You know.......

You have reached your 30's when....
1. You feel all sport stars and music artists are talented "kids"
2. You feel the need to have a say in any group activity
3. The presnt music genres appear alien to you, and the last time you saw MTV was when Guns N Roses ruled the billboard
4. Your waistline is way ahead of your age in numbers
5. You think aloud "#%*^$@ fool" when a teenage dirtbag whizzed past you in his shiny motorcycle

You are in touch with your feminine side (you can rephrase this in your mind).....
1. You know more than 5 colours (especially the unusual ones like burgandy, mahogany, maroon, beige....oh nooooo)
2. If you are not married and have more than 2 pillows on your bed ( 1,2 ..3.....oh no)
3. If you have an opinion on who is the cutest of the Jonas brothers (definitely Kevin....oh noooo)
4. If you have watched the Twilight trilogy (hehe gotcha.....)
5. If you think this particular half of the post offends you

"I'll be Bach"

Back from a self-imposed sabbatical of almost half-a-year with a valid volley of excuses of having had my study holidays, final exams,coming home and seeing off my granpa (RIP), joining work and setting up (well at least trying to)a new department...whew!!, i'm really BACK.

What's up with me?
Well
1. I got myself a new (well January) Mountain bike which i lugged halfway across India from Bangalore-Vellore-Chennai-Kolkata-Aizawl
its a trek 3700 acid gold, yep its a beauty, but sadly, I havn't got the chance to use it as much as i wanted to here at home



2. Got myself another 2-wheeler - A scooty in fact. Why should girls have all the fun??
Its a sparkling white Mahindra Duro, quite a change from the big bad bullet i used to ride.

3. I'm still unfazed by the world cup fever

4. The gym is still my favorite refuge (and next the basketball court....i wonder how sandman is doing)

5. And lastly, I'm really sick of people smoking on the way to church or just after. One of these days, just to make my point, I'm gonna bring a bottle of booze and gulp down right after church in the sight of the elders, next to where they are smoking....lets see how they react to that..hehe

The heading ..well...
Steven Spielberg was discussing his new project -- an action docudrama
about famous composers starring top movie stars. Sylvester Stallone,
Steven Seagal, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger being courted
for the top roles.

Spielberg really hoped to have the box office "oomph" of these
superstars, so he was prepared to allow them to select the composers
they would portray, as long as they among the most famous.

"Well," started Stallone, "I've always admired Mozart. I would love to
play him."

"Chopin has always been my favorite, and my image would improve if people
saw me playing the piano," said Willis. "I'll play him."

"I've always been partial to Strauss and his waltzes," said Seagal. "I'd
like to play him."

Spielberg was very pleased with these choices. "Sounds splendid." Then,
looking at Schwarzenegger, he asked, "Who do you want to be, Arnold?"

Arnold replied, "I'll be Bach."

I Respect...

I have high regards for

1. People who recycle
2. People who conserve electricity (and other sources of energy)
3. People who are kind to animals
4. People who play fair (life and games)
5. Parents whose kids are courteous
6. People who wake up early (especially young people)
7. People with neat handwriting
8. On the same note, people with clean/neat rooms/houses
9. People who dress simple
10. Those who are genuinely involved in charity work

MERRY X-mas

I googled "Merry Christmas" and guess what! Ok I'l tell you anyway.
There was no reference of Christmas being a Christian advent (apart from the old faithful Wikipedia's). The bigger shock (rather anticlimax) was that I got the same kind of results for a "Christmas" search.

True, while Christmas celebration and the "holiday season" transcends all religion and regions in the present global village, I find it kind of disappointing in the over-commercialisation of this lovely and yet significant day.

Carefully trying to avoid being a Scrooge, while as expressing my views on this, I would like to hear your opinions as well.

Firstly, what would kids nowadays associate as the "Mascot" of Christmas? No prize for guessing here. Santa Claus, not of the Santa & Banta jokes. Ol Saint Nick the great patronizer. Nothing dastardly wrong here except to learn that some kids think Christmas is Santa's birthday. Even church programs include having a Santa for the kids. Its almost taboo to leave out Santa for Christmas nowadays. Google image search for Christmas has almost all Santa themes, and none of nativity on the first page.

Secondly, whats with all the decorations, and all so very expensive? Do we know that the Christmas tree tradition is of pagan origin. I have no qualms about the idea per se. But this I do - why should we incorporate the use of something which does not exist in our country or state in our celebration. Jesus was born in Israel. Christmas trees was apparently started by the Norwegian people. We want a Christmas tree, fine! Lets use our own - maybe the Jamun tree, lets use mango leaves and palm leaves for decoration. Holly is not Indian (and far from being a native of Mizoram). We pay 5000 bucks for a plastic imitation of an old pagan European custom symbol, which is made in China and sold in India so we can feel closer to the meaning of the incarnation of God???????

Don't get me started on shopping, seriously.

