Saturday, December 20, 2008

we have moved...

For all official and unofficial puposes, the blogger has moved to

www.rohitkaul.wordpress.com

happy reading :)

rohit

Friday, December 29, 2006

Lets run....

Do you feel like going on a little jog?
or do you feel like going on a little run?
If you feel so , let me know coz I am running , from now on, everyday, every night, every moment of my remaining existence, I am gonna run. It is going to be tiring to say the least but considering the tremendous benefits a run offers, I gues it'll be worth it.
We'll not be running from life or for life for that matter. We'll be running amidst life, with all those beuatiful spectacles of life spread around us, with a stream of all the laughs and tears of yester years, with all the picture frames hanging loosley on the sidewalk, watching us in our lonely pursuit.
We'll not be running for any reason but then we'll not be running without a reason also. The run... the sweat..the pain will be reasons in themselves. Each drop of sweat becoming the reason for the next drop of sweat to flow, each tired step becoming reason for the next step and each painful thought becoming a reason for the next laugh.
We'll run hard, we'll stretch ourselves to the limits.... yes there will be times when we'll feel tired, when we'll feel like going back to where it did not start or ending it there and then. But we shall not give up for this run is not a part of life, its the life itself. And stopping midway means ending the life which you and I may not entirely want to do...atleast at this point of time.
But yes, there'll be times when we'll have that strange feeling... when we'll feel like .... like I do not know like what. But I am sure we'll able to make out when are we feeling like "that" coz the pain on the face will testify for itself. That will be the time when we'll take a break, when we'll shut ourselves in a room, throw off the running shoes, hold a candle close to eyes and look for that single moment of truth to break the silence of darkness.
and then we'll get up and we'll run again, for this run, as I said earlier, is not a part of life...its life itself.
I know no one is ever going to read whatever I have written here. And actually this is doubly sad as it is my last post ever on a blog. It feels as if after 20 years of test cricket you are retiring among empty stands a sullen silence.
but never mind, things go wrong and then they go wrong again and they keep going wrong till they cant go wrong one more time.... and then..... and then they go wrong again.
But we shall not worry about it... coz we've a long run to worry about... a long and lonely run where in words of a good friend " better things wait for us... things we were born to do". I just wish this run wasnt so lonely but I guess this is what I have to offer. take it or leave it. your call.
to : rohit
from: your shadow

Sunday, October 08, 2006

yeh kaisa shahar hai

Long after having decided that s/w jobs is for lower mortals and I deserve something "better", these days I truly feel like questioning my decision. After spending 1.5 years at this place, suddenly the urge to get out is getting over me, time and again these days. Somehow when I raise my head from the obnoxious food in the mess, I see an array of faces, blurred by my unwillingness to recognise them. In the insti party we all jump and dance and drink apparently to enjoy life but its merely a way to run from our fears, our sorrows in life and shake away the ghosts of past from our brains.

This place has taken away a lot from me, as a person. It has been a transformation of sorts. It has given me things too but it has sucked up things which were far more preciouos to me. It has told me how to procrastinate things, how to manipulate ppl, how to free ride, how to cut ppl to size and other "managerial" qualitites. I guess life in engg days was much better with ppl around who understood you, cared for you and willing to go to any distance for friends. The camaraderie of engg days is simply missing in this life. Ppl are just to engaged in their own lives to bother about anyone else. Me, I and myself..anyone ?

I guess I am slowly becoming a type II error in the system, a bug who cant be removed and who refuses to lay quiet. At times it feels like the matrix, we all are doing things we really do not know why we are doing, as if being guided by an invisible leash. There are some 40 odd ppl on y Gtalk and there are times when I desperately want to talk to ppl, to buzz them and say hi ... but on those occasions more often than not I really do not find anyone to talk to... I guess we all have become too busy with our lives.. OUR lives and we really do not care that there is a person who might want to talk to me to kill time. I have seen next door neighbours unlocking their rooms at the same time without saying a word to eachother. ppl like SA, one of the most modest and hard working fellas I have met in this life , find themselves unwanted and out of place here. The place is just to professional it seems.

I guess fault is mine, I am trying to look for friends in a "Professional" college where everyone is looking just for a professional relationship. MT is right, "this place doesnt deserve your emotions, save them for your funeral".

I always wanted to change accordingly but sadly I couldnt which brings even more pain to me. At times I feel like running away from this place but alas thats not possible. So i'll have to wait till march when I walk out of this place finally, for good.

Seene mein jalan aankhon mein toofan sa kyun hai
Is shahar mein har shakas pareshaan sa kyun hai

rohit

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

H.E.R.O.

