Anniversary gift for my Jijabai and Shahaji!

Here is a poem I wrote for my Aai and Baba, for their wedding anniversary. It is in Marathi, so needless to say that my aai and baba had their first reaction as "aaa??!" but then they couldn't stop praising me..... Well, each and every word of the poem is true. But as it is in marathi, 75% of my audience won't understand it. Nevertheless, here it is. Happy anniversary again to my Aai and Baba.

आई बाबांची गोष्ट

३८ वर्षांपूर्वी जेव्हा दोन देश लढाईत होते मग्न
मुंबईत तेव्हा भडजी बुवा लावत होते एक लग्न
हे लग्न थोडे नवीन, थोडे वेगळे
हातावरच्या रेघा जुळवून आयुष्याचा नकाशा तयार करण्याचे
एक-मेकांना समजून ऋणानुबंध बांधण्याचे
येणाऱ्या पुढच्या पिढीला नात्यांची समज देण्याचे

नकाशा घेऊन संसाराची ईमारत बांधायला तर घेतली
पण १० वर्ष दोघच बांधून बांधणार तरी किती ?
भाचे, भाच्या, ह्या सगळ्यांना खेळवून तर झाले
पण आपले स्वतःचे अजून मूल नाही, याचे वाईट तर नक्कीच वाटले

१० वर्षानंतर देवाच्या कृपेने आला देवदत्त गुणी छान
अजून ४ वर्षांनी त्याला सोबत म्हणून आला अश्विन लहान
मग काय, आनंदाला तर राहीले नाही भान
मुलांचे हसणे आणि कधी कधी रडणे ऐकून संतुष्ट झाले कान

एवढी वर्ष झाली , आता आली एक छान कुलवधू
अत्त्या आणि काका म्हणून घेता घेता तिच्याशी नवीन प्रेमाचे नाते जोडू
पिल्लू म्हणता म्हणता , झाला एका पिल्लाचा संसार सुरु
दुसऱ्या पिल्लाचा मार्ग झाला मोकळा, आता त्याची काळजी करू
आपले दुसरे सुपुत्र काय दिवे लावतात, आता हे तरी बघू

२६ वर्ष दोन्ही मुलांना सगळ्या जगाहून सांभाळले
त्यांच्या अवती भवती आपले विश्व विणून, त्यालाच आपले सूख मानले
आता पिल्ले उडून गेली, झाले घरटे रिकामे
पिल्लांची किलबिल झाली नाहीशी, शांतता ऐकणे झाले नकोसे

आता दिवस पिल्लांची आठवण काढण्याचे
जुन्या आठवणी आठवून मनातल्या मनात हसण्याचे आणि रडण्याचे
पण हे दिवस खरे तर नाही दुःखाचे
दिवस आहेत आता पिल्लांची चिंता करता करता स्वतःकडे लक्ष्य देण्याचे

परत आहे आता हाती वेळ सगळे जुने छंद जोपासायला
संसार करता करता अर्धवट राहिलेले पुस्तक वाचायला
एक-मेकांशी परत पूर्वी सारख्या गप्पा मारायला
भविष्यात नातवंडांना सांगायच्या गोष्टी बनवायला

३८ वर्ष झाली, काळ नाही हा थोडा
पण ही ईमारत अजून पूर्ण नाही, बाकीच्या रेघा तर जोडा
एवढ्या वर्षात पहिल्या नकाश्यात झाले बरेच बदल
पण तुम्ही केलेल्या मेहनतीचे आणि संस्कारांचेच आहे हे फळ

३८ वर्ष झाली , ह्याला एक पर्व समजा
पुढे अजून बरेच चालायचे आहे हे लक्षात ठेवा
असेच एकत्र आमच्या बरोबर चालत रहा, मार्ग आहे मोठा
मुलांना चालायला शिकवलय, तरी चाल ठीक आहे न, हे तर पहा

असेच तुमचे मार्गदर्शन आम्हाला जन्मभर मिळावे
बोट धरून जरी नाही तरी डोक्यावर हात ठेवून असावे
म्हणून ह्या दिवशी सगळ्या देवांशी एकच ही प्रार्थना
माझ्या आई बाबांची ही जोडी, सदैव अशीच सुंदर ठेवा

