We all came out of gogol's overcoat!!

bachpan ki yaaden!

2012-01-06T16:52:00.000-08:00

Udaan!

2011-01-29T22:57:00.000-08:00

Love this song!

The Journey Home

2010-07-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading the book 'The journey home', I can't express how much this book has inspired me. What a humble way of expressing such a devoted and disciplined life. In this world of duality, one might question the existence of God, but when I see people like you (Radhanath Swami) or read/head about them, I just feel blessed!

One mantra to remember

2010-07-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

I was hearing a self help lecture and the speaker quoted a saying from William Barkley "Always give without remembering, always receive without forgetting"

This indeed will help in changing our perspective.

Guru

2010-06-21T07:08:00.001-07:00

In the spiritual conjunction, one should neither praise nor blame ..
but out of these two, it is better to praise ..

(continuing ..)

What am I up to these days?

2010-06-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

I am hooked up to pandora.com these days. The whole week, I kept listening soothing bhajans from Krishna das.

http://www.pandora.com/

Life of a common man

2010-06-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

I loved it ..

100 things to do in India

2010-06-07T12:01:00.001-07:00

In the US, I have seen several articles/books that talks about 100 things to do before you die or places to visit before they vanish etc. So i asked Sapeckshita let's think to such things in India ...

Here is the initial list in no particular order:

• Travel in Mumbai (Bombay) local train
• Watch the sunset at Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin)
• Cutting Chai @ any local chai shop
• Take the camel ride and do camping in the Jaisalmer desert
• Play Holi in Vrindavan.
• Kailash Mansarovar Parikrama(trekking at alt. up to 19500 ft)
• Enjoy the festivity of Durga Puja in Bengal during Diwali.
• Ganpati Festival in Mumbai (Bombay).
• Amazing Nohkalikai Falls at Cherapunji, Meghalaya
• Visit Rajgad Fort, Maharashtra
• Go to Tea Gardens at Munnar, Kerala
• Nubra Valley, Ladakhm, Jammu and Kashmir
•
•

(still working on it, suggestions are welcome ;-),

Man is mortal..

2010-05-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

I received a call from my father that my nanny (mother's mother) has passed away. May the soul rest in peace. I spoke to my mother as she was lamenting. I told sapeckshita that life is so unpredictable. She responded, death is the most predictable thing for every human being. We try to fool ourselves by various ways, but at the end we have to leave this body ..says the bhagavad gita. Bhagavad gita also says that every living entity has to go through the cycle of birth, old age, disease and death.

.. this year so far!

2010-05-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

..

We completed our first anniversary this year, and it's been an interesting journey :), I won't write a lot of details, but somebody is right that marriage comes with a lot of 'fine prints'

I don't have that much authority to write on this topic, but i think marriage gives some purpose to our life.

This song depicts it really well, i almost choked up when I listed to it ...

New resolution

2009-12-21T07:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend we ended up watching 6 movies .. so called movie marathon. I specifically liked 'Wake up Sid' I think a lot of guys (and girls too) would like this movie. At some point of time, we might have faced similar situation where we are unable to understand things or question the way things have been happening around ..

In this journey of finding the purpose/identity in life, It would be so wonderful if one could pause a little bit and take sometime to appreciate things and people around.. I think it's a idea great.. and this is gonna be one of the resolution of the new year now.
(appreciate/call/write/think of/ 100 people in 2010, to who i feel thankful to..) and if you are reading this blog, you may be one of them :-),

Wide Awake

2009-12-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

I just love this movie!

=================
Before this year bullies were just bullies for no reason, weirdoes were just weird, and daredevils weren't afraid of anything. Before this year, people I loved lived forever. I spent this year looking for something and wound up seeing everything around me. It's like I was asleep before and finally woke up. Know what? I'm wide-awake now.

Laila Majnu continues ..

2009-11-25T16:11:00.001-08:00

Kis-wal akheya we Majnu-nu, O teri Laila disdi kaali we!
Majnu ne jawab ditta, O teri ankh wekhan-waali we!
Je tu dekhe meri ankh naal, Teri surat na jaaye samhaali we!
Ved bhi chitta ter Quran bhi chitti, Vich shyahi rakh ditti kaali we!
Ghulam Farid jitthe ankhiyaan lagiyaan, Utthe kya gori, kya kaali we!

Jagjit Singh ...

2009-11-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

Laila Majnu

2009-11-24T10:09:00.000-08:00

Laila puch baithi mujhnu se ek mujhe aise kya dekh rahe ho.