Some people assume greatenss and greatness is thurst upon sime people while they are in bathroom - Wonder years

Across all geograhpies, across all races, all nationalities there are few traits which run like a thread holding the pearls. one of them is the human desire to look for heroes. We find ppl whom we can look upto, for gudiance, for courage, for inspiration and also for anecdotes to read before bedtime. We all love to have our heroes.
And then some ppl become heroes because of their own actions. and some ppl become heroes because of other ppl's acts. and still other ppl become heroes because of our acts. When I feel Mahatma Gandhi is losing out appeal as a hero I move over to Sachin Tendulkar. Earlier I liked Bhagat Singh, today I like manjunaath. Times change, circumstances change, ideals which drive the world chane and so do ppl's preferences for heroes also change. But looking back , all of those ppl whom we look for inspiration when lying flat on the bed, watching the fan dissolve air currents into the gloomy room, they all remain deeply etched in our memories. they make us believe that something is still correct with this world, something is still there which can hold the world together, something... something which is stronger than all the hatred in the air.
But you need not do something extraordinary to be a hero. Commom men, doing their daily chores, truthfully and honestly can all someday be classified as heroes. Of course they wont get their names splashed across TOI or Aaj taks. But then as a hero you dont really need that. No amount of external gratification can drive a person, it just comes from within.
Ppl spend entire lifetimes after causes which appear lost, which appear impossible, beyond the reach of mere mortals. Still those mere mortals rise up, beyond their own selfish motives, beyond their own immediate needs, beyond their own riches just to see a smile on the face of person standing in front of them.
I wish I too had done something good in life, something extra, gone that extra mile, maybe just to help a friend only. But sadly it seems Heroism and me myslef remain to distant ends of a colourful rainbow. But I am sure, before I die (assuming I dont die atleast till 35 years old), Ill do that extra bit to give something back to those ppl who actually have nothing. or atleast do that extra bit to wipe off a tear from a friend's face... that wont be a bad thing for a hero to do, is it?

BTW just for the record, 2 of my very good friends N and D have got a wonderful opportunity to work on a rural education programme sposnored by a aVC. My heartiest congrats to both of them, especially N, someone who it seems is set to prove what others dont belive in. I constantly keep pulling his leg for working for the poor, "tu garibi nahin garib hatayega be", "humlog kal se garibon ki tarah neeche baithhenge" and what not. Ppl think I am a bit insensitive to this sensitivie issue. But the best part is as always I dont think I need to be talk in a serious gloomy tone about some issue just because it is perceived to be a serious one. And coming from where I have, I can always relate to what this guy is doing, relate better than many of ppl on campus. just that I feel that "har baar kuchh bolne ke liye kuchh bolna zaroori nahin hota".

I wish both N and D ATB for their quest. Maybe someday we'll indeed see a guy from R3 or R4 rising up to become a HERO. Till then we all can just wait and wish for it to happen.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

the Cinderella man

yesterday I saw a brilliant movie, The cinderella man. Russel crowe as an old worn out boxer who makes one of most remarkable come backs in the history of modern boxing. the movie was moving to say the least. Seeing the once great boxer surviving the great depression looking for work in docks was shaking in itself.

But I could relate to the movie at an altogether different level, at an emotional level.As I was just chatting with S about life and how most of the time (that is a subtle way of saying all of the time) I havent got what I have wished for, badly ! be it IIT D or IIM C or the gal I like(d) or HLL or for that matter anything else, I usually have to settle for 2nd or 3rd best. No cribbing about that as there are ppl who fare even worse than I do.

But these things have had a very different bearing on me as a person, something I can relate to the movie, one-on-one. I am no longer willing to accept failures. I hate them I detest them so strongly that I'll go to the last goddamn corner of earth to make sure I do not fail. The best shot in the movie was one when a boxer lands a super thud on crowe's face and his jaw cover flys out of his mouth. He is about to fall and then the snaps of his penurious existence (which'll contiune if he loses) flashes before his eyes. the shanty, the hungry kids, a tense wife, empty milk bottles, pile of non pain bills, long labour queues...everything which he hated. that pure hatred made him stand again and fight.

Something similar happens within me. ppl tell me I work hard on projects.... previous failures make me do that. I make up for lack of intellectual prowess by simply putting in more effort. Failures drive me hard. I hated myself to the bone when I came 10/10 in INDEX... I just couldn't lose it. ppl can vouch for the amount of effort I put in next proposal.

I guess it did not really began so late in my life...with failulres in IIT , or elsewhere. Not getting what you love is different. I think it began much earlier. Formative years you can say. Living in one room rented houses...seeing mom stretch hard to make the monthly budget stand.... watching dad do overtime to get to where he is today.... I think it began right then.... an effort to come out of that strata and move up ...way up in life.Something which drove crowe in the movie... a hatred to where he belonged. Somehow having seen poverty from very close quarters has changed somethign within me...Somehow sleeping in a one room rented house on the floor with just one fan in the month of June in Delhi doesnt sound much appealing does it.

On one hand I think it is good. I have learned how to fight for things in life... atleast on professional front if not on personal front...personal front still the same old story of losses is continuing... rather it never ended. I am still where I started from.

At times I feel I need to be at peace with myself. S says I just get too much worked up about things. I feel he is correct. Having lost most battles in life or shall I say some of the most important battles in your life does makes me different from some of the other guys who have done better in life so far. I still remeber mock Cats... getting 99 %ile was not enough... I needed to be there... right there with the toppers. and I did that..just that... cant fail in CAT after failing JEE.