-Ashwin Ranade

Time for some good old songs

It is 11 PM and it is not surprising that I am waiting in office again. My blogs about my late nights in office are probably becoming as irritating as Himesh Reshmiya's songs. But what is true.... is true. But Thanks to my employer's policies, I have internet access which I can use in positive ways. And also for some good TP. So here I am again, waiting... Anyway, when I am waiting like this in office, I like to listen to some songs which are very close to me and which I enjoy listening to. So it is again time for me to indulge in my favorite songs. I find these songs interesting because for some unknown reason, I have some triggers to some memories associated with them. And also, they are not crappy as the songs these days. Dev Anand's films had really good music. It could be the much in love guy urging his gal not to leave, through "Abhi na jao chod kar", the lover who sees his gal everywhere in "tere ghar ke saamne" , a lovers' tiff in "achcha ji main haari", the mischief in "hai apna dil to awaara" or "Jiya o Jiya kuch bol do", or the man who has lost and is leaving everything behind as he moves away in "wahaan kaun hai tera", the songs are soulful and not like mere fillers in the movies these days. My introduction to these songs has been through my parents, both of whom are from the era when songs were art, actresses wore clothes and movies were luxuries, not smoke given out as a factory operates. My dad is a Huge fan (with a capital H for emphasis ) of Dev Anand, and I am thankful that he is so, because I got the chance to listen to all these songs. Madhubala trying to pacify Dev Anand in "achcha ji main haari" is fun to watch. I don't have to worry about some stupid dance steps and I can enjoy the song and Mohd Rafi's antics as he sings.
Other songs that qualify as really good ones are "Chaudhavin ka chaand" and "Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam" and many many more.


I personally believe that after 1995, there have been very few songs which qualify as good. Eras of good songs came and went, making way for new genres, but like a well aged wine, the old songs are still an epicure's delight. Not the rotting orange juice past its expiry date.
Speaking of which, there were some songs now, which even though not up to the level of these, are still OK to hear. They can't hold their own against the songs that I have mentioned, but are still worth listening to. "Yun hi chala chal rahi", "Maa", "Luka Chuppi", "chaiyaa chaiyaa" and "Dil se", the "theme music of Iqbal"
and "Dor"
are some of the good ones. Rehman is one of the few people who is able to make good music, but these days, he is trying to imitate his competition and is forgetting what makes him so unique. The sheer talent of the Genius is visible in how he has used Lata Mangeshkar's voice, who is now well past 80, for the awesome song Luka Chuppi from Rang de Basanti. If you are a guy and you happen to be staying away from home, from your Mom whom you find too pushy at times, but miss her otherwise, you will know. If you are a normal guy and qualify for what I have just said, if you are a hostelite staying away from your home, you are bound to feel really sad when you hear this song for the first time. I know I did, when I heard it after leaving home. And if you happen to be a Mom like my mom, you are bound to be full of tears when you listen to this song. Now that is genius... a song that clears noise, which haunts you when it ends, not something that adds to noise. The only song that stands parallel to this is Maa from TZP. My mom cried after hearing it and I'll be frank, I don't like to listen to it when I am in Bangalore, because I start feeling even more homesick after it.

Songs have the effect of triggering some emotions in your mind, and some memories from a time you probably thought you had no memories of. One such song is "aakashi zhep ghe re paakhara"
, a marathi song, which for some reason always reminds me of my grandfather, or Nana as we all called him. And when I hear that song, all the memories associated with him flood my mind.... and it feels really great. And I am also reminded of how much I miss having him around. I guess that is what the purpose of songs is; to make us remember. To remember that there is a tune for everything in life, for every emotion, for every feeling and that knowing these tunes is what memories are.

Too philosophical? oh well, I just went with the flow of my mind while listening to all these songs in the last 45 minutes. So you know that there is something to it.

Live hot Jelabi !