" Laila na puch main tujhme kya dekh raha hoon.
main kais hoon, aur tujhme khuda dekh raha hoon.

tujhko khuda kahu ya khuda ko khuda kahu
dono ki shaklen ek hain, kisko khuda kahu

tau sambhal ek baithna, ae husn-e-laila dekhne walon.
tamasha khud na ban jana - tamasha dekhne walon.

bitha ke samne laila ko dekhe hasrate yusuf
kare phir faisla hushn-ae-julekha dekhne-wale

aur hua hi chahta hain, khatm kissa meri hasti ka
tamasha dekh kar jana, tamahsa dekhne walon.. "

लैला न पूछ मैं तुझमे क्या देख रहा हूँ .
मैं कैस हूँ,और तुझमे खुदा देख रहा हूँ .

तुझको खुदा कहू या खुदा को खुदा कहू
दोनों की शक्लें एक हैं,किसको खुदा कहू

तो संभल के बैठना,ऐ हुस्न-ऐ-लैला देखने वालों .
तमाशा खुद न बन जाना तमाशा देखने वालों .

बिठा के सामने लैला को देखे हसरते युसूफ
करे फिर फैसला हुस्न-ऐ-जुलेखा देखने -वाले

और हुआ ही चाहता हैं,ख़त्म किस्सा मेरी हस्ती का
तमाशा देख कर जाना, तमाशा देखने वालों ..

======================

Bhilwara - My Home Town!!

2008-12-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

The world is so small and Google is so amazing :-), I know there is no correlation between both of them.

So I was feeling like going home (India), and I thought what would be the fastest way to visit home -- Google, came into my mind.

Of course when we go to India .. we want to roam around all the streets and school where we used to play, that neighborhood still gives me the feeling that I am a KIDDO :-), and there is no office tomorrow.

Missile game over the weekend!

2008-12-08T08:37:00.000-08:00

This weekend, Sapeckshita & I played a game called "Missile Missile game". I thought I would put up the score online for sapeckshita .. so she wouldn't dare to ask me to play this game again .. just kidding lady :-),

it's just for our memory :-),

Story behind 26.2 miles.

2008-08-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to give something back to the country, alma-mater, community and loved ones to which I owe everything I have. This dormant desire has been within me for a long time but I was not clear about what to do with it, how to realize it, and whom to approach?

After moving to Washington DC, I made several attempts aimed at realizing my desire of giving back, including teaching Hindi at the George Washington University for more than a year and hosting at my residence weekly spiritual discussions based on the Bhagavad Gita. Through such ventures, I met many inspiring individuals,including my better half. Somewhere among these thoughts and desires was probably also an internal calling of running a marathon .

My first introduction to marathons happened last year when I was cheering runners in Marine Corps 2007. Then, I had the uninformed notion that marathoning was nothing but aimless running to make oneself feel good. I was not convinced if this was any way to change the world for the better. Regardless of this notion, I decided to give running a chance, and this
year, after running myself, I have realized that marathon is indeed a way to change the world. During the training period of the past 4-5 months and after the completion of my first half marathon, Riley's rumble, I have learnt that changing the outer world actually begins with the inception of change in our inner world.

Every little mile I run plays a big role in the betterment of the way I perceive the world. Perhaps this is the best gift I can give to anyone. On the 26th October, 08, I am aiming to run the 'Marine Corps Marathon'.

I am dedicating my run to the 26 individuals who have significantly inspired me during the past 26 years, and were there when I needed them the most. I hope they'll appreciate this small gift. I am looking forward to finding new ways of giving back.

Sincerely,
-Ashutosh.

Poem for one of my friend!!

2008-08-01T23:35:00.000-07:00

Last year, I wrote a poem for one of my USC friend on his birthay, part of this poem talks about our miserable life :), just thought of putting in online ...

woh OPNET ke simulation aur
ghar pe unke execution.
cs402 ki threads aur.
mere muffin breads.

algorithms ka 'A' aur
cs402 ka 'C'
551 ki height ki
sabki halat tight

woh pareshani wali raatein aur
cruiser main hui baatein.
leavey ki haai aur
trojan grounds se ashu ke haath ki chai.

nasreen ka pehla pyar aur
daisy ki car.
kishan ki gopiya aur
campus ki ladkiya

woh mitti da baweya aur
chado di june ...
babe da ishq aur
samjo match fix..

woh ghar pe khana aur
gurudware jana.
woh bhangra pana aur
saath gaane gana

artesia ki bhel aur
sandiego seaworld ki whale
disneyland ki pics aur
universal studio ki chicks

summer of 2005 ki shame aur
hum starbucks ke samne
pointers ki funde aur
discuss hote har sunday ...

resume prepration aur
interview selection
jyada rejection to
thode selection

salaray negotiation aur
duniya bhar ka tension
thoda sa compensation aur
phir se relocation

NY ka manhattan ya
boston ka mutton .....

