Love Story Part-1

Disclaimer: Before you start reading the story let me tell you that it is a work of fiction.

This story is there on almost every blog site. Thanks to the copy paste. People have given it various names but I prefer calling it Love Story. In this story most of things used are relevant to Infosys. I have tried my best to make it understandable to people outside Infosys. If you have read the story still read it again because you might find something new in the story. If you have not read it then it is good for you to read it once. I was told about the popularity of the story on internet through google search and this might be helpful for you. http://www.google.co.in/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=0h&oq=&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_enIN357IN357&q=rahul+mehra+parul+jain :-)

I had put this story in our internal Infy Blogs on 30th October. What has taken me so long to put it on external blog; well nothing as such. I was never planning to put it on external blog but looking at the popularity on internet I thought of sharing it with people. Also kept thinking will people believe it that the story has been written by me. Hope they do and if they dont then they can ask their friends at Infosys. Well it was hard to make my brother believe, finally thankfully he is convienced. :-)

After all this the story begins, enjoy reading it :-) ....

Parul, a 25-year old workaholic who is working in a software firm. Parul’s came to office at 9 or 10 in the morning and left at 11 or 12 at night. Even on weekends she would come down to office. She had no social life, no friends. The only people she use to be with were her project mates. But there was no assurance that she would be having her lunch or tea with them. Basically she was all a loner. There was no love life in her life and she had no time for love. All her time was devoted to work

Rahul, use to be a workaholic like Parul 2 years back. But now things had changed. He was no more workaholic but still he use to stay in office. Office had become home for him.

One night while Parul was all alone and working at the office a mail popped up in her mailbox. The name of the sender was Rahul Mehra. She had not met him, never heard about him. Just out of curiosity she checked his mail. The content of the mail was

Hi Parul,

I see you every night sitting in the office till very late.

Don’t you have friends? Don’t you feel like talking to your roommate?

You should not sit very late in the office. this is a genuine advice from me.

Thanks and Regards,
Rahul Mehra

After reading the mail, Parul was very angry on the sender. She simply deleted the mail and said to herself “who is he to give me any advice?” She again got back to her work.

After that night, every night Rahul would keep sending her mails and Parul would simply delete them without even reading the content of the mail. But one fine night the subject line attracted her and she had to open the mail. The subject line of the mail was “Hi Gorgeous”

Hi Gorgeous,

Yes today you are looking very gorgeous in this red saree.

I know you don’t read my mails as you don’t like the advices I give you.

So today I wont give you any advice, I will just say that I am love with you.

You know you are very beautiful and if you take care of yourself many men will fall in love with you.

I am sure someday you will also fall in love with me. And then we will go out for a date.

Oh before I end the mail I must tell you that the best thing about is that smile. Or is it those intense which needs some sleep at the moment.

Take care dear.

Love you.
Rahul Mehra.

After reading the mail she was shocked. A person she had never met, never seen, never spoke to was saying that he was in love with her. She started thinking was this always in his mind. How did he get her id? Where had he seen her? Many questions like this came in her mind. Finally she thought of giving a warning and replied to his mail.

Hi Rahul,

I don’t want to spoil your career but if you don’t stop sending me mails I will raise an ASHI against you.

I hope you know what ASHI is. If not let me tell you it’s an Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy.

The way you have written the mail comes under this policy.

I don’t know you and you don’t know me so you don’t have the right to write such a mail to me.

Thanks and Regards,
Parul Jain

After this mail, the mails from Rahul stopped coming in Parul’s inbox. She thought that finally Rahul has got scared and wont be mailing her again. After several nights, Parul was resting on her chair and her eyes closed. When she opened her eyes she saw Rahul’s mail in her mailbox.

Hi Gorgeous,

With your closed eyes you were dreaming about me, right?

Oh sorry for not sending any mails in the last few days.

I was a little busy. I am sure you would have missed me a lot.

One more thing before I forget I want to say that I am not scared of ASHI.

An ASHI cant be a reason to stop loving you.

