Happy Birthday Netaji !!!

It is a very sad sight that a hero, a great freedom fighter and a great leader - Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose went unnoticed today in one of the leading newspapers - The Times of India. Every year on 23rd January, we celebrate Netaji's birthday and in this nation of the Hrithik Roshans and the Shahrukh Khans, we manage to remember the real heroes at least on their birthdays and sometimes even on our independence day. But today as I ran through the main page of The Times of India, i did not find even a line worth mention about Netaji. Have the "times" of "India" become so awry that a leading bulletin could forget a great freedom fighter. I did not even care to look into the following pages since Netaji definitely deserves a place on the main page. What was more saddening were the kind of stories that did find a place on the first page. Bruni, French president Nicolas Sarkozy's girlfriend, has opted not to accompany him on his India tour. And for a detailed story, turn to page "xyz". What crap !!

The media has a great role in shaping the mindset of the citizens of a nation. What people wake up reading in the morning, see in the news while eating is what they think and discuss and make an opinion about. It is high time our media went through a transformation. I would be glad to read the achievements of our people than read a detailed pictorial coverage of molestation of some NRI girls by a mob. And I definitely feel that by covering such a news in so much details, the molestation of those girls has continued. Only this time, its the responsible media molesting them than some drunk men.

Wishing Netaji a very happy birthday once again. May his soul find peace.

~Piyush.

A day to remember

Ever heard anyone saying, "I was so happy that I could't sleep" ?. Haha, that holds true for me right now. Yesterday was my birthday and least had I expected what a memorable day it would turn out to be. So much that finally when I retired to bed at 12am, I just started recalling how the day had progressed, who all called, what all happened and I just kept smiling to myself thinking about all the incidents.

12th night i suddenly fell ill and by 13th morning I was in such a bad state that I could hardly get up from my bed. Severe cold, nothing else. I was almost sure that I am gonna spend my birthday this year resting. But the medicines that I took in the afternoon on 13th did wonders and I was up on my feet by next morning.

I don't know about others, but there is a very special feeling in the air on birthdays for me :) Three calls at the strike of 12am. From a very close friend, an office friend and a school friend. And many more wishes as the day progressed. But I had no idea what surprise was waiting for me. Gaurav (GP) and Nehul had come over to KSS during lunch time from KSPL and I was just glad to see them there. They wished me and both asked me to be in KSPL for the cake cutting ceremony by 5pm without fail. I was in a meeting at 5 and as soon as I got over with the meeting I rushed out of KSS to find Nehul and GP parking their bikes outside KSS. They had come to pick Saurabh and me. While GP had gone inside to call Saurabh, I just told Nehul what a wonderful day it has been and that I am so glad. And Nehul said, "Its just going to be better". That sentence was enough to make me curious what's it gonna be at KSPL. I even asked that is there something that you people have done there and his reply was a simple "no". Anyway, Saurabh had some urgent work so we 3 left for KSPL.

I have been a frequent hopper between KSS and KSPL which has given me a chance to interact with people from both places. That way I feel very fortunate to be friends with people from both our offices. I got an equally warm response at KSPL as I had got from KSS that morning.

We all assembled at the conference room and I saw Nehul sitting with his laptop connected to the projector ready with "something" :) I had yet no clue. GP joined Nehul and all the lights were switched off. They started a slide show, "Happy birthday to PB". And boy !!! what i saw for the next 5 minutes was something beyond my expectations, something I liked so much that I had tears in my eyes. They had made a very cute, nice, naughty, and above all, a touchy movie clip on me to wish me Happy Birthday in a different way. And let me accept, it coudn't have been better :)

The joy one gets from the realization that you are special in your own way, that you are loved by your people and that your people could actually think of giving you such a wonderful gift on your birthday was something I had not experienced in years. Specially since the time I left college. I was simply speachless. Anything I could say seemed too little to express what I was feeling that time.

Thanx GP, Nehul and everyone at KritiKal (KSPL and KSS) who made my birthday a day I would remember for a long long time. And that video, well its gonna be something I would cherish for a lifetime.

We had a cake cutting/rubbing (courtesy Chachaji :P) ceremony, followed by bumps where I almost got stripped of my cargos ;) No ones fault actually, I am so heavy that though people start holding me by my legs but within seconds the hold slips from my legs and the grip clings on to my clothes that I am wearing :D

Phew !! The hangover will take sometime to drain off. But I am loving every bit of it :) And the song that played in the background of that slideshow has never got out of my head since then :)

• Pictures (Thanks to Saurabh and Deepak)
• The Wonderful Gift (click to see the video)
  

Earthquake tremors ...

Dunno why but suddenly I was wide awake at 3:30 am today for no reason at all. I did not have any bad dream nor were the mosquitoes not letting me sleep and neither did I have to attend to "nature's call" ;) Still I kept lying on my bed and tried sleeping again but failed miserably in that attempt. Thought of surfing the net and sat on my bed with the laptop when suddenly my bed started shaking vigorously. I could hear a very haunting rumbling sound like a very heavy huge drum was being rolled on the ground. It wasn't late for me to realize that it was earthquake tremors. I jumped out of my bed and ran out to my balcony. The lane was deserted though the dogs were barking very loudly. But then slowly everyone started coming out of their homes and I was sure that I wasn't the only one who felt the tremors.

It was scary. Those 4-5 seconds I remembered everyone who is close to me. For some strange reason, I always felt I would be strong in such situations but today I was helpless for that moment. I felt very weak. It sounds funny now but that moment was scary then :)

Gimp power ....

Made this poster yesterday - entirely in GIMP and I am already loving the final thing. GIMP somehow never fails to amaze me with all the features it has got, so much that till date I haven't felt like using any other image editing program except for Picasa.

Well, something about the event too :) Life has been very hectic since past 2-3 weeks and in this festive season many of us at the office thought of having some fun. So we, the KalaKriti team came up with this decoration competition - Alankaran at KritiKal which is being organized collectively by the HR and KalaKriti team. There are 4 teams and the entire office has been divided into nearly 4 parts. Each part has to be decorated by one team and the best decoration will win a huge prize.

I really wish that everyone at KritiKal participates in this event with full enthusiasm. Can't wait to see the entire office dazzling with lights, candles and diyas :D

Senior Design Engineer now ..

Got the letter about my promotion just today so now I am officially a Senior Design Engineer at KritiKal Solutions Pvt. Ltd. :)

In Case of Emergency (ICE)

We all carry our mobile phones with hundreds of names/numbers stored in its memory but yet nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our near and dear ones?

GOD forbid but there could be a case where we are involved in an accident or had a heart attack and the people attending us get hold of our mobile phones but don't know which number to call to inform our family members. There are many numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency?

For this reason, we must have one or more telephone numbers stored under the name ICE (In case of Emergency) in our mobile phones.
Recently, the concept of "ICE" is catching up quickly. It is a simple and important method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by majority of the population, just store the number of the person who should be contacted during emergency as "ICE" (meaning In Case of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when they went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose.

Please forward this to as many as you can. It won't take too many "forwards" before every body will know about this. For more than one contact, simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. A great idea that will make a difference!

Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our mobile phones today. Please spread the word !!