Can two people stay happy together?

Here’s what I had written back.

It’s not easy. Look, the best thing you can do is to find a person who loves you for exactly who you are — good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, this habit, that habit — the right person will always think you’re the best in the world, no matter what.

Sometimes it’s hard to see the good in other person because you’re so involved with what you are thinking, because you are focusing on what you are feeling more than you remember how much you love the other person. At times like these, you might even get into a fight with the other person, and even think that the love is gone.

You have to remember that LOVE is not about how the other person makes you feel — it’s about how you make the other person feel no matter if the other person even acknowledges your love. It’s a one-sided affair — from your heart to the person you love. The lucky ones get loved back. Don’t insult your love by expecting a return — it’s not a bank account, it’s love!

Again.

The most profound one is my marriage in September to a wonderful girl from Jallandhar. I took 2 weeks off and we went south to the picturesque Lakshadweep islands where even my phone wasn’t working. Going there (we put up at Agatti) at beginning of the season turned out to be a boon in disguise. There were hardly any tourists there and we had a whale of a time doting on each other, walking along the white sand beaches, turtle watching, snorkelling, and doing about a dozen other different things.

Married life is certainly very different from the one before. What’s incredible is the psychological change that comes from within by itself, altering one’s perception of just about everything, including how one spends time… and where. And I’ll leave that at that.

I am really really sorry, that I wasted your time and my energy, I forgot that only the sleeping ones can wake up not the dead ones. Your inner child, your will to live life is dead. I am sorry for you. and ya sure you enjoy your sorry life, cause this is the only thing you have “Sorry”, in few months you will get married, and then you will live happily ever after, but remember the only thing then you miss will be hanging out with us, you will not be able to go on long drives on bikes cause then there will be some one else, who will become your responsibility, you will go on long drives for sure but in a steel cage, and I thought slavery is dead and we are free. We are still slave of our sorries.We are not free cause we love to live in cages, cages of steel, cages of concrete, cages of fear.

Enjoy your sorry life!

People! Don’t let your life pass you by in the daily grind. Grab the opportunities that present themselves to you for they are rather selective of who they present themselves to and the chances of them doing it again are slim and grow slimmer by the day…

Recently I came across the collector’s edition of Calvin & Hobbes: The Complete Calvin & Hobbes. This includes all the syndicated strips plus all special illustrated stories and poems that have appeared in individual books. Plus an original introduction by the man himself, Bill Watterson. There are full-colour covers and spot art pieces all over the collection too. All this in 3 hardbound books in a box.

I ordered it. Sort of a New Year’s gift to myself. Got it on January 29.

Some photos:

• Computers
• Internet
• Music

How many people get a chance to do what they want to do, their hobby being their job, and their passion for something getting a chance to become something real & practical? Not many. I’m one of the luckier few.

I can’t talk about it right now but trust me, I’m really excited right now with the possibilities of what I’ve managed to get involved with! Watch this space for some info.

• Manage a team of 15 designers for online advertising/marketing + brand development work. This is the core work that takes up bulk of my time. This includes art direction, visualisation, copy writing and all the related stuff except actual production (working in software).
• Manage & develop accounts. These days there are two core accounts that need my active involvement, plus three that I am developing. There are 7 accounts in all where we do regular work (at least a few hours per week) and about as many other accounts that send in work on and off but get priority in the work queue when they do due to past association or future potential.
• Supervise network, system, and office administrators for all things technical (network issues, hardware upgrade, etc.) and non-technical (management issues, procurement, etc.)
• Provide training in non-technical fields. I generally take daily sessions of my team as part of my effort to upgrade their skills in an organised manner. These have expanded to taking sessions related to better management, self-development, etc. of other groups within office.
• Product development. I’m involved in at least 2 internal products that are being developed. I’m running the show in one and am part of a 3-member management team in the other. There are a few other projects where I’m helping out in different capacities, mostly consultative.
• Process Engineering. Being the guy who’s responsible for writing about 80% of processes being followed in the office, having initiated and handled the initial bit of the ISO 9002 certification drive, and the fact that despite being the largest in the office, my team is the most organised and productive, I am currently taking a fresh look at the processes and writing down a common framework around which the entire office will function. For now, I’m working on improving time tracking & reporting of everybody in the office, as well as processes for QA team. Interesting work.

There are quite a few other things that I have my finger in that also take up some time now and then. Little surprise I sleep so less. Anybody wanna hire me?

god is a witness to your crime. you will eat more salt than what is prescribed for a man of your body mass with your activity profile and consequently you will have to drink more water and piss more and in one such visits to the loo, you will become obsessed with the idea of painting your toilet bright candy pink and in the process of the said painting, dunk your finger in the paint and draw hearts on the toilet seat just as your best friend walks in to find out doing that, takes a photo and sends it to all your friends.

They had apparently hoped that Karizma would grab the CBZ market. I guess with it being a 225cc bike in the 70+k range, and availability of 150cc category bikes from Bajaj in the 50k+ range, they had some trouble doing so.

I had bought CBZ in October 2000. It was my first big purchase with my earned money. The only reason I had bought CBZ at that time was because it was, at that time, the best indian-made 2-wheeler in the market, especially for a 22-year old guy. I had initially planned to buy a LML scooter since before then I had been driving one loaned from my brother-in-law. A few weeks before I was to make the purchase, I was talking to one of my friends in the parking lot and just happened to sit down on a 2-wheeler. I felt so comfortable that I had to mention it to my friend and inquired about the bike I was sitting on (and believe me, I didn’t know squat about bikes at that time; not even what was available in the market). Once I knew the name, I knew what I was going to buy.

My mind made up, I bought the bike as September turned into October. I remember I did not know how to start it. That surely drew a few smiles from the assembly of people just outside the showroom, marvelling at the contours of this fine silver piece of machinery which at that time was not only a symbol of the well-to-do but generally considered the best looking 2-wheeler on the road. It showed the fuel needle at empty and I was told it had enough to go to the petrol pump. I filled up the tank there once I made it across, learning how to change gears with my foot instead of my hand and not really accustomed to the raw power it gave me. Boy! Did it have an awesome pickup! The vroom and the hum of the CBZ engine, the vibrations of the body under me, the balance, the seat moulding as it seemed to adjust to my body’s shape, the clear “O master! I am thine” message that it gave me, the experience! made me realise what those bikers felt that I had so often seen in the biker Hollywood movies, and those seemingly insane guys I knew who would rattle off bike specs and drool at the mention of Yamahas and Hondas, and those who would groan when somebody said ‘Harley-Davidson’.

Yes I know CBZ was nothing compared to those bikes but it was the best in India then in any respect, and it was mine, and it was purring below me, gently coaxing me to let it unleash the power it held.

I love that bike. Anybody who knows me will probably smile at that statement for after driving it for 5 years the petrol tank sprang a leak as my so-called lack of time let me lull myself into an excuse for not maintaining it. I’ve been telling everybody I will get it repaired and most likely in November I actually will.

Meanwhile, i will look at all the classic CBZs on the road, and the vinyl-covered abominations Hero Honda launched a couple of years after I bought mine which probably drove the last nail in the bike’s coffin anyway, and remember the beauty that stands at my home.

I am hoping the new CBZ avatar titled “CBZ Xtreme” is going to go back to the roots and launch the bike in its glory, reminding all bikers in India that even now, no other bike in the country packs the power, the grace, the looks, and the sensuality of a true CBZ.

Update: I took my CBZ to the show-room today. It is so messed up (apparently) that the mechanic there called me at 6pm and told me he will continue working on it tomorrow. I don’t know how much the current bill is, but it crossed 5k around 4:30pm.