Love you.
Rahul Mehra

Parul was twisting her hair and putting them behind her ears. At that moment itself another mail came from Rahul,

Now stop playing with your hair and leave the office. It is very late.

Love you.
Rahul Mehra

Parul was shocked as to how did this person know what she was doing on her desk. She got up to check whether anyone was there in her floor but could find only empty cubicles. She thought maybe he made a wild guess and decided to leave the office. before leaving she saw another mail from Rahul.

Hi Parul,

Searching for me??? You have started falling in love with me. :-)

Love you.
Rahul Mehra

Parul was shocked and scared to hell. She simply switched off her machine and ran outside the office. in the next few days she would not open any mails sent by Rahul. One night a mail with subject line “Don’t be scared of me” came to her mailbox. First she thought to ignore the mail then she thought lets see what has Rahul written this time.

Hi Parul,

Don’t be scared of me.

I can say that you are scared of me because of the way you ran out from the office the last time you read my mail.

I know few minutes back you had gone to have coffee. You are thinking how I know this because I can feel you around me.

Only once you also start feeling me you will know that I am near to you. Very near. Just sitting next to you.

I will wait for the night when you start having the same feelings for me.

Will always love you.

Rahul Mehra

Now Parul started thinking was Rahul really in love with her? What he was saying was it true? But how could he know so much about her? How could he say what she was doing and what not? Parul thought lets give a try and see whether Rahul is always in love with her or not. From that night she also started replying to his mail.

Hi Parul,

Do you feel bad if I call you gorgeous?

Love you.
Rahul Mehra

Parul’s reply:

Yes Rahul. I don’t like this word.

You can address me as Parul, isn’t it short and simple. and I love my name a lot.

Thanks and Regards,
Parul Jain

Rahul’s reply:

Point noted Parul. But when I am happy, excited I would call you with some special name at that time.

Tomorrow you have your certification so all the best for that.

Love you.

Parul was again shocked as to how does he know about her certification. She had never told him. She replied

Rahul,

Who is the person who is giving you details about me? I had not told you about my certification how do you know it?

Thanks and regards,
Parul Jain

Rahul replied back to her

I know it because I in front of you. Cant you see me? Cant you feel me close to you?

I also know that after 3 days you have your appraisal. Now this you have not told anyone. Just your PM knows about it.

Do you think your PM will give me all these details?

Love you.
Rahul Mehra

Parul not sure of the answer. She knew her PM would not have told Rahul all this but how did Rahul know so much about her was a mystery for her. Finally she thought she will talk to her PM, Rohan.

Next day, she went to her PM’s desk.

Parul: “Hi Rohan. I wanted to ask you something”.

Rohan: “Sure Parul. Are you having any issues?”

Parul: “No. actually I wanted to know about a person named Rahul Mehra.”

Rohan was shocked on hearing that name.

Rohan: “How did you come across this name. Has anyone told you about him?”

Parul: “No one has said anything to me about him. Few days back he started sending me e-mails. First I ignored but then he would give such details which I did just few minutes back. He even knows my appraisal date.”

Rohan: “Are you sure you got mails from Rahul Mehra only?”

Parul: “Yes very much. But why do you looked shock?”

Rohan: “Because Rahul Mehra died 2 years back. He use to sit at the same place where you are sitting. How can a dead person send mails to you.”

Parul: “Now don’t try to scare me that a ghost is sending a mail.”

Rohan: “I am not saying that a ghost is sending you a mail, maybe there could be someone named Rahul Mehra. I am just saying that in our project there use to be a guy named Rahul Mehra who is dead now. BTW you can try finding his name in the telephone directory. Maybe someone told you about him and because of work stress you started imagining that he is sending you mails.”

Parul: “I am not imagining anything. He has really send me a mail. I can show you in my mailbox.”

Rohan: “Okay Parul I believe you but still I think you should take a break and go home.”

Parul did a search on telephone directory for a name with Rahul Mehra and page returned no records. She again checked the mail id and employee number details. She did a search many times that day by putting various combinations but the search page displayed the same message “No matches found for the given search criteria”. She could not believe that someone could hack the system and send mails to her from a non-existing id. She attached the mails sent by Rahul and sent it to Rohan as a proof that she was not dreaming.

