We didnt start the fire..Indian Version

The song is an edited indian version of "We did'nt start the fire -Billy Joel"..I have tried to incorporate most of the events but guess I have missed many as well.The events are not in exact chronoligical order as well. Uh..neway could learn a lot a history researching on it..

’49 Dadasaheb ambedkar,Kashmir ceasfire, red china, Cold war
Commonwealth, Godse, Gavaskar born today

’50 Naushad melodies, Sardar Patel no more, communist back home
North korea, south korea, Mother Teresa

’51 Do biga zamin, h-bomb, Five year plans, Asian games
Lala Amarnath, the