Purani yaadon ka silsila.
jo dillo main basta chala

I must say, those were one of the best days of life :), ....

Always Be Happy,
-A

3 Spartans!!

2008-05-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

We have a bad reputation of getting ice cream, salad or raita during in Potluck's so friend of mine sent us an invite like this ...
--------------------------
Dear Warriors,

'The Horn of C-914 Shall Sound in the Deep One Last Time', to call one and all for the last POTLUCK of our batch.Let this be the Hour when we draw the Forks and Knives Together, Now for the Run, For Ruin and the Great Brains.

Ohh my fellow warriors, the lord summons you for the last great dinner hosted at our fortress on the top of the Mount Consul.The dinner that shall be remembered for the generation to come when the greatest cook's shall take birth to prepare the most delicious dishes ever tasted by men.

The World is changed, we feel in the Water, we feel it in the Earth,we can smell it in the Air, much that once was, is lost, for few that live here who remember it... So we the guardians of Mount Consul call upon all living supporters to cook great dishes, to bring back the grand memories, to bring back those great times.

So look for us on the 10th of May at DUSK, look towards the West.

Cook with us for Pride & Glory, 2 Good Dishes per Apartment. We look for great dishes, from our friends. Pls declare the dishes that you shall bring with you so as to avoid any duplicate dishes.

The infidels who shall come with 'RAITA' or 'Salad' or just 'Ice-Cream' shall be thrown off the Cliff of Mount Consul.

See you on 10th of May with 2 grand dishes,sharp at 8:30pm.

In the name of the Great Lord and his 2 Knights we the residents of C-914 look forward to see you.

Your Faithful
---------------------------
pretty neat .... right? we did accept the humble invitation but ended up sending the following reply :-),
---------------

Me Lord,

For your honor .... THIS IS SPARTA! and we"A-614" spartans, will bring things you probably have guessed already!

There will be floods of 'RAITA' on your Mount Counsul, The world is changed .... but the enthusiasm and spirits of spartans shall never decreased, you shall smell the fresh salads during the auspicious day!

You are generous as you are divine, Oh "Lord of the Rings". Such an offer only a madman would refuse. But the idea of kneeling, it's... uh... you see, slaughtering all those vegetables of yours has left a nasty cramp in my leg, so kneeling will be hard for me.

No retreat, no surrender. That is Spartan law. And by Spartan law, we will stand and eat... A new age has begun: an age of freedom ..an age of ice-cream! And all will know that 3 Spartans gave their last breath to defend the right to bring 'RAITA', 'SALAD' and 'ICE-CREAM'!

Spartans! Ready your dinner and eat hearty, FOR May 10, WE DINE IN HELL!!!

----
We're in for one wild night.
-Spartans!!

Aasmaan ke paar!

2008-04-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

I like this song 'Aasmaan ke paar' from Rockford so much!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2tSwbLPMK4

reminds me of high school days!

feeling nostalgic!!

2008-04-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

I came back to DC this Thursday morning, yet I am feeling too nostalgic ... 3 weeks of happiness! ... freedom! .... no internet, computer, debit/credit card, luxury, job, big talks .... It was so peaceful at home!

... so I have decided that I will try my best to take such breaks in every 6 months now , that will give me a good amount of time to understand the world outside and the sea inside me!

chit chat with Kaustubh!

2007-11-11T10:12:00.000-08:00

Kaustubh is a decent chap (....well, not really but for the sake of this post:-)

Sometimes this guy teases me by calling 'Galib' and I tend to defend myself and the fight goes on and on .... here is good one after karun's farewell.

Kaustubh: I will come down some time latter
me: aaj hi aana.

Kaustubh: where is Karun
me: shopping . as usual.
Kaustubh: k

me: leking jaroor aana
Kaustubh: sure, I have to take the fan back

me: accha.
isliye aayega kya .

Kaustubh: nope milna bhi hey
me: mujhse milne nahn
aayega.

Kaustubh: chal ab senti mat mar
me: bas bhool gaya saale.
abhi se.

Kaustubh: kam kar
Kaustubh: bhul gaya
ab kya kam khatam admi khatam

me: yeh duniya yeh mehfil mere kaam ki nahin
.
Kaustubh: tu tha hi kaun
koi chai walal jo US aagaya
me: wahi to galib .