On seeing the attached mails even Rohan was in shock. He came to Parul’s desk.

Rohan: “I think by mistake his id has not been deleted and someone who knows about it is playing with it.”

Parul: “But I checked the details on telephone directory there are no records available for this id.”

Rohan: “Talk to the CCD people and see what they have to say.”

She called up the CCD people. They took control over her system and looked at the mail sent by Rahul Mehra. The mail was sent from the same computer which Parul was using. The time stamp at which the mails were sent Parul had logged in. Also there was no evidence that a remote desktop connection was made or mail was sent through web mail. Even the CCD people were clueless as to how a mail has been sent from a non-existing id and from Parul’s system itself. There were no viruses or torjans or any other kind of threats on Parul’s system. Her anti-virus was upto date. The whole day was gone in finding a loophole as to how did Parul get such a mail in her mailbox. Parul was tierd from the day’s happening and so she decided to leave early from the office that day.

The next day when Parul came back, she saw a mail from Rahul Mehra. She didn’t know whether she should delete that mail or read that mail. She was scared to open the mail. Somehow she gained some courage and opened the mail. The context of the mail was:

Hi Parul,

Good to see that you left the office early tonight. I know Rohan told you about my death.

I was also a workaholic like you. I would sit late in the office, even when no one was around me.

I just being at office. I had no friends, no social life. Even on weekends I would use to come to office.

I missed all the fun in my life. Even my death happened at office while I was working.

My dead body was found by the house keeping guy and the security guard at the reception.

I took a lot of work stress which my conscious mind could not bear that day. I ignored all the health problems I was having.

And finally on that night (20. 10. 07, 11:24 PM) all these reasons became responsible for my death.

Now you know why I am not scared of ASHI.

But yes if I was alive then also I wont be scared of ASHI because I have really fallen in love with you but we cant be together until your death.

Now the choice is yours whether you will kill yourself on your own or whether I need to do the honors.

Waiting for your death. Love you always.

Rahul Mehra

Parul was not ready to believe that a ghost was sending her mails. She replied back to his mail

So Rahul do you think I am some foolish girl who will believe in your story.

Maybe you are smart but I am also stupid to believe that a ghost is sending me mails.

Your story is nice but I am not ready to believe this non-sense.

You want to kill me then go ahead and kill me.

I know you are someone who can hack system very smartly.

I will make sure to try finding you.

Thanks and Regards,
Parul Jain

Just after this mail her extn started ringing. She picked up the phone and at the other end the voice said.

“Hello Parul, this is Rahul Mehra who has been sending you the mails. So you think I am not dead. So can real person make your PC blink?”

Parul’s PC started blinking.

“Rahul these all are childish tricks. Now the light above me will be start flickering. Don’t bother me and find some other dumb girl.

Suddenly Parul felt something crawling over her feet. It was an earth worm moving on her feet. Then the floor tile below her started cracking and she felt like someone was pulling her leg; pulling her down; pulling her inside the tiles. She also felt that her hands are tied.

Rahul at the other end said: “So Parul could a real person do all this. Or could spiders start moving your body? So you wish to die and I will fulfill your wish. I love you and I will fulfill all your wishes.”

Parul didn’t believe in ghosts but what was happening with her was not normal. The spiders moving on her face and when she was trying to move her hands to remove them she was not able to move her hand. Someone was tickling her on her stomach but she could not see anyone. Finally Parul had to believe that Rahul was a ghost.

Parul started screaming: “Please stop it. I don’t want to die. Please this is a request.”

People around Parul could not understand why she was shouting; they thought maybe she heard something bad on phone. Things became normal but at the other end Rahul said: “Parul you will have to die whether you wish it or not. You have time till your death so enjoy your life till then.”

P.S. More parts are there to this story which I would be putting on the blog soon.
P.P.S. Those who have put the story on their blog hopefully read it again on my blog.
P.P.P.S. Love stories are pretty normal so I have tried my hand on a horror story.

