this book and somewhere the desire to pursue and struggle in my work with patience is my new decision.

Sothis post is a toast to John Nash, to ppl suffering from this genetic disease , which still doesnt have a proper remedy and to all those succesful people who have achieved success with perseverance. I have had two failures bcoz of lack of effort but now would love to be on the other side with my new found mantra of success - perseverance!!!

Happy New Year

So a new year is being born,

Like the old cliche which says time n tide wait 4 no man, year 2006 is leavin and i am astounded. But along the way it meandered, it stopped, it ran,it tumbled and all along i was a mute spectator.

At the beginnin of the year i was stunned by the speed which things changed , i moved jobs from mcdowell to icici and it all semed to happen in a blur. The new job was supposed to keep me busy, it did, went to cochin, to mumbai and was told you would go to the united states someday. time ran , new financial products were introduced and learnt, hopefully i was also supposed to do sales and make money and if possible move abroad.New friends were made in mumbai, new ideas, the energy seemed to be an overdrive and then....

Then time tumbled and toppled and meandered almost to a halt.No work , went thru dozens of reports and dozens of gyaan session but like an new sword it was never put to test in the war, The anticipation turned to frustration and led to nearly 8 months of joblessness.I was told about 4 months in between that i would go to the middle east, muscat 2 be precise.

Meanwhile on a personal level learnt new hobbies, bloggin was a pasttime, networking was new and renewed thru orkut.School friends were met after nearly ten years, the joy was immense .New relatives, the joy of convocation of wearin a costume all made life interestin,

but somewhere there was a purpose amiss, while the desire to do somethin was immense, i was bound by nothin to do nothin.

Then had a accident and an upheaval, all of a sudden moved to Doha and it was a new world a new culture, new learning, a world in which i am frightened and pressurised, a world in which i am excited and anxious, a world in which i am joyful and sad,there is a desire to achieve but the worries of an uncertain future....

So time has suddenly shifted to supernova mooed and its moved to the next year of a life.

There are dreams , dreams of a new tommorow, dreams of that person who would make life interesting, dreams of a succesful tommorow and i am held back no more by nothin me.

So as i part with the old year, here is my ode to friends old, my dear parents and sis, to renewed and reborn friendships and to newer friends and most of all to time , me and my mentor a certain God who makes me evolve into somethin better every year.

so while thers a goodbye ,

here's the welcome to all those surprises, joy and sorrow anew and a resolution for the first time to make life enriched and to not remain a mute spectator but an active participant.

Happy new year folks!!! and lets have fun and the bubbly flow,,,.............

Nation and its symbols

What does patriotism mean , y does the concept of a nation mean so much to any individual on the planet??

concept of a nation state probably started on greece but we in India or China in these parts of Asia have had also our concepts built up if not anything by alexander's invasion .How important is symbolism to this. If you look at any sporting activity the national events r the best of the lot. People can no more war and they let sport do the talking or talk heavily while being involved in sports.Jingoistic or not , u see flag waving , u see coloured faces,u see caps and t-shirts and ofcourse you national animals .

symbolism and patriotism go hand in hand.

But can an individual be patriotic and not be so symbolic about it.

America is one of the best marketed concepts in the world.T-shirts , Uncle Sam, Mcdonald's Coke are all American symbols.You would find maximum Indian brands also carryin the 51 stars.It is indeed verycool to be American and most countries patronise the stars and the symbols.

So does it mean the American's are patriotic. Are Americans patriotic bcoz the nation is the best . By that i mean America gets the best manpower in all the fields from usually the rest of the world. And country is great if its pplare great.So now what makes Americans more patriotic.

We in India had to fight for the right to display the Indian flag as a part of our attire. We are one of the largest natiosn with huge number of permanent immigrations happening.Patriotism develops when as we see a Kagil war , or a cricket match, maybe with the Sania fervour a tennis match too.But we dont stand up for the anthem,, we are waitin to go abroad and have a better life.Though the last thing has changed with the advent of the big business in India somewhere we r not so sure about the nation.We r patriotic maybe but def not symbolic, We are also more divisonal internally, with caste language and religion also making our identities.Is this the cause for less patriotism.