"woh kahte hain chai wala galib humko ...
hum unke cup main phir bhi apni muskan se mithas bhar dete hain";

Kaustubh: chal bahut senti mar raha hey
kam kar
its 6 pm now

me: shayri kaise lagi.

Kaustubh: I should be there by 8:30
badiya hey
_____________________________________

....btw, we still pick on him for his video .....which explains the phases this guy goes through when he thinks .."Sochne de ..... b??" lol!!

rock on man!
-Ashu

This is my letter to the world!

2007-07-31T06:45:00.000-07:00

This is my letter to the WorldThat never wrote to Me —

The simple News that Nature told —

With tender MajestyHer

Message is committed

To Hands I cannot see —

For love of Her —

Sweet — countrymen —

Judge tenderly — of Me

-a poem by a great poet Emily Dickinson

Abel and Cain

2007-07-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

According to the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur'an, Cain and Abel were the first and second sons of Adam and Eve, born after the Fall of Man (the only other child of Adam and Eve to be named in the Bible was Seth)

"In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought the fat, fatlings, or milk as Josephus has it (the possible renderings of the consonantal Hebrew) from the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him."

- Genesis 4:3-8

It's all about Wat? ....Passion!!!

2007-07-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

I came across an article, being passionate about what you do, today. It plays an important role, wherever you are, whatever you do, whoever you speak, wherever you go ..

"Passion is the foundation of effective communication. Dig deep to discover your core purpose, your true passion. Once you connect to it, use it as fuel to build a rapport with your audience -- recruiters, managers, employees, etc. Your presentations, pitches, speeches, and all forms of activities (non business or business) will be more engaging than ever. Nearly everyone has room to increase what I call the "passion quotient" -- the level of passion you exhibit as a speaker. The higher your passion quotient, the more likely you are to connect with people. Chris Gardner's (the pursuit of happiness guy) passion fueled his determination in the face of overwhelming odds and obstacles. Take the time to imagine where harnessing your passion can take you".

Another one:

Rather than approaching any problem from the standpoint of "I'm a square pegwhich hole should I put myself in?" Turn it around and say "I am amorphable peg and which hole would I most enjoy being in?"

Connecting the ....ts

2007-07-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

God!....time flies so fast, this July 17, I will finish an year in DC ....seems like yesterday only, I graduated from USC and preparing to move to DC ...little nervous, somewhat excited ....fearful about "what will happen next?"

.. I enjoyed this year to the best ...met several interesting people, made good friends, not to mention about trips to NY City, Smoky Mountains, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, India, Atlantic City.

DC has it's own flavors during spring (cherry blossom festival), winter (heavy snow fall), 4th july (parade and fire works), christmas (national christmas tree), Fall (colorful trees), musesums and art galleries, night life ...attracts almost everybody to this part of the country.

..being in the software security industry, not only met geeks but also learnt how to become one ... and yes, how can I forget about yoga classes, unfinished salsa classes.During past one and half month of language classes, I realized how it feels to be a teacher ...hopefully I will be able to continue some work with association of India's development as well ...

...I had a very good reputation of being a bad reader and a terrible speaker :) ...i guess with time this glory will start fading as well ..Siddhartha, The Alchemist, The go getter, Hope for the flowers, Interpreter of maladies, The monk who sold his ferrari managed to convince their philosophies and I am happy about that :)

...well, it is a separate issue that I am still questioning some Indian immigrant families (who become my good friends now)about "Inheritence of loss" , the night long arguments with my collegues about how unfair the war on iraq is ...everyone's life worth the same irrespective of their cast, creed and 'color' ...perhaps one day somebody will understand that it takes nine months to give a birth and few seconds to take one ..

Now when I look back, i believe this one year has given enough foundations to make a strong building upon ...One thing is sure

That time will tell,
If I fail,
The brightest ring around the moon
Will darken,when I die :)

.....well, its 2:54 am in the morning, i can still write a lot but I have some plan for kayaking tomorrow...so i guess it's time to say good night? i mean good morning....I will upload the pictures tomorrow ...have a good day!

Gazal!!

2007-06-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

लज्जतेग़म बढ़ा दीजिये,
आप यूँ मुस्कुरा दीजिये

चाँद कब तक गहन में रहे,
आप ज़ुल्फें हटा दीजिये

मेरा दामन अभी साफ है,
कोई तोहमद़ लगा दीजिये

आप अंधेरे में कब तक रहें,
फिर कोई घर जला दीजिये

एक समुंदर ने आवाज दी,
मुझको पानी पिला दीजिये

लज्जतेग़म बढ़ा दीजिये,
आप यूँ मुस्कुरा दीजिये

-- From someone really great!