Ok.... I have my own Kryptonite. Rather I have a few things which qualify as my kryptonite.... Ice cream (Choco chips, death by chocolate), my mom's Ba-Chya-Ka (its a code word) and a few more. But what comes first on the list is an awesome Jalebi. I think I got this from my Mama. He has the same liking for it and both of us can easily finish off all the jalebis in a wedding reception. But as I have moved away from home, the customary jalebi on my B'day has also stopped. Since 2nd June, 2008, I haven't had the chance to eat a decent Jalebi. And then... today dawned. The Gastronomical Gods of the IBM Food court rained blessings upon us. (Normally that is when the food is actually cooked properly, or even cooked for that matter) They had a stall for Live Hot Jalebi. Word of caution..... never doubt the guy making the Jalebis. Heavy is the head that makes the Jalebi curve. 15 bucks for 6 jalebis..... thats a freaking steal in Bangalore! So there I was, watching my Jalebis fry and then drown in sugar syrup. I mean, my state had literally become something like that kid from the Dhara ad many years back....Jalebi!!! But then I was in for a rude shock.... and a real high from all the sugar that went into my body. Have you ever seen how blood gushes out of the gunshot wounds in movies? yeah... that was how the syrup was pouring out of the jalebis. My brain was telling me only one thing. Syrup se lath path lath path.....Khaana mat khaana mat . Newsflash.... too much sugar..... not good for health. A sugar high causes me to concentrate in office. yeah.... I concentrate in office when on a sugar high.... Makes sleeping a little difficult. And then the problems really begin.... I start getting work. And not the interesting I-can-go-without-sleep-for-the-next-5-days-and-experience-hallucinations-of-grandeur work. I get the oh-God-not-again-where-is-the-nearest-wall-i-want-to-bang-my-head-on-it-bad-dobby-bad-dobby kind of work. And then when I finally reach home, that is the time when the Japanese are having breakfast. Yeah, I just made that up and Googled Japan time for coming up with that line. Nevertheless, it is true. Coming back to the Jalebis. Live Hot Jalebis.... you bet.... i burned my tongue on them. The sugar level in them was something which would kill Jane Fonda by just thinking of it. The calories in it were probably enough to run my bike for 2 min. But hey, it was all worth it. Once in a while, you just think from your stomach, not your brain. Oh well.... there goes my diet.

Veni, Vidi, Veterni - I came, I saw, I took a nap.

How many times in a week do you wake up to the thought... "WTH!!" ? (I actually wake up to something worse, but a public blog demands less severe profanities.)
How many times do you go to office and the first thought that hits you is... "WTH"?

If you haven't understood the drift of this article.... I am back in Bangalore after a long stay at home.
And now that I am back, there is a sudden sense of Deja Vu creeping upon me.
I still go to office and wait 9 hours for some work to come, which comes 10 hours later and doesn't work properly. Then I end up waiting till 2 am trying to convince others that it isn't working!
So another day lost and another pay day earned.... Hell, what do I care, make me wait like this everyday. I might give up my apartment and get my bed here. I will save on rent, internet will be free and I won't have to care about the weather.

Recession hits us in many ways, but IT guys who are still employed only get the severity of the complication when their free coffee is taken away from them. 2 weeks back, fate dealt us this critical blow. The effect? After 4 PM, you can see Zzzz floating above everyone on the team. Ashspear is no exception to that. Don't believe me? Have you ever stepped out into a
garden in the evening in the rainy season? If you have, you know that there are tonnes of mosquitoes (obvious overstatement; Measuring a tonne of mosquitoes will take immense patience) hovering above your head. That is how our office now looks like after 4 PM with small Zzzzs hovering above our heads. With everyone walking in Bullet time, the SFX effect made popular by the Matrix movies, and with many people trapped on the train station like Neo in Matrix Revolutions...(Sleeping! :P)

So what else? Still single, still 23, still in the same job (getting paid !! touchwood :) )The new thing is that I now am crazier than before. I am thinking of cooking at home and try to save some moolah!
Maybe I should write a book. Lets see how all of these work out.

