Rattoz Block

2006-12-25T20:38:00.000-08:00

Me at har ki paudi. It is a ghat on Ganga in Haridwar, Uttaranchal.
Har ki Paudi means Steps (Paudi) of Shiva (Har). It is believed that
Shiva and Vishnu have visited the ghat in the vedic era.

The sacred ghat was constructed by King Vikramaditya in the memory
of his brother Bhartrihari.

2006-12-22T21:48:00.000-08:00

My last day at Sapient. I got Santa Claus caps for team mates and
we had a great morning team meeting with everyone donning the caps.

Hegemony | IHC

2006-12-20T20:43:00.000-08:00

Sapient's year end party - MOSAIC

2006-12-15T21:30:00.000-08:00

MOSAIC 2006 @ Mittal Gardens

From Left: Manish,Rahul,Priyanka,Me

I want to break free..

2006-12-13T11:10:00.000-08:00

I-Pod Nano - Farewell Gift by office mates.

There could not have been a better gift :)

2006-11-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

Paid a visit to the dentist today. The visit could have been avoided had I given some more thought to the above AD than just appreciating the creativity. No it doesn't say it - but brush twice a day guys ;)

The AD is a work of Rediffusion DY & R.

2006-11-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

"Rockstars of the fortnight"

A cuddly soft toy as the prize!!!! The expectation, it seems, was that girls would bag the honour ;).

2006-11-05T08:02:00.000-08:00

We were extremely deligted when we got to know the elder kids at the Mobile Creche had joined the govt. school. Since they were at school, we spent some quality time with the younger ones.

what do u wish to become?

2006-10-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

Poster on the mobile creche door. Click on the image for an enlarged view.

Smritiyon ka Indradhanush

2006-10-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

Bharat Bhansali had so very well woven our college life in this poem (Click on the image to get a bigger view). I feel nostalgic every time I read it.

2006-10-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

cousin bro and me ..chacha hum chacha ban gaye ;)

Fun Session conquered!

2006-09-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

Yippie.. our team won the fun session (Team Area Decoration).

The funda given for the collage: the small red bits of paper represent
the numerous postmen and postwomen who work hard at royalmail,
as a unit, to acheive great things.

he maaeri..

2006-09-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

No where were we able to find the leads for the wonderful song maeri. However when we looked at the maeri video, Manish thought we might just be able to figure it out ourselves. And there he went - he came up with the tabs looking at this very picture (from the maaeri video). Apparently it's a 12-string on which it is played. Here's what we managed on our six-string:

E----------0----0--------0----0--|
B-------7----7---------7----7----|
G----9--------------9------------|

This plays throughtout the song!

Although the tabs may not be perfect but we got extemely excited at getting this close to playing the leads. :D

My office comp

2006-09-23T03:57:00.000-07:00

Some projects just take a lil longer

2006-09-21T23:22:00.000-07:00

PO Lottery live, finally!!
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/lottery?catId=19400182mediaId=19900205 Cheers to all who were involed in the project.

Bhaiyya aa gaye :)

2006-09-09T00:15:00.000-07:00

A wave of enthusiasm ran through the kids as we reached the Mobile creche - our lethargic bodies too got charged the moment a loud "bhaiyaa aa gaye" fell on our ears. This seems to have become a routine now (no wonder we are excited to meet our little friends every saturday).

This time Shashank got a jigsaw puzzle (animal pictures in every jigsaw) with him that attracted a lot of kids [chorus: bhaiyya main bhi khelunga]. We thought of fostering team work in the kids and divided the ones that were interested into three teams. Each team was given a separate jigsaw puzzle to solve. The desire of being the first one to solve was so strong that they focussed on our lip movement and waited for the "Start" signal. Some of them of-course did not wait :D.

Initially we thought that this exercise would be difficult for the kids. However they proved us wrong. One of the team was extremely quick at knitting the pieces together. I could see the glitter in their eyes everytime they were able to piece an animal together. They quickly finished their jigsaw and I began telling them the animal names. There was haathi, saanp, cheetah, sher and another one whose name I was unable to recall. Without much hope I asked if any one of them knew it's name. No one replied. I let it go by.