Link to the second part:
http://richaritwika.blogspot.com/2009/12/love-story-part-2.html

BTW will you dare to date a ghost? ;-)

What did you realize this Independence Day?

This Independence Day I realized that trust is the most important thing which gives me a feeling that I am free. Trust of my parents over me for letting me go alone in this big world and try living on my own. Trust of my friends on me that I will be there whenever they need me. Also my trust on them that they would be there when I need them. A trust that our friendship will not be broken because of the freedom of speech. A freedom which lets me pour out my heart to my friends and sometimes leading into fights. But still giving an assurance that these fights wont break the beautiful relation of friendship. Freedom in work because of the trust shown by the people I work that I can do it.

I would say an ideal office environment will be one where there is a trust that the person will work on his/her task. A sense of freedom given to a person without demanding hourly updates over the work. Not sitting over the head of the person and letting him/her do the work on his/her own way. The way many people have been laid off at various multi-national company somewhere the freedom has gone. People have got more scared and somewhere the freedom has gone. A software download, a single page printout, a website visit, a mail send to friend, a personal photograph – every single click of mouse at office when starts getting monitored then freedom is lost. Freedom is taken over by fear and when there is fear either a person will succumb to the situation or will fight with back. With all this I realized the importance of various rights we have in the country.

Especially the Right of Speech which we seldom use in life. The husband is torturing the wife but she prefers to be quiet. A person is being forced for something but s/he prefers to be quiet. The boss is exploiting the junior staff but ….. We are celebrating 62 years of Independence when will we realize the importance of various rights we have in out country? When will we raise our voice for something wrong we see around us? When will the attitude change “Joh jaisa chal raha hai chalne doon. Koyale ki dalali mein apne haath kyun kaale karo”.

At the last I would say trust is not just needed in personal relationships but also a very important part in the professional world. A lack of trust at any point in life can be dangerous. A trust when denied can make a person hostile. Like the way it has been shown in the movie New York, when the country stopped trusting a man's identity he took the wrong path and became a terrorist. And yes if you feel someway your freedom is being sacrificed then use the various rights provided by the Indian Constitution.

What did you realize this Independence Day?

Jai Hind.

Eyes

This write-up is dedicated to eyes. First let me give the reason why I thought of writing about eyes. I was listening to the song Chor bajari do naino ki from the movie Love Aaj Kal and then started thinking so many songs have been just dedicated to eyes. Songs like Do naina ek kahani, Ankhon se tune yeh kya keh diya, Ankhiyon se goli mare or the latest songs like Naino ki mat manayi naina thag lenge, nazarein milana nazarein churana and offcourse Chor bajari do naino ki.

There is a saying that aankhen dil ka aaina hoti hai (eyes are the mirror for heart). How much is this true I have no idea. But yes if a person is sad then the sadness can be seen in the eyes. Even if the person has a smile on his/her lips but that sadness is clearly visible in the eyes. Now if in this case the person can hide his/her sadness in the eyes then the person is really a good actor/actress.

But as the song from Omkara is there Naino ki mat manayo naina thag lenge. Sometimes this can be true. Imagine you want a small help from someone. If you will give that sweet, innocent look to the person your things will be done easily. An expression something similar to this pic .

Well again I remembered a saying tumhari aankhon mein doob jaane ko mann karta hai (I feel like getting drowned in your eyes). In the movie Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya, Salman and Kajol played a game. A game of staring into each other eyes and the person whose eyes closed first won the game. It’s a very interesting game and I am sure many of us would have played this game. But there are some people whose eyes can be very powerful. They wont do anything but looking into their eyes there could some strange feeling. I have a friend who has very beautiful seductive eyes. When we met first time and I looked into her eyes, I kept on looking into her eyes and had a weird feeling. Not just me but there were many other girls in the college who had the same feeling while looking into her eyes. But slowly we got use to it and now we can stare into her eyes. But still there are some people whose stare can sometimes be uncomfortable. Anyways I love the game but after joining office never got a chance to play it. :(:’(

Eyes are the most interesting part a human being has. It gives a sense of color, a sense of direction, a sense of whatever we see around us. I know there are people in this world who cant see and I feel sorry for them. Now let me end this write-up with a sayari written by me.

