Tuesday, October 28, 2008

'No one can manipulate anyone else. In any relationship, both parties know what they are doing, even if one of them complains later on that they were used'
- Athena, The Witch of Portobello

Saturday, October 11, 2008

First brush with the car

First brush with the car

Before I narrate the actual incident, I will give a little background which will help us to understand the situation better. I have been learning to drive on my own car since last 3 days and I was performing reasonably well. Today my driver had told me to just practice forward and backward movement of my own car in my building. Being a very obedient student, I tried to do the same. I started the car many times but car always broke down. I was wondering what the heck is wrong. Am I doing a wrong CLUTCH BREAK? After 2-3 days of practice I had become reasonably confident about my clutch control. I was very upset and in all the frustration I went to the barber’s place to get my hair cut. While I came back I decided to roll the dice once more. This time I realized that I had not put down the HANDBRAKE!! The car started smoothly. Being the cool stud I got the car out of my building, drove it for some time before the calamity struck.

An auto took a very sharp and fast turn and I was caught unaware. Till the time I could to the clutch brake, the horse had been bolted and my car brushed the rickshaw. I was petrified. But I managed to keep my wits about myself and halted the car and got down to apologize to the rickshaw person. Till the time I got down, he had gone. People around calmed me and asked me to keep driving. I felt that I had made the biggest mistake of my life. But I managed to keep my wits again and slowly got the car back home. Now I was afraid of 3 things; damage to the car, dad’s reaction and trainer’s reaction.

1> Dad’s reaction: If you drive a car all these things are bound to happen. I am very happy that at least you got the courage to take out the car out yourself.
2> Car damage: None of the parts of my car has broken down. The cost if getting the repair done is minimal 100 RS.
3> Trainer’s reaction: Its ok; It happens with all the people. Relax, Calm down.

I really thank Neha and Ketki for supporting me and my brother for encouraging me…


I had read a book called Alchemist a long time ago. In that book they talked about Beginner’s luck. I guess I am lucky…I got an experience of minor accident without any damage to myself, of my car or to any other person (which I believe is the most important thing.) I consider that I am God’s own child. I know that he will be with me for I am sincere to the task that I have taken up. I am trying my best. I am learning things…Life doesn’t give such opportunities to all and I am thankful that I got this chance…
- Jay

Thursday, October 9, 2008

My New Car (Part 1)

My New Car (Part 1)

Today, on Dashera’s auspicious day, I finally got the delivery of my new car, MARUTI ALTO. The car looks really cool and my family members are very happy including me. But I am also a bit apprehensive. Will I be able to drive well? Will I learn how to drive efficiently? Will I be able to tackle the traffic in the city? Will I be able to navigate through the narrowest lanes of the world? Will I be able to continually do a CLUTCH-BRAKE? There are too many questions racing through my brain. I have learnt driving on Training school’s car. But today when my trainer accompanied me, while I was driving through the tougher places in my car, I realized that it’s a different cup of tea. I am a very fearful driver. I believe everyone is when they are learning.

Today’s experience was really cool. The probability of car starting efficiently to that of car switching off was 1:5. I was just unable to control the clutch. But I am confident. I know I will crack this challenge also. Though this is not as same as clearing a GMAT or ORACLE exam, which according to me is way easier than learning to drive, I am really kicked about driving and I am happy about it. I want to enjoy the drive and enjoy the new learning experience. I was always fearful of the driving cars but then like I said in my earlier articles, Fear is an evil which prevents man from achieving what he can achieve. I have to fight the fear. I have to learn to drive well. I consider this as a very important phase my induction into practical world. I know I should be jumping on top of the moon since I have bought a nice slick car, but I am bit cautious and hopefully in times to come, will be confident.

I hope that in the part-2 of this series I will talk about the happier driving tales…
I will post a snap of my car… JUST wish me luck with my new sojourn….
I need all of it.

- Jay

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Written Snaps

Written Snaps

Long time ago when I used to write poetries, I always had a dream; a dream of being published one day. As time passed by, somehow the intensity diminished. Now, the time is such that writing a simple 4 lined-poem has become very difficult. Perhaps the touch has gone or may be I have run out of patience. But the poems which I have already written are still with me. Today, late at night at 11:13 pm on Tuesday when I was really tired, I read a few of my own poetries. Since I had created these poems, I certainly knew the theme of them but had forgotten everything else. However, after reading I felt really good. The entire process of how I created those poems rushed through my mind. The circumstances when I had written, the mood, the time…everything just flashed in front of my eyes. The kind of words which I always use in my poems, the style that I generally follow, the readers who used to religiously read my poems and give me feedback…

I always used to consider poems as written snapshots. I used to capture my emotions in words. I had started writing in Feb-2005; I still remember the girl who was my first muse, also my first genuine crush. I had written a sweet 18 liner for her birthday. Life was amazing. I was in 2nd year engineering and I was deeply fond of that girl. We were great friends. I have come a long way from then on. That girl became my best friend, then we became anonymous to each other, then we became friends again and then anonymous again. Amidst all these I have had crush on many girls. Girls came…they went. But my poems always remained with me. I am extremely thankful to all those girls for they inspired poetry in me. They tapped a potential in me which might always have remained obscure. Today, when Sangeetha is not contributing much to our BLOG mainly because she is tied up, I again see a lovely opportunity.

I feel that I am creating snapshots. I am taking photographs of our feelings. I have started enjoying the responsibility of running the BLOG single-handedly for time being, but still not bore our readers. It’s a really exciting time. When Sangeetha will also come back and start writing big time, I don’t see any reason why we can’t end up with 10 articles a month and that too of really cool quality. The BLOG has just started blooming. Now the time has come when we nurture it and make it really big. We are in the process of creating some viewer-ship for our BLOG. But more importantly, we are in the process of making photos which Sangeetha and I will see after a few years and still feel a race in our pulse after recollecting the situations in which we had written our articles.

Let me be extremely frank; irrespective of the skill or the lack of it, writing brings out the expression in me and hence I love writing…I love BLOGGING….
-Jay