While some of the kids were busy with the jigsaw I looked around to see what others were up to. One of the groups that was being taught by Priyanka was making a lot of noise. I went closer to see that Priyanka had drawn a human figure (it looked more like a ghost..he he- don't tell Priyanka ;)) and marked the various body parts. She was explaining where nose, hair, teeth etc. fit in. She asked me if I could take a quiz since she had finished teaching. I agreed and quizzed the kids by placing my finger on the body parts. They answered quickly confirming once again that they are quick learners. Priyanka had already taught the kids Twinkle twinkle little star (with actions) so I tried my luck with teaching "Johnny Johhnny Yes Papa". Frankly I had forgotten the verse when Priyanka remined me the lyrics. My actions combined with my verse's hindi translation ("jonny beta tumhe cheeni khaee hai- nahi papa" ;) ) made the kids laugh and gag. I am hoping that they would remember the song (and the hilarious actions :D) the next time I pay them a visit.

Priyanka then taught the kids how to write their names in English, which they picked up quickly.

Meanwhile it was Munish's turn to teach the younger kids and face the heat :D. It really is not easy teaching kids alphabets however he did a good job.

Ashwini (aka Dhoni - as suggested by the Mobile Creche teachers :D) taught another group extremely deligently.

Rajesh too taught kids in his very unique and energetic "samajh aa raha hai na bhaisahab" andaaz.

As we were about to leave , one of the kids came to me and said "Bhaiyya wo nevla tha". Quickly the animal whose name I had forgotten flashed before my eyes. I cursed myself for not being able to relate the figure to the word. I looked at the kid and mumured "Hats off buddy - way to go!".

2006-09-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Third visit as an AID volunteer to the mobile-creche. This time around we took
stationary [notebooks, pencils, charts etc.] for the children. The stationary brought
in a new enthusiasm to study in the kids. They were all eager to write something
in the new notebooks using the new pencils. We asked them all to write their
names to begin with. A lot of them knew that - for those who did not we helped
out. They then learnt the english alphabets and vegetable names using the charts.

2006-08-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

Thoda cake kha bhi lo

2006-08-27T23:00:00.000-07:00

Yiipppppppiieeee..

My Bday gifts (in the order of [procurement]):

Two Shirts sponsored by my Mom
The Girlie card and Nike bag sponsored by my Office team
Flowers and Ayn Rand's Fountain Head sponsored by Manish
The Mickey card and Godfather sponsored by Bhojraj, Vaibhav and Kalpana

My BDay | Trip to Jaipur & Chauki Dhaani

2006-08-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

"Chadhti Jawani" by Band of Brothers.

There are few things in life that can match the fun of singing songs.

Deewan-e-khaas.

Janana Baag. Maan Singh's 12 queens used to evening walk here. Just Imagine!

The lovely hawa mahal

Puppet show was extremely rejuvenating.

2006-08-23T23:38:00.000-07:00

Nice Thoughts from the book "The Rule of Four"

"To count a hundred million stars at the rate of one per second sounds like a job that no one could possibly complete in a lifetime. In reality, it would only take three years."

"..Finally it was my friends who changed-or, I guess, finally I was the one who changed them. I'm not sure if I wanted friends who understood me better, or saw me differently, or what exactly, but the old ones , like my old clothes, just didn't fit anymore.

The thing that people like to say to victims is that time is a great healer.The great healer is what they say, as if time were a doctor. But after six years of thinking on the subject i have a different impression. Time is the guy at the amusement park who paints shirts with an airbrush. He sprays out the color in a fine mist until it's just lonely particles floating in the air, waiting to be plastered in place. And what comes of it all, the design on the shirt at the end of the day, ususally isn't much to see. I suspect that whosoever buys that shirt, the one great patron of everlasting theme park, whoever he is, wakes up in the morning and wonders what he ever saw in it. We're the paint in the analogy. Time is what disperses us."

"..a good friend stands in harm's way for you the second you ask-but a great friend does it without being asked at all."

"The strong take from the weak, but the smart take from the strong"

"It is the greatest houses and the tallest trees that the gods bring low with bolts and thunder. For the gods love to thwart whatever is greater than the rest. They do not suffer pride in anyone but themselves."