Ok I can already feel the "hambug" accusation here, but, I am not a spoilsport. I just think that rather than having the "traditional" X-mas symbolism adapted from an different region, lets have our own. Why, we already have (sort of)a few Christmas tradition in Mizoram, which, when done in the right spirit, are quite....Christmas-sy or simply "Masi". Like - roasting chicken, eating "chhangban" kan, carol rounds, visiting orphanages, and the uplifting festive mood across all ages AND the community feast.
Let us hold on to these and not try to "dilute" our own style and "tradition" blindly. Lets tell our future kids what Christmas is really all about. Lets learn and pass on that its better to give than receive.

Peace on earth good will to Man is indeed the greatest gift of all
"Aw a va mawi em he ni lawmawm hun tawite hi"

What's in a name

How many times have you been asked “What is your good name?”

My “good” name? It’s Mr. I’m-getting-really-bugged-with-Indian-English; would you like to know my “bad” name as well? By the way how do you know this is not my good name? Were you expecting a better one? Or shall I tell you my worse name, umm actually that was what my teacher called me when I didn’t know who build the Taj Mahal…..I think?? Or was it the one I was called with when my dad found out I gave myself a half-day off from school, without informing the teacher…oops slipped my mind, it happens, you know!! Anyway coming back to the name bit, what’s so good in a name? I mean there is nothing bad about your name, or having a name; it’s just a name, what you are called as by your friends, colleagues and family..and the rest of the 6 billion souls ; if only they met you, and read your name tag, well if you happen to have one on when they met you, of course not all at a time, I mean that would be statistically or physically impossible; and why on earth would you be having a name tag unless you were going for a conference or an interview, in which case, you are more likely to be having a number…like in prison.

And what is this thing called “Surname” or is it “Sur name”? Whatever the correct term is, I can do without it? Me, I have my Name, my family’s name and that’s it. Of course I also got my “pet” names, shortened names modified and sometimes affectionate ones – by which I am called, hollered, yelled at or texted. But, I ask you dear sir/madam, what in the name of…umm…what in the world is a “SUR”? To me, it doesn’t sound very pleasant, reminding me of similar sounding words like “sour” or “slur”

So I ask you again dear friends, what is a “sur”? but then, what’s in a name?

Of black pen, Bullet & "Bai"

There are very few things in life that could give a child a feeling of achievement as that of the transition from using a pencil to pen. The mighty, mighty pen -the symbol of maturity. As far as I can remember, I had been using black pens (black inked or refills, not a physically black coloured pen…duh). Why?I cant entirely explain, but I have been giving it some thought lately. Maybe because I wanted to escape the uniformity of using blue pens which is so cliché. I guess you can say I have a fetish for slightly unusual (not so, but just different) things (or this could be the extension of one’s need to be unique). I remember hanging out with frens who were not so popular – like a lanky Bengali lad, one very dirty boy (he never washed his clothes on weekdays) and another who by now had been convicted. I didn’t play or enjoy football as a kid, which was and still is almost religiously followed in Mizoram. And I still don’t. But I still play active basketball when most guys my age are happy to sit back and watch EPL on TV and call themselves “sport-lovers.” (not to mean a certain wedding planner here). I drive a 2^nd hand Bullet in spite of being very conscious about fuel price and mileage (the Indian effect), cos a Bullet is different and it totally rocks !! After years of ridicule, I am finally enjoying pork but I don’t go ga-ga over it or willing to kill for a piece. In fact, I have always opted for vegetarian food during my undergraduate years (very non tribal-like, I know). I don’t eat “bai” …why? don’t ask me cos I don’t know, I just don’t eat it. I don’t drink tea…tho I enjoy iced tea, and there’s a heaven n hell difference between the two. When my frens cram the whole night for a test or exam, I sleep at ten…..not because I know everything, but because I really don’t think much of last minute slogging.

I guess everyone is unique in his own way and when we learn to appreciate each others uniqueness and difference maybe we'll be better off a a species. And I write with a black pen.

Lessons from the other MJ

Of course you know him, at least if you are under 40 years Or if you remotely follow sports in some way, you cannot not know him. Ladies & gents, I'm talking about "His royal airness" "The best ever?" "?the greatest athlete of all time"....standing 6 foot 6, less than 5% body fat, soaring over guys almost a foot taller than him, poetry in motion ....the greatest Basketballer you would have ever seen -MICHAEL JORDAN.

Ok maybe I overdid the intro....and yes I'm not going to talk ablout him or his life but rather another basketball great....nicknamed The Admiral....the 7foot center of San Antonio Spurs - David Robinson. At the start of his illustrious career, MJ was at his peak, winning the NBA championship 3 times in a row. When Robinson watched that momentous ceremony on TV seeing MJ kissing the trophy, tears flowing down his cheeks, he thought "Something is wrong with this picture", "Is that what I want to be doing in my life?" "Sweat, bleed and give my all...so that in the end I can kiss a piece of metal?"

David Robinson rose in his career to be inducted into the NBA hall of fame, remembered as onr of the best Big Men to have played the game, won the championship and gave a beautiful testimony professing his faith in God in front of millions of TV viewers. He is also a well known philantrophist, an exemplary role model who has donated thousands to help kids finish their schooling.

David Robinson saw the big picture; he saw what many people missed out; saw what really mattered, rather at that point, he saw what DIDNT or WILL NOT matter in the big picture of life. Like many other basketball stars, his biggest inspiration was the great Michael Jordan, but of course, how? quite differently!