So, hello to the 5-6 pair of eyes who actually ever read my blog ( there are more than 6.5 Billion people out there.... 5-6 is ok). Hope to start regular blogging soon. Don't expect any more poems as of now. Maybe when a Fair Maiden walks into my life instead of Iron Maiden, there might be some output on that front.

See you soon

Waiter… There is a Fly in my soup.

(Any resemblance to real life/ real people is purely intentional and intended for satire and sarcasm. If you do not agree with the material or are offended, I don't care)

Once upon a time, there was an Entomologist called Danny who went to a restaurant in Mumbai for dinner. While having soup, he saw a Fly in it and thus was about to call the waiter to complain when the Entomologist inside him took over. The Fly was a good specimen, not too different apparently from the other flies you get in your soup. But what astounded him was the fact that it was an Indian Fly and had one extra leg. He was fascinated. Danny was already making a short film on the insects in India. He decided to include the Fly in it as well. So began the filming. At the same time, Danny wrote a paper on the different insects and the Fly in particular. The paper went on to be award winning. The Film didn’t stay far behind. The film had a conversation between an almost extinct Bumblebee and a new type of Cricket that Danny had found. The movie dwelled a lot on the Cricket’s history, his life and his origins. The Fly had a very small part in it. But when the movie was shown, the Fly and the movie had been marketed very well. Everyone wanted to see the Fly with the extra leg. Everyone went crazy about her. Soon the press was printing all kinds of news about the Fly. Someone found out the Fly’s ex. They printed the entire scoop. The Fly had become the Buzz of town. Then they started linking the Fly and the little Cricket. Everything went crazy after that. Papers were written about the Fly. Another Entomologist named Woody became equally fascinated with the Fly. He started off on his own paper and another film. Suddenly the Fly was making headlines everywhere. All the other insects in Danny’s film, although more important, soon lost out. The hives of 2 small insects were broken down while the Fly kept zooming ahead. The madness was not stopping.

All this while, the Lame Geek sat in his house and laughed at the stupidity of the others. The Fly had nothing too different than the other flies. But she was soon the talk of the town. The Lame Geek was soon amused by the stupidities of life.

To quote in true Shakespearean style, "For she will be the dumb Fly for all time, and her name will be Freida!"

The Weird Fashion of the XX group

Just to clarify, XX group implies the part of human population having only XX chromosomes. I could have said women, but then I will be slammed for being a sexist or chauvinistic guy. So I quote facts.

Moving on…

There is a group of ladies on my floor in the office (yes, they are from the good looking lot, but that is not why I am writing this blog) who for some reason make it a point to wear clothes which the lame geek ( Moi!!) is never quite able to understand. Mind you, they do follow the proper office policy of decent dressing, but I am never able to understand what they are thinking. My office has a policy that on Fridays, casual wear is allowed. However, I do not understand how bright orange cargo pants qualify as business casuals. The clothes these women wear are pulled right out of Govinda movies. Blue tshirt and red pant. One day, one of the very slim members of the Champak gang as we call them these days, wore a green salwar kurta with a red dupatta. (whew… remembering the details is so difficult. For guys it is so easy. Shirt or tshirt, pant/trouser, or jeans) looking more like a parrot than anything else. I played the role of a Parrot in my KG-II drama act. I looked better. One day this same parrot lady wore what can be best described as a pink Slinky as earrings (for those who don’t know what a Slinky is, Google or Wiki it) The same day, one of her fellow Champaks wore Mini Gong earrings ( Gong : A gong is an East and South East Asian musical instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet) I think it is some sort of alarm system. If she falls asleep, the person next to her can strike the Mini Gong to wake her up. The mentioned Champak looks more like the witch from the movie Makdi. Seriously, one look at her and you will feel like soon she is going to start screaming and laughing Mu hu ha ha ha…. Girls…. I don’t know if this is the fashion trend these days, but seriously, forgive me for laughing at all this. Whatever happened to the normal clothing. Speaking of that, it is Monday today, 4 days till the next Champak day. Let’s see what happens on that day.

Ashwin Ranade.... @23 - The transience or transition?