"Like all things in this universe, we are destined from birth to diverge. Time is simply the yardstick of our separation. If we are particles in a sea of distance, exploded from an original whole, then there is a science to our solitude. We are lonely in proportion to our years."

"..I've always wondered why Carrachi put two women in that engraving, when he only needed one. Somewhere in that is the moral I took from the story:in the geometry of love, everything is triangular. For every Tom and Jenny, there is Julius; for every Katie and Tom there is Francesco Colonna; and the tongue of desire is forked, kissing two but loving one."

"The two hardest things to contemplate in life are failure and age; and those are one and the same. Perfection is the natural consequence of eternity: wait long enough, and anything will realize its potential. Coals becomes diamonds, sands become pearls, apes become men. It's simply not given to us, in one lifetime, to see those consummations, and so every failure becomes a reminder of death.

But love lost is a special kind of failure, I think. It's a reminder that some consummations, no matter how devoutly wished for, never come; that some apes will never be men, not in all the world's ages. What's a monkey to think, who with a typewriter and eternity still can't eke out Shakespeare?"

2006-08-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

A 'hearty' departure for Nikhil to london!

I got my first real six string!!

2006-08-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Thx to Manish for the guitar & tuning :D

Visit to the mobile creche on Sohna Road

2006-08-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

This was my first time as an AID (Association for India's Development) volunteer,
so was pretty excited. Generally Saturdays were reserved for sleeping but I thought of
making them more productive this time around. Getting up early
and reaching the evalueserve office [the assembly point], I was delighted to
see 6-8 other volunteers who were visting the creche today. A couple among them
had been regular visitors. On our way to the creche I tried understanding
the concept of mobile creches and AID in general from a fellow volunteer.

On reaching the creche we were welcomed by a group of teachers who
took us over for a round of the creche. We then moved to the study room
where children sat in groups around wooden boards and fiddled with paper, pen,
etc. As soon as we entered, the children started shouting 'Namaste Bhaiyaa',
'Namaste Didi' and looked extremely excited. Each group was joined by a volunteer
and the study time began. I , not having the experience of teaching school children,
joined the group that looked much younger and held abacus in their hands. What I did not realise at that time was that this was going to be more difficult ;). It was extremely challenging to make children understand ek, do, teen and I felt handicapped due to my inability to seep in the concepts. With my eyes closed, I thanked my Nursery school teachers for getting the job done :D.

Some more children joined my group and I was delighted to know that they knew counting.
I started concentrating on them and taught them jama (addition), ghata (subtration) fundas. They picked up well and i took small tests to which they responded well.

After an hour or so of teaching, the wooden boards were taken away and the children were
assembled in a circle. The children were then asked to sing songs and recite poetry. Lots of them came forward and showcased their skills. The songs had a lot of meaning-most of them revolving around the desh prem theme. Every performer ended by saying 'Jai Hind' and saluting. It was a mesmerizing experience.

Click here to download one of the songs. The song talks about the inequalities faced by the girl child. You would need a Real player to play the clip [File Size:1.39 MB].

We perfomed as well - sung songs & recited poems. The children were entertained and clapped a lot. They were then asked to remember our names which they learnt pretty fast. Candies were distributed to all on our departure. We were wished 'Good-bye' and 'Thank you' from the children and it really made our day.

2006-07-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

Back to Skool
~Orientation Program at SP Jain, Mumbai.

exciting journey by train (after a long time), a taste of the sexy mumbai
weather & fun with new friends...all in thebackdrop of study

2006-07-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

Someonez showing off new specks! :D

2006-07-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

..and you were worrying about your hair?

Me and my bro - before and after the mundan

2006-07-15T22:58:00.000-07:00

Nothingz more ice-ier than a 5 Rupee orange bar

2006-07-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

Gurgaon from sixth floor - Cyber Greens

2006-07-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

Kalpanaz Bday-Cake-apa mach gaya!!

2006-06-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

Got thru SP Jain!!!

2006-06-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

DP's India visit

2006-06-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Beating the heat at gurgaon isn't all that easy

2006-05-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Onset of nostalgic monsoon at pune

2006-05-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

Midway - BBay to Pune

2006-05-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

I can see light at the end of the tunnel

2006-05-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Pratap Mohan Das's BDay Gift :D

2006-05-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

Schumacher & Alonso @ 32nd Milestone,Gurgaon

2006-05-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

SPT and the bowling arena

2006-04-30T22:56:00.000-07:00

Ek kunwara phir gaya maara!