Nazrein kharab hain, ya kharab nazar hai,
Kab kya keh deti hain yeh toh humein bhi nahi pata hai,
Kabhi kisi se mil jaye toh inki sharat ka pata chalta hai,
Hum sochte hai unhein humari nazar se bachana,
Yeh kehti hain nahi nahi unko aapka haal-e-dil hai batana,
Yeh sun kar hum phir se sochne lagte hai,
Ae zamana yeh batana nazrein Kharab hai, ya kharab nazar hai

Business Idea

Remember the famous dialogue from the movie Deewar - Mere pass gaadi hai, bangla hai, bank balance hai tumhare pass kya hai?. I am using the same dialogue and trying to write a funny story.

Amitabh Bachan – Mere pass gaadi hai, bangla hai, bank balance hai. Tumhare pass kya hai?
Shashi Kapoor – Mere pass business idea hai.
Amitabh Bachan – Hayiii. Yeh business idea kya hota hai?
Shashi Kapoor – Gaadi kaisi hai? 2-wheeler, 3-wheeler ya 4-wheeler?
Amitabh Bachan – Mere pass Honda city car hai.
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai aajkal Honda city ka zamana nahi hai. Bank balance se ek auto kharido bhai.
Amitabh Bachan – Usse kya honga? Hayiii
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai woh auto sinfy ke pass chalana. Log reserve mein auto lenge aur tumhara bank balance ek common software engineer jitna ho jayega.
Amitabh Bachan (Surma Bhopali from sholay style) – Yeh kya keh riye ho?
Amitabh Bachan – Main Don hoon koi auto driver nahi. Samjhe?
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai bada socho. Aajkal auto walo se koi panga nahi le sakta. Ab ghar toh jaana hai toh auto lena honga. Aur jitna rate mangoge logon ko dena honga.
Amitabh Bachan – I don’t like the idea. Aur koi business idea hai?
Shashi Bachan – Haan bhai. Mere pass toh idea hi idea hai. Acha bhai are you sure you have a banglow?
Amitabh Bachan – Haan. Humara ghar toh sabse bada hai. Usse bada ghar iss sehar mein nahi dekha honga.
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai aapke ghar mein kitne room hain?
Amitabh Bachan – Humare bangle mein 10 room hain. Ab idea batao.
Shashi Kapoor – Wah bhai itne saare room. Itne toh aajkal ek 3 BHK mein beds lagte hain. Aur bhai ek bed ka rate hota hai Rs. 3000. Acha bhai tum apne kitne floors hain bangle hain?
Amitabh Bachan – 2 floors hain. Neeche mein 5 rooms aur upar mein 5 rooms.
Shashi Kapoor – Acha bhai bangle ka main door kholte hi hall aata hai ya bedroom?
Amitabh Bachan (in angry tone)– Yeh kaisa non-sense sawal hai. Main door kholte hi hall aata hai.
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai gussa kyu hote ho. Aajkal yeh bhi fashion mein hai. Hall ko log bedroom mein convert kar dete hain. 1 hall aur 1 bedroom ka ghar 2BHK ban jaata hai.
Amitabh Bachan – Acha. Par yeh BHK hota kya hai?
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai kyu majak kar rahe ho. Waise hum business ki baat kar rahe the. Acha neeche ke 5 rooms hum apne liye rakh lenge. Ek mein aap rehna, ek mein main, ek mein maa rahegi, ek puja ghar aur ek ko hum guest room bana denge.