I turned 23 last week. And the journey from 22 to 23 has been... eventful.

There is a line in the book Five point Someone by Chetan Bhagat..

Life is uncertain, screwed up at times, but still fun.

Chetan Bhagat... Boss... the 2 books you wrote after that sucked big time.... But you are now my Life Guru!!

Last year was full of changes. After 22 years of shielded life, I was finally sent out to find my place in the world. And it has been a roller coaster ride ever since.

I saw life in a different colour in the last few months. I saw people change.

I saw one of my best friend turn and walk away. Daily Chats about any topic with that friend being reduced to 30-50 second birthday wishes on each other's birthday.

I saw sides of people's personalities which confuse me even though I have known them for a long time.

I saw disappointment, both in social and professional life. I experienced first hand, what "getting a raw deal" means.

One thing I learnt from the past one year on the job - Philosophers are people who have never done any software testing in their life!

People say that in adversity, you know who your true friend is. I say, you don't exactly need adversity to see that.

I saw failure. And felt how it feels like when you don't have your own people around when failure happens.

I saw rejection. And let me tell you... It sucked! The worst part about rejection is that you start doubting yourself. You start doubting your worth. And the anger of you being denied something or some job is nothing compared to your childhood experience of not getting the toy you wanted. And that, my friends, is something you don't want to do. I learnt that the hard way. I had people who helped me in doing that.

But most of all, in the last year, I saw joy. And this wasn't any artificial joy. But the pure intrinsic "Export-Quality" joy. Every adversity is fun after you start considering it a challenge. And there are events in life which make the bad experiences seem like nothing but a puddle of muddy water. I saw my elder brother get married to the most wonderful person I could get as a sister-in-law. I saw my Aai and Baba welcome her into our family and I saw her become one of us. I saw the joy on their faces and on mine when my brother got married to her. I got to meet her family who now pamper me as much as she does if not more. I got the chance to make a special bond with her, both my brother's wife and also as a member of my family who is my friend when I want someone to talk to.

I saw my brother get his due for the hard work he has put in for the past 5 years. It is a great feeling to see your brother or sister succeed when they have been working that hard. Coz that is the best motivation possible for you.

I would always feel jealous of my brother when he started earning as he would buy stuff for the folks at home. I got to feel it first hand, how unimaginably great it feels like when you buy a nice sari for your mom and a great shirt for your dad. I got to feel how nice it feels like when you take your folks to lunch and pick up the tab.

I got to experience the joy of making a big purchase with my hard earned money. (though I don't plan to make any for a long time now)

Though some friends deserted me along the way, I was lucky enough to find some new ones in the process. The group was good and welcoming enough to accept me even though I was, so to speak, an outsider for them. But the process has been fun. I met people who changed my view of life from downright pessimistic in the first few months to a more practical one. I also saw some acquaintances become good friends in the process.

While some things have changed, other things have remained the same. I still quarrel a lot with my Mom and dad. ( and yeah they are right all the time.... but can't accept that during the argument :) ). And yes, I still receive my mom's call everyday asking me whether I have taken my medication. ( Very sweet of her... Makes me smile everytime she calls. And no... I don't transform from Henry Jekyll to Edward Hyde if I don't take it.)

Now on wacky side... I am still single. This isn't supposed to be a desperate call to all woman kind to know that I am single, but why take chances :P

Ok... moving on. I have to cook these days. All these years, Mom made it look so simple.

The first thing I cooked got burnt.

The second one was a little more spicy than expected.

Maybe that is a rite of passage.

I still get up late at times for office. I forget to wash my clothes on the weekend (fear not my fellow office mates... I always have a backup ready. so no stinky clothes)

It still rains only on those days on which I forget to carry my raincoat to office.

My attempts at learning the flute have not yieled anything yet other than cries of anger from my annoyed room mates from time to time. But I am not giving up... even if it means that I have to make them go deaf in the process.. or lose a few teeth.

I am still making plans for my guitar lessons. I clean my room only when I slip on the dust that has accumulated on the floor.