.....and then I started teaching Hindi!!

2007-06-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

....This summer when everybody is involved in different activities and setting up hopes for the future, I thought of doing something too ...

....recently, I came to know about the "Global Language group" in the Washington DC area and got a gut feeling that this is the place to start.

And guess what???

Yesterday, I took my first Hindi class in George Washington University. There are around 14 students enrolled in my class. They are all from different backgrounds ...one of them is doing Phd is linguistics, another one is doing some research about malnutrition in India ..and so and so ..

In one line "...this is a new completly new experience for me"

but still there are two questions in my mind:

1) Would i be able to make some difference somewhere? and the bigger one is ...

2) How come, I never thought of doing same thing back in India??

I think therefore I am!!

2007-06-10T01:18:00.000-07:00

.....the term "Cogito ergo sum" ( i think...therefore i am..) was coined by Rene Descartes (a philosopher)..which further became the foundation of "rationalism" and "empiricism"

..the basic interpration of this term is " i am vivdly aware of my existence.."

perhaps he wants to address that: "i do not know whether somebody is there with me or not? but i am on my way, because i am thinking ..."

So....think about it!!!!
-Ashutosh...

Kabhi aisa lagta hain!!

2007-06-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

....kabhi aisa lagta hain:

Is duniya se dur nikal jau, aur chand main chipe aadmi se dosti kar aau,
jab kabhi akela houn, to kam se kam use to apne pass pau.

Is virane, Is sannate main jab 'ashu' kahin ghum hoga,
chand pe chipa aadmi muje aake dhoond lega.

Jo mukam sadiyon chalkar bhi paar nahin hota,woh shab-e-raat ke palon main sakar ho jayega,

aur chotti chotti ankhon se chand ka didar ho jayega.

(..In progress)

One of the best picture ever!

2007-04-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

it was yesterday when I and my roomies went to see the Cherry Blossom Festival in Tidal Basin, Washington DC. It was such a good day as we took a lot of pictures ;-)

I liked one picture in particular, so thought of asking concept of the picture:

Swarup: (The guy in the center)...you know ashutosh, right now i wouldn't be able to explain you, cuz' I have been working on a research paper and I am sick of it ...but I think in this picture three of us are showing our ass to the camera-man and encouraging him to take our picture and post it on some web-site.. .lol...

now it's Karun (The guy in the right) turn ...

Karun: In this picture we are standing together and looking at Washington Monument, it is kinda indication of thinking big, now you tell us what do you like so special about the picture that you are bugging both of us ..

Me: well friends, I can formulate a story out of this picture ...which i would like to share with both of you ...this is a story of three guyz, who belongs to three different parts of a holy country ...three of them are standing in different direction but focusing on the same object...their aim, their destiny ...all of them have different thoughts/plans in their mind (as shown in the picture), its kinda hard to tell about their emotions (whether they are happy, depressed, enthusiastic etc)..since the picture is not showing their faces ....they want to reach some where but the hurdles are everywhere ....river is stopping them to cross through, road is also not visible anywhere ....and it has started turning dark.

...but the white flowers (cherry blosooms) are indication of new hopes for them, new dawn ....may be a revolution ... the three faces are up and thinking beyond the normal human being's expectation, and they are thinking to finding a new way to get there ...it's neither by crossing the river nor through the road ...no one but they know about it!!!!

--Ashutosh

Phir Ghalib!!

2007-04-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

"Bhid se alag dikhne pardes chala tha ghalib,

chand paise kamane aur kuch naam karne ke liye sir-per chala tha ghalib,

kaal ke chakra main aur paredes ki hawa main kuch is kadar khoya,

ki bhid se alag dikhna to dur, bhid main jaane layak bhi na raha paya ghalib"

---------------------------

This shayri is composed by me and it is tributed to Galib. This is specially for people who come abrod with big dreams and ignore values of little things ... but when life starting acting on them ...they start appreciating the beauty of their home, their people, their country

... ghalib expresses here that they can get better visibility even staying in their own country ...as long as they understand human values and contribute towards it...

-Ashutosh

Love wins, love always wins!!

2007-03-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

So it's a discussion between a Professor and his favorite student...
____________________________________________

Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, yet you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted.

"A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle"Sounds like a wrestling match, student said

"A wrestling match" Prof. Moorie laughed and said "Yes you could describe life that way"

So which side wins, student asked?"Which side wins?"Moorie smiles back at him, with the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth..

"Love wins. Love always wins."