btw, resisting very successfully to have a mobile... father doesnt approve of it, he thinks time hasnt yet come for it.... and I cant have one without telling him, since I dont want to have one on the sly...

then went with Monish, Pappu and gang to MegaBowl, but we ended up playing more video games than bowling! came back tired since spending many hours there....

btw, I have a bit of regret now... In evening, I wanted to do something... But I couldnt do it, though I wanted to do it badly. ofcourse I went ahead partially and success came my way 100%. But still i couldnt continue it, maybe my shyness! Now the moment slipped away and even if I want to do it, I cant.

Having regrets for missing a lot of things in late teens, which I could have carried out with elan. But for last few yrs I have been doing the things I like, no matter what others care, since I dont want anymore regrets... But still events like today still happen once in a while... Even I am a human:)

just kept wondering, if the technicians there knew how to use Linux, then Govt. would have saved lakhs!

Well, we are doing our 8th sem main project at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).... and the team is Jaisingh, Darshan and Nandakumar besides me:) wow, the place is so grt... been visiting there a number of times by now to get all the paperwork done... and the process isnt finished yet.

during a email-debate abt "religion and India" with Deepak and Jaidev, Deepak suggested me to put up few lines of mine I had written in mail, here in journal. so be it:

"Hindurastra is not the one RSS talks. I dont want a change in name. I want a change in the way our society works. on ethics and principles. thats HinduRashtra. and it has nothing to do with Hindu religion."

btw, doing soo many things and being is many places these days that I want my journal not to be a log of them... but...aI place where I can scribble my views... besides few events and nonevents.

I got up horribly alone.. really really alone... it frightened me no end.... wanted to go to old hangouts, but realised no one would be there as all my old frens are busy in their own work... thankfully caught up with few, played a bit of snooker (no, never will i learn that game) and thankfully evening came.. played some cricket and retired for the day with a bath, chocolates and Amar Chitra Kathas (i still read them... managed to read some 400 out of some 600 till now).  

Lets talk abt History of Religion in Bharat.

First, there was no religion. The scriptures, holy texts (as they are called now), etc., talked about spirituality, bullshit, science and superstition. They never even knew about Hindu religion, as is today. They talked abt Rama as deity of Bharat. They never talked abt Rama as deity of Hindus. I again dont want to talk on Aryan invasion as all talk crap without proof. Again dont combine it with religion.

Then came subsequent exploitation of have-nots thanks to casteism. Again this has nothing to do with religion, but a reflection of economic and social structure.

Story starts with the advent of Buddhism. Even Buddhism is not a religion. Its a refinement of then social practices and thoughts. But 2 religions were born, thanks to half-knowledge ppl, who saw the refinement as a religion itself. one, Buddhism and the other which is not Buddhism (grouped together as Hindus).

Then the rise and fall of Buddhism. Then Sikhism was born. Then Muslims came, plundered, occupied, plundered, raped, made this their home and finally nurtured Bharath. Britishers came, divided us, exploited, left.

All this time, Hindu religion got its identity thanks to the advent of other religions. Started just to distinguish everyone from few neo-philosophers and ended up as being just another religion.

Hindutva means Bharatiyata. But it now means Hindu religion, and we refer that word by its present meaning.

But still, there is a lot of difference between Hindu Rashtra and Hindutwa.

I am a secularist to the core. But I am a proud Hindu (nay, descendent of Bharat). And I dream about Hindu Rashtra.

Hindu Rashtra has nothing to do with Hindu Religion as is today. Hindu Rashtra is in present day context - Secularism.

Talking practically, Secularism is the future of India. Not the secularism of Mahatma, not that of Nehru and not that of Mahesh Bhatt. The real secularism we need now  is that of Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

Coming back to Gujarat, its the need of the hour to debate on our vision, not rape, loot and burn our brothers and sisters.

so it sure was a very content day :)

my father came and went back to andhra leaving me brimming with money! so what did I do?? i declared:  "I will pay myself the telephone bill everything over 1000rs for last few bills and all bills in future". With few thousands going that way (thanks to this stupid principle of self-reliance of mine), i suddenly am left with a modest sum.... and if i buy this Titan Slim watch (5k, sapphire crystal), then i may end up bankrupt :(

btw, i always consider watches to be a great companion.... since its something which u always wear, something u will be looking at!! i may be having a few watches with me but each has a story to tell, a reminder of a phase in my life. its not that i go to shop and pick one up... each one of my watch (some 4 at present, 2 lost) evokes a nostalgic past!

i know this uncle of mine (a watch buff) who has these watches each having a history behind it! and how much he prides abt his Omega 50k watch.... 

But dont laugh when i disclose that the watch i wear now is some 4 yrs old and not that state of art! But it has a grt emotional history (it was gifted to me when badly needed and least expected from unexpected person), so i keep wearing it still, in fact rejecting a phoren one about to be gifted by my sis sometime back... 

and these days, Apurv, Raghuram  and Nandakumar gave treat for their TCS jobs... and i am sad... Raghuram got away spending little on his treat... sometime in future, i will really make him pay a fat bill :)

btw, saw Chennakesava Reddy... pretty bad film... saw another english film at midnight in santu's place. I liked Douglas in that film... he acted to the character...

its lab test week and so some work to do.... shuld buckle myself up after these labs to inaugurate my books! Raghu got married one of these days! burp! nice food out there! too bad i missed food somewhere else as it was overlapping! win some, lose some....