Amitabh Bachan – Maa wapas aa jayegi mere pass?
Shashi Kapoor – Haan bhai. Main jaisa kehta hoon waisa karoge toh jarur aa jayegi. Upar ke 5 rooms mein 3 beds laga kar rent par laga do. Aur ek bed ka rent minimum Rs. 2000 charge karna.
Amitabh Bachan (Kishor kumar style from Padosan) – Arey bangroo, idea toh acha hai. Par tujhe nahi lagta ki rent kuch jyada hai. Rs. 2000/bed?
Shashi kapoor – Arey bhai bada socho. Aajkal log aise hi business karte hain.
Amitabh Bachan – Business toh Abhishek ne kiya tha Guru mein phir bhi last mein court case hua. Aur humare ABCL ka haal toh jaante ho kaisi buri halat ho gayi thi ek time. Pata chala beds le liye paise invest kar diye aur log nahi aaye rent par rehne ke liye. Profit nahi hua toh risk ho jayega.
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai iss business mein sirf profit hi profit hai. Tum try toh karo. Kisi ko pata bhi nahi chalega. Iske liye toh koi income tax proof dikhane ki jarurat nahi hai.
Amitabh Bachan (Again in Surma Bhopali from sholay style) – Yeh kya keh riye ho? Maine toh suna hai ki rent bhi income hota hai toh income tax department ko dikhana toh padega.
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai yeh kaisi baat karte ho. Tum don ho na ki koi common software engineer. Income aur tax ki baatein tumhare muh se achi nahi lagti.
Amitabh Bachan – This idea sounds interesting. Main aaj hi investment karta hoon ghar par. Aur maa ke swagat ka bhi intazam karta hoon.
Shashi Kapoor – Good bhai tumko mera yeh idea pasand aaya. Bhai ek baat aur?
Amitabh Bachan – Haan bol bhai kya chaiye?
Shashi Kapoor – Ab maine tumhare bank balance ko badhane ka idea diya hai toh mera bhi bank balance badhao. Transfer some money to my account bhai.
Amitabh Bachan – Hayiii. Jao pehle usse paise lekar aao jisne humara baap ko paise nahi diye aur mere haath par yeh likh diya ki tumhara baap garib hai. Usse paise lekar aao jisne maa ki din bhar ki majduri ke paise nahi diye. Jao usse paise lekar aao jisne mere se paise chin liye.
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai you want to meet maa then you have to give me the money. Aur waise bhi bhai tumko pata hai mujhe Ghajini wali problem. Mujhe kisi ka naam aur sakal yaad nahi hai.
Amitabh Bachan – Acha thik hai. Yeh toh yaad rahega na ki shaam ko maa ko lekar aana hai.
Shashi Kapoor – Haan bhai. Bas Rs. 10000 mere business idea ke liye transfer kar dena aur ghar ke rent ka business partnership mein karege.
Amitabh Bachan – Rs. 10000 for business idea. Hayiii. Acha thik hai tum bhi kya yaad rakhoge kis dil dar se mile ho. Yeh rahe Rs. 5000 aur baaki Rs. 5000 shaam ko maa ke aane ke baad mil jayege.
Shashi Kapoor – Bhai tujh mein rab dikhta hai. Abhi chalta hoon police station mein commissioner sir ko good news de deta hoon ki don ne naya tarika nikala hai logon ko lootne ka. Aur yeh tarika aaj kal har koi apna rahe hain. Woh toh khush ho jayege. Shaam ko maa ke saath aata hoon bagle par.
Amitabh Bachan – Hayiii. Shaam ko milte hain.