`luka;talma;champak;deepali bhabhi;model sir;kalra;goti;nada

2006-04-30T21:43:00.000-07:00

Cracker marking the arrival of baarat at the girls' place.

2006-04-30T20:42:00.000-07:00

Nachanage saareee raat soniyo we

2006-04-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

2006-04-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

Ya to dosti gehri hai ya picture 3D hai

2006-04-14T06:21:00.000-07:00

RM Shop project live!!! Visit http://www.royalmail.com/shop

2006-04-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

As we grow up, we learn that even the one

person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down

probably will. You will have your heart broken probably

more than once and it's harder every time. You'll

break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours

was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll

blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry

because time is passing too fast, and you'll

eventually lose someone you love. So take too many

pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt

because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a

minute of happiness you'll never get back.

2006-04-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

Circle of Trust

2006-04-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Simply Awesome

2006-04-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

~The Morning Raaga

2006-04-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

Crazy doodes!

2006-04-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

Spirits were high even after the tiring rafting trip.

2006-04-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

Cliff Jumping. Yes, I DID IT!!

2006-04-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Mud Maila

2006-04-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Relax Guyz.. save your energy.

2006-04-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

Forward Guyz... Fsss. Fsss

2006-04-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Asthami. My bro with a kanjak. Did you notice the purse??

2006-03-30T23:49:00.000-08:00

Pathetic chuski could not spoil tandonz delhi visit

Personalities (L to R):
First row- Luca,Nada,Jaat,Champak
Second row- Kaili Prabhu

2006-03-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

One hour musical fountain show at Leisure Valley, Gurgaon - music
for the first 5 minutes and fountains for the rest

2006-03-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

Holi ke din dil mil jaate hain

2006-03-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

No one gets spared on the holi day at the Veer Sarvakar Block.

2006-03-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

Ou UK BU team created this masterpiece in the 'Color Khichdi' contest ~ not sure why we did not win the contest

2006-03-14T16:04:00.000-08:00

Minutes before i had my entire face painted.

2006-03-14T03:50:00.000-08:00

Paichaan Kaun

2006-03-11T16:37:00.000-08:00

Scindapsus aureus or money plant is an immensely popular houseplant in India.

2006-03-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

My bad luck that i don't like dahi :(

2006-03-11T00:22:00.000-08:00

My Bhabhiz a bangle freak

2006-03-11T00:04:00.000-08:00

My bhaiyya-bhabhi gave us a warm rosy welcome at their Noida house.

2006-03-06T01:35:00.000-08:00

An artist's impression of our WEBbed lives

2006-02-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

Anshu's BDay gift - Ms Chicken Little. Aren't they cute?

2006-01-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

It really feels that you are on the top of the world.

2006-01-21T14:25:00.000-08:00

Shivesh me and Nikhil. Someone press the defrost button please.

2006-01-21T14:08:00.000-08:00

A colleague of ours could not join us on the Narkanda trip. We created a snowman in his memory.

2006-01-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

Skeeing at Narkanda was a pleasant experience. It did take a lot of energy but was fun.

2006-01-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

In the Dumb Charades contest, on our way to Narkanda, one of my colleagues tried depicting a lizard by showing how frightening it is. I try to replay her actions in this pic.

2006-01-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to get myself photographed with this car that i ran the moment our shuttle stopped~I fell off in front of the car.

2005-12-31T23:10:00.000-08:00

New year ki treat (at Golden Dragon) badi ho gayi. But with Ishita and Gagan there, we had no worries. Digested??

2005-12-31T22:01:00.000-08:00

Ashish and me - Jam-Stuck on MG road!

2005-12-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

Who said placating Gagan would be easy~ it took us a flower, a plum cake and abhishek's sexxy 'come to me' video to calm her.

I got a taste of my own medicine when both of them started telling the RV college stories. (it was fun ;))

2005-12-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas celebration at gurgaon doesn't get better.

2005-12-25T11:30:00.000-08:00

After taking this pic, we got lost in dwarka. Sector-9 was the manager's goal.