Or we now gettin to blv in a global world and cannot think of ourselves as a single nation.

for a colleague here it was great to hear the anthem being played at the asian games when paes and bhupathi won the title.So is this a third idea, patriotism and concept of a nation is more developed , when i am abroad .While i am internally in a nation these are more trivial issues while my bread and butter amtter .Abroad the difference in culture means you 'd luv to be around Indians as you understand them best being a part of it.

I am still not sure what nationhood is, is it the culture which bonds ppl of a particualr region and alienates others, is it similarities in habits and culture which create a nation or is it just a concept found agreable by a vast majority and are therfore happy in that comfort and belief .Germany for a long time could not assert itself as a nation after the two world wars bcoz it was afraid of jingoism and hurt by excessive nationalism shown by its past till a world cup of football held ther.

Well i am not sure kaikoo this is so important but it gives evryone an identity to live with, something good to look upto and while it is a mental concept it is definitely a brand which agets aggressively marketed based on vested interests of individuals!!!!

inspirational

i cant write poetry but i found something nice so just posting that

Bertrand Russell:
Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].
Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of [people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.
Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth; Cries of pain reverberated in my heart Of children in famine, of victims tortured And of old people left helpless. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, And I too suffer. This has been my life;
I found it worth living.

adapted

smashing weekends

Well thats what i hv had the last two weekends. While the last weekend i was busy with my cousin's engagement the previous weekend i was off to Bangalore enroute to Tiruchi . Took a bus but due to some massive roadwork around Devanahalli( the new Bangalore airport) reached bang around 10.Met up with a lot of old frnds and went to a couple of nice restaurants.

IndiJoe was reserved for the evening and the other was Saheb Singh Sultan.Those are supposedly the nomenclature by which the first three locomotive engines of the Indian railways were called.See now you have restaurants saying food for thought literally.Lovely ambience with decor of a railway platform and a bogie with ticket collectors being the concierge at the restaurant . Nice images and glasswork.We ate more of the breadsticks dipped with the yummy cheese. Abs smashing me sayeth

Also was great cathcing up with frnds. Mee being the unmariied person i had to hear a lot of talk abt seven year itch, to baby talk to spousial relationships.Smashing info for a guy like me .Insights to y i shld marry and y i shdlnt.

Also went a checked the homes of a couple of these frnds.the one who was plannin to buy was aksing q's and it was interesting to look at decor and interiors as a complex thing and a work of art and effort.

Well all in all a smashing day

Left to Tiruchi by a bus.Reached early morning and went to say hi to an old mentor.Ofcourse i am talking about the Ucchi Pillayar (Lord Ganesh ) at Tiruchi. The temple has not changed for 1000 years so 3 years since college wldnt have changed it.Lovely view of Srirangam and Cauvery from atop the hill.The Siva family sits on one side of cauvery and the Vishnu family on the other. Got a grt news while i was atop.My colleague had just become the father of a baby gal.So after prayers it was back to Vasanta Bhavan an old adda 4 idli sambar.Smashing!!!

Met my would be sis-in-law and then went to college to collect my convo certificate. My college has a ritual of combining the convocations of two batches and making it a informal sort of get together for 4 batches of students.I had no chance of attending my convocation in 2004 so was attending this meet of my juniors and sub-juniors. Wore that funny gown and went and picked my convo on stage and as the batch was not mentioned my sub-sub juniors were left wondering as to who this person was!!. Eitherways we all love this .There is something about going and pciking ur certificate on a podium from a distinguished person. We did not have any hats to throw but we managed with the bows and the apparel worn on the neck.It was smashing
Now next day i was supposed to go to Chennai by train but as i found a junior pal travelling by car i joined in

Next day morning we left for Chennai in a Maruti Esteem. hardly had we crossed Tiruchi and just b4 srirangam we smashed literally. A bus from the footpath veered into the path of the car. The bus on the other side of the road also moved into our path. In an effort to move away from the first bus we moved sideways and the second bus caught the front door of the car and we were asailed with the glss pieces of the window inspite of it being rolled down. the outer side of the car door was literally pulled and dragged along with second bus for half of a kilometre. Thankfully neither of the four of us i.e Dilip, Sandeep, Arun(my juniors) and me were not hurt though we were more than shaken and stirred.We said our thanks to the above mentioned dieties and to Maruti. The large iron rod in the door had saved us from more damage.

After a lot of consulatation travelled on to Chennai and then Hyderabad by train which was rather boring journey compared to the smashing others .

Yet i should say i had never hoped or asked for such a literally smashing experience!!!