Blood Donation

I know many people over here and other places are still sacred of donating blood. There are lots of myth associated with the blood donation. Here is the list of few myths people have regarding blood donation:-

1. You wouldn’t want my blood. I am of a common group?
We constantly need donors of all blood groups


2. Nobody has ever asked me to donate blood?
Consider yourself invited!


3. I am too old!
If you are between 17 and 60 yrs & in good health you can donate!


4. But I am underweight!
Not, if you are 45 Kg or more, and in good health, you can donate blood .


5. Oh! But I am anemic !
We test for anemia before every donation.


6. But it will make me weak?
Blood Donation has no ill effect on the body. You can resume your routine duties immediately after blood donation. The body in short time recoups the amount of blood donated and you can donate blood again after 3 months.


7. I am too busy & it is too convenient!
The entire procedure of blood donation takes about 15-20 minutes whereas Blood Donation is just 5 minutes job!


8. But is it safe to donate blood?
Yes! Absolutely safe - all equipment used is sterile and disposable. Thus, there is no risk of any infection including AIDS

If you still have any concerns and feel scared to donate blood then just visit a blood donation camp. Talk to the people taking/giving blood and then I am sure that you would love to donate your blood. Its not at all a painful process. Donate blood and feel lucky that you would be saving someone’s life.

IPL 2009

I know I am a little late in sharing my views about IPL 2009. This time the IPL shifted to South Africa because the IPL dates clashed with the elections in India. Providing sufficient security to the players was not possible because of this. Also after the terror attacks at Mumbai on 26/11 and again attacks in Pakistan while Sri Lankan Cricket Team was toruing there Lalit Modi could not take the risk of having the games in India. So from the security point of view it was a wise decision of having the IPL matches outside India.

8 teams faced each other and played 56 interesting league matches before semi-finals. The neck to neck competition between the teams to make their position in the top 4 was evident. One cannot forget the tie breaker between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Night Riders. Another interesting match was between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians where the win came on last ball for Rajasthan Royals.

This time the entertainment from the bollywood camp was less. Infact the cheerleaders also didnt add much spice to the game of the cricket. This time the IPL was more about cricket and less about drama. Drama like the last year where Preity Zinta hugging Yuvraj Singh became a news. Where Harbhajhan slapped Sreeshant or Shah Rukh Khan jumping in the stand with all the bollywood stars with him. Although this time Shilpa Shetty took the franchise of last season IPL winners Rajasthan Royals. But still that omph factor of bollywood stars and cheerleaders was missing.

Semi-finals again were an interesting one. Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super kings lost their matches in the semi-finals even though they were the top 2 teams after the league matches. In the first semi-final Delhi Daredevil played against Deccan Chargers and it looked that Adam Gilchrist had decided that he will let the world know that he is still the best player. His batting in the semi-finals was unstoppable and that made Deccan Chargers win the game. The other semi-final was between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super kings. Chennai Super kings had made it to the finals last year and this time also most people thought that Chennai Super kings will be one of the teams in the finals. Infact till the 15 overs of chase by Royal Challengers Bangalore everyone would have felt that Chennai Super kings will win the match. But then its 20-20 cricket and in the last 5 overs Royal Challengers Bangalore turned the game and finally win it.

In the finals Deccan Chargers and Royal Challenger Bangalore fought with each other for the IPL 2009 title. The match was really amazing. After the win in semi-finals Adam Gilchrist wanted more and it was clear from the way he played. Also the way he made his team play it evident that he wanted that IPL trophy. Last year no one expected that Rajasthan Royals will win but they won. Same was the case with Deccan Chargers as they were the last team in the IPL 2008. But changing the captain of both the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers proved that still old is gold. Both Anil Kumble and Adam Gilchrist did a wonderful job as captains and rose to a level of being the top 2 teams in the IPL 2009 season.

After all its cricket and anything can happen in the game and this IPL season made one thing clear expect the unexpected. Who knows in the next season of IPL Kolkata Knight Riders become the winner. Well in this season they are the ones to be the last team. I am being hopeful and there is nothing wrong that. There is a long way to go till IPL 2010. Hopefully the next season will also be exciting but there should be some hindi movies also being released during the IPL season. It was really a dry spell for bollywood movies in this year's IPL season. IPL rocks and I must admit that the entire season was fun-filled. :)

Hot Weather

It is yet another hot day. I just had my lunch and I am sitting in my office trying to concentrate on my work in this hot weather. Like everyday I am remembering God but that day something unusual happened.

Me: Oh God this hot weather will kill me.

God: Richa you have lost resistance to bear heat.

Me: Resistance to bear heat??? The temperature outside is 40 degrees. Inside the building the AC temperature has been maintained at 25 degrees +/- 1 just because of recession. The food court is also burning like a furnace.

God: It is not 40 degrees yet. Look at the plus point of maintaining a room temperature inside the building.

Me: Plus point of maintaining room temperature???