I still am the geek who feels he is a castaway on Gilligan's island when I am in the women's section in Shopper's Stop (Don't ask me how that happened. Nothing to gossip about. bottom line, I find myself lost with no other land mass in sight when that happens)

Now for the more wacky stuff.... I have taken a fascination to watching Telugu movies and listening to Tamil songs. (Again, don't ask me how that happened. Nothing to gossip. It mostly started because of a lady called Tamannah Bhatia, the actress)

I have eaten so many pizzas in the past few months that the mention of any pizza makes me nauseate.

My Laptop hard disc crashed and wiped out all my data. Then again I was running Windows on it. So can't categorize that as wacky... that is downright normal.

I still hate Himesh Reshamiya, and Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan and Ekta Kapoor and Shah rukh Khan and Karan Johar.

New addition to the list.. Freida Pinto. More on that some other time.

THE wackiest of all?? I wrote a poem!

So as all of you can see (let's be practical, this stuff isn't going to be seen by many eyes) Life is uncertain, screwed up at times, but still fun. Life from 22 to 23 has been all of that, and some more.

So what now? How will the journey from AshwinRanade@23 to AshwinRanade@24 be different? Will it be a transience, or will it again be a transition? Will it be as eventful? Will the journey be more productive and favourable? Or will it be another depressing sojourn followed by unimaginable bliss?

There is a sitcom called How I met your mother in which the lead character has been explaining to his kids for the last 4 years how he met his wife. and till the season finale of season 4, he hasn't met her. So do I meet someone as well this year? (My brother met his wife at around the same age. So let's see if Lightning strikes the same place twice!)

Well, all that is for me and you to find out. So see you again same time, same place next year. Till then, The Ashspear stays 23 years Old ( or isn't that 23 years Young :P )

Pure innocence, a camera and some wonderful memories

They say life is a continuous cycle. It has it's twists and turns but in the end, it follows the same old pattern. Unless you are Benjamin Button, you come into this world as a cute little baby with natural bumper pads, unaware of life's cruel tactics and then you grow up to be old, matured and cynical of life's ways. You come and go in diapers. But it is the journey in between which matters. These days, in every place, I see my friends, family and co-workers putting up images of their kids, nephews and nieces on the computer, on social networking sites and their Cellphones. Needless to say, I do the same. Babies are cute.... let's not deny that. They are so cute and loveable, you would forget the crying and tantrums just looking at them. Ask the baby's parents and they will probably agree or disagree on this. But one thing is for sure, they love the kid no matter what.

My mom once said that obviously pregnancy is a harrowing experience. But once you are into labour and when you get to see your baby's face for the first time, the pain just takes nano seconds to fade away. I will never know how true that actually is, maybe it's just how mothers are built and that is when the maternal instict takes over, but it must be true. Babies have the most innocent and pure expressions. That is where probably the snaps come in. You get to take snaps of that innocence because in some years, it is going to be diluted by the harshness that comes with maturity. And these snaps will then be memories of wonderful times. The times of your life which you will explain as stories to your friends and probably bore them to death telling them about how wonderful your kid's first step was, how he cried when you didn't give him the gift he wanted, or how peaceful he looks when when he sleeps. And all these times, you will be filled with emotions!

My dad takes snaps of me and my family. He has been doing that since we were kids, filling countless photo albums in the process and a big box with those albums. And ever since my

brother got him a digital camera, every event has clicks associated with it :) There are snaps of me and my brother when I was a kid. And every time my 'Aai' (my mom) and 'Baba' ( my dad) see them, their face lights up remembering those days with the most wonderful smile possible. I think it is their way of having solid triggers for the memories.

Now, when myself and my brother are away from home, I realise how much they must be missing us. More than 20 years of looking out for the kids has now been partially replaced by waiting for them to come home in vacations. Face to face quarrels (mind you I accept that my mom and dad have always been right) have now been replaced ( Partially again... I fight with my Mom all the time) by phone calls to ask me if I am still at work at 11 PM or at home preparing to sleep. And all along what remain constant are the memories of the time spent together. Some in the form of snaps... and many more in their hearts! Thanks Aai and Baba, for all the wonderful times.