I do not think even the ppl closest to me understand this... maybe they'll have to live my life and I'll have to live their's if I have to understand their perspective and they have to understand mine.But I guess that is difficult to happen, so maybe till that happens my blog will continue to be a bit eccentric.


rohit

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

rebuilding character....brick by brick

Today was the day of ressurection. However minute it might seem to some, it meant something , to me, to my friends and to the team. Finally( although this was only the 3rd project, it seems as if we;ve been working on it since ages) our team got thru the proposal stage of INDEX, the market research fair of IIM L where we work on live projects. OK INDEX doesnt pay me for any publicity but still ;).
After some setbacks off late, this comes a wonderful refresher. And although I really dont want to end up sounding like an egotistic braggart, for once I'll say that like all the other proposals this one too had significant contributions on my part in form of night outs. And I know how bad it hurts when you are putting so much of effort behind something and you end up 10/10 that means 10th out of 10 teams. It hurt, it shook from within, may be like some other team members I wasnt very vocal about it but it pinched me whenever I turned on my side everynight while sleeping. But it seems for once things are in perspective and as Joel Backman proclaimed in The Broker (John grisham for the uninitiated) "go print it in bold in headlines, the broker is back in the city".

Working in a team has its own learnings. No I will not get into those handling HR issues, inter-personal skills and blah blah. You get to know the unsung heroes, the ppl who remain miserbaly quiet but are actually the smartest of the lot. You learn to work with ppl whom you absolutely detest, do not want to talk to and wish that he wasnt there then. You realise that the biggest roadblock for an IIM giy to be a part of teamis Ego and the greatest aid is patience. And of course inthe end you also realise how to behave "professionally" keeping work and perosnal, ethical, moral, social, economical and all those 'al' issues apart.

learning is a never ending process, more so at a place like Hell, where your next door neighbours are devils :). Some things , inspired loosely by the sun screen and with due credits, live and exclusive from hell:-

There'll be days when you'll be 1/10 and there will be days when you are 10/10. it is on those 1/10 days that you should not forget that not so long ago you were 10/10, helps a lot in keeping the egos at bay and feet on firmly on ground.
There'll be occassions when your friends will piss you off. Instead of cursing them think of all those occassions when you pissed them off.
Hold on to your friends. You'll realise their importance when you'll be alone on a beach on new year's brief.
(my favourite and from sunscreen) Dont be reckless with other people's hearts... dont out with those who are reckless with yours.
Do not , I repeat, do not allow people to take you for granted.
Do not thik to much about life or love or work or anything else. Things ususally fall into place and even if they do not , well thinking about them day and night will only contribute in form of added grey hair.
Be quick in saying sorry to your friends. But before that make sure you know who your friends are.
Carry some grudges. Do not allow them to fill you with feeling of revenge but do carry them.
Congratulate yourself when you win. Curse yourself when you lose. But do not over do either one of them, life is just so short for spending on these petty issues.
Remember one time when you were down and out, shaken by life. Remember one person who cared to ask how you are feeling. That person is your true friend. hold onto him. He'll be there .....always.
Remember last time when you shouted on a freind and the next morning he came to greet you with a wide smiled good morning. he is another one of those rare species of true friends.
If you live life on this paradigm "kisi ko kabhi itni importance na do , itna trust n karo, itna depend na ho jao ki uske kuch galat karne se tumhaara mood off ho sake", then well I am sorry, you are missing on a good part of life.
Eventually, quote from Z "we all are friends but before that we all are human beings and like all human beings we are supposed to make mistakes and like all friends we are supposed to forget and forgive them"
And last but not the least, do not listen to an insipid, inanae, deeply emotional blogger when he is doling out advices.

rohit

Monday, September 25, 2006

Telegram to self

Feel like running away Stop tired of everything stop everything stop need to stop worrying stop health not good stop lost faith in ppl stop lost control on temper stop T is right stop From today live for self Stop

In the background ozzy keeps singing....

Yesterday has been and gone
Tommorow will I find the sun
Or will it rain
Everybody's having fun
Except me, I'm the lonely one
I live in shame

I say goodbye to romance, yeah
Goodbye to friends, I tell you
Goodbye to all the past
I guess that we'll meet
We'll meet in the end


I've been the king, I've been the clown
Now broken wings can't hold me down
I'm free again
The jester with the broken crown
It won't be me this time around
To love in vain


I say goodbye to romance, yeah
Goodbye to friends, I tell you
Goodbye to all the past
I guess that we'll meet
We'll meet in the end

And I feel the time is right
Although I know that you just might say to me
What'cha gonna do
What'cha gonna do
But I have to take this chance goodbye
To friends and to romance
And to all of you
And to all of you
Come on now

I say goodbye to romance, yeah
Goodbye to friends, I tell you
Goodbye to all the past
I guess that we'll meet
We'll meet in the end

And the weather's looking fine
And I think the sun will shine again
And I feel I've cleared my mind
All the past is left behind again

I say goodbye to romance, yeah
Goodbye to friends, I tell you
Goodbye to all the past
I guess that we'll meet
We'll meet in the end