God: Yes plus point. You will not fall sick because of the vast difference in temperature between inside and outside the building. About the food courts being a furnace, think about the people working in Cafe Coffee Day. Or the people working in the canteen kitchen. They are making your meal without complaining about the heat they are bearing in their workplace. Remember what the CCD lady said to you when you asked her about the heat condition?

Me: She said its her job and she has to do it without complaining about the heat. But I am not the only one complaining about the heat. Few days back a person from Bangalore was asking for a cool drink delivery service at his desk.

God: You should be happy he is giving you another job option in this recession period. Imagine you start delivering a cool juice at a person’s desk and you get to earn some money. You can start with one building then when you have sufficient income you can open a chain and start providing the cold drink in other buildings.

Me: The idea looks good but it would have been better if a cold drink machine was given in every building instead of a coffee machine.

God: In this recession period when AC is switched off after 7 o’clock, you expect them to provide a cold drink machine. And I must tell you there are many who still use mud pots for having cold water. Let me think What do people call it in hindi?

Me: Mataka

God: Yes mataka. Its still used in villages and people living below poverty line in India. Its an eco-friendly thing and unfertile sand can be used to make it.

Me: And the taste of the water is also good. I remember when I was small and there was no fridge we used these mud pots. I don’t get that sweet taste of water in the fridge water.

God: Seems like that taste is still in your mind. Come with me I will take you somewhere?

Me: Where are you going to take me in this hot weather?

God: Just come with me and enjoy the things I will show you.

Me: Oh so it’s a joy ride.

God: Yes. Hold me tight and enjoy the scenes which I show you.

After some time we are on the streets.

God: Look down can you see that dog sleeping in the tree shade?

Me: Yes I can see a nice, cute street dog.

God: In this hot weather he has found a shade which is giving him relief from the hot weather. But the poor dog doesn’t know that this shade will be taken away from him someday. Now lets go to another place.

Me: With the noise I can say that this place is a school. But what has this school to do with my hot weather problem?

God: I thought that you would love to remember the school days. There is no AC in this school. Just a fan is there to keep the room cool. You know one thing in this school you can see a fan. There are schools where there is no AC or fan to keep the place cool. Why just schools; there are houses where there is nothing to make the place cool.

Me: Oh God you reminded me of my school days when in the hot weather we use to play games. Those long summer vacation when we use to run in the fields in the hot weather.

God: One more place is there after that we will return. Lets go to a village where there is no electricity. Look at that farmer working over there in the fields. If he sat in his home because of the weather then how will he have his living? In these mud houses they find their own ways of keeping the place cool.

Me: Looking at these people I feel I am in a much better place. Atleast I have a shelter and my place is cooler than the place I have seen just now. But isn’t it too early for the hot summer season to start? When I was a kid the weather was pleasant atleast till holi. Also if the temperature right now is 40 degrees then what will happen in the month of May when actually summer season is at its peak.

God: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. You people are getting back the reward for playing with nature.

Me: Reward in the kind of hot weather???

God: Earlier population was less. People could stay in caves. But after many years staying in caves became tough. Humans came with an idea of making houses to stay. They started building houses made of wood. After sometime the houses improved and humans made mud houses. Then the humans learnt to make concrete houses. Eventually the population started increasing and deforestation started. Now a days you will find concrete jungles at most places.

Me: I know technology has brought a lot of changes, I can understand what you are trying to say.

God: Technical development brought in pollution and along with it came global warming. Because of the global warming the rate at which the ice caps are melting has increased drastically. But you people have come up with idea of making artificial ice.

Me: Now you have made me wonder whether by the time my kids will grow up natural ice will be there or not.

God: I cant tell you about the future. But I can give an advice for the present. Even if humans would not have played with nature; the ice caps would have melted and earth would have kept getting hotter. As for global warming there is a tradeoff between development and global warming. One thing which is not in my hand is population growth and with population growth you cant avoid deforestation, building of houses; road construction and other technical development. Just forget everything and enjoy everyday; beat the heat.

Me: Thanks God for taking me to various places where people are living in a more bad condition than me. I will take your advice and try to beat the heat.