क्या पता...कल हो ना हो...

One of the very, very, very few dialogues mouthed by SRK on celluloid that I actually appreciate n don't mind recounting in public is this particular line from the movie Kal Ho na Ho

"जीयो, मुस्कुराओ, झुमो, गाओ, खुश रहो...क्या पता... कल हो ना हो..."

Loosely translated, it reads - Live, smile, dance, sing, be happy....who knows...there may or may not be a tomorrow.

It's such an awesome mantra to live life by. From my perch, I have seen Addie, my Guru, practice this motto daily like a true devotee. Inspired, I have been trying to "reapply the best practice" since the last 3-4 months. And life's been truly awesome!! Even simple things have taken on prismatic, spectral hues. The smiles have propagated to back home n got amplified in the voices, mails n faces of my family - that's worth more than anything else.

But today, in keeping with the "Live life Kingzise" spirit, I bungled up. Yet again.
Like the train that doesn't realize it has rounded a bend until after doing so, I too realized it after the events had transpired. For the umpteenth time, my comet left a wake which was never really intended. :(.

How I wish Addie were here today. For reassurance & reinforcement to stop my faith from teetering. How I wish life weren't so critical & demanding of faiths ever so often...
How I wish I could do an SRK, standing with my arms outstretched double their length on some overflowing waterfront, saying

आज में जीयो, क्या पता...कल हो ना हो...

The faith shall stand though, a little shaken but by no means vanquished. The horse will learn, make amends & keep walking on...

A Utopian life in Guyworld!!

I have been thinking about that age-old dictum saying that a man would have a Utopian life if he can claim propriety over the following worldly possessions:

1. An Indian wife
2. An American salary
3. A British house
4. Chinese food.

Hmm. Now, the first thing that struck me was as I was mulling over the list is how remarkably incomplete it is. I mean, this is the 21st century and we men are material minded, carnally driven, insatiable, obsessive maniacs, having sold our "mojos of higher living" to the devil in our past lives!! How can the list be complete with just 4 simple entries as above?

Hence, I embarked on the noble task myself of completing the dream life of a man. So, without further ado, here goes.

Addendum to list above

1. A Singaporean city/standard of living
2. A Korean car
3. Japanese gadgets
4. French wines
5. Arabian land estates
6. A Russian mistress
7. A Dutch orchard
8. Spanish music
9. German factories

There. I think now the list can at least claim to stand on veritable grounds of being close to Utopian.

(Note - The list is restricted to worldly, material possessions. Hence, things such as looks & **** cannot be enlisted in this bracket).

Hmm...all ye guyz out there...have I missed anything? All contributions are most gratefully welcome :).

The adventures of KV - Part 1

Kunal had planned this vacation with his mom n sis to Singapore, KL, Langkawi since 6 months or so. He had taken uncharacteristic pains to meticulously plan all the details to the T, had driven me up the wall to plan out his itinerary and stuff!

He was to fly out last evening from Delhi to arrive in Singapore today morning. After which I was to become his walking-talking Frommer's guide to Singapore!!

Well, he's just had a phenomenally auspicious start to it. He sms'd last night that he'd missed his Indian Airlines flight to Singaopore (and that too the only flight flown out by the airline from Delhi). Lol. Rotflmao.... Double rotflmao...

These things always happen to him! I can so imagine his sis giving him a nice hiding for this.

The recourse he has taken his that he has flown to KL & is taking a bus to Singapore from there. Which means that he loses almost whole of today!!

Hilarious stuff. KV rocks!!

The Week end syndrome

Just concluded that I have a compulsive need to spend the night before a holiday out i.e. Friday evenings / the evening before a mid-week break necessarily means I graciously contribute to the coffers of a restaurant & to a movie hall.

In my mind, I earlier thought that this was driven by a functional, first order physical need - food. Background is that our maid comes to cook dinner from Monday - Thursday, with Friday being a scheduled pit-stop. Hence, Friday evenings till a couple of months ago necessarily meant a hop over to some eatery in Little India. However, off late, we have had the option of calling her over on Friday as well - an option that we've almost reverentially stayed away from exercising.

But this belief was busted by the recent spurt of midweek holidays when I have had an irrepressible urge to not spend the evening staring at either of my LCD screens - the TV or the laptop!! Was myself amazed at how helpless and subjugated I felt to this surge inside me!!

So, I guess the verdict is out on me - I am afflicted with "The week end syndrome".
Symptoms - Extreme restiveness on a Friday evening, arbitrary mood swings ranging from being king of dullsville to childlike buoyancy, uncontrolled irrational dashes to smash through the office glass-doors.

Cures - Lungful of 6pm evening air, indulgences spanning दाल मखनी , सेविया to popcorn n ice-cream, 3 hour therapeutic x-box sessions :).

Do you also suffer from the same? Get yourself diagnosed. Paint the town red (or whatever color you fancy)!!

Cool guys & Hot gals

Just realized another point of difference in the classic debate - boys vs. gals. Stated as under:

Guys aspire to get/stay 'cooler' as they get older while gals aspire to get/stay 'hotter'!!

Hmm...interesting...

Mama, see what I won - My own star :)

Was at an office offsite the last two days. The published purposes of the offsite are twofold:

1. Share the past fiscal's (our fiscal follows a July - June calibration) business results, successes/failures & learnings.
2. Lay down the goals, strategies & vision for the current fiscal.

The unpublished, flunkie's eye agenda is..... PARTY!! ;-).

And that's exactly what it turned out to be. The business review sessions weren't half as bad as I had dreaded, and the awards night + party simply rocked :). The second day's physical workout + outdoor team building activities were tons of fun and eye-opening (yes, I need to move my lazy bum n exercise!!).

And amidst all this rejoicing, I got a personal reason to celebrate!! I won a "Special Appreciation" award :).

The awards are meant to recognize those individuals whose work produced some sterling results/gave new direction to the business unit. It's one of those awards that got my mind going "Jeez, I wish I could win one of those" while I sat in the aisles applauding other winners at past functions!!

As it turned out, I could feel those butterflies start their "catch me if you can" games inside my tummy all over again as the function kicked off. And as the muster rolled on, I could feel those little aahs inside my head getting louder with each announcement that didn't yet call out my name.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the spotlight zeroed in on a slide screaming "Harsh Shah". And I was... stunned!! Took me a few seconds to get out of my reverie and realize मेरा Number आ गया!!

The applause as I went up to receive my blue star seemed to be coming out of the ether, the faces seemed to lose features, the notes crooned "I believe I can fly" and for 2 minutes I wasn't on this planet as the hormones n chemicals in my junkyard rocketed me into orbit!! It took Karthik's raspy voice n firm vise on my wrist whilst I was floating back to my seat to get me to land :). Fumblingly, accepted his congratulations, mumbled out a thank you & parked myself on my chair with a long breath as the realization sank in :).

Well, the party started almost immediately after this and I let my hair down (well, whatever there is of it anyways!!). The hormones carried on with their alchemist dance well into the night :). Woke up the next day as usual to a star - albeit a blue one with my name inscribed on it instead of a yellow one!!

Small joys these, but truly ones that permanently color my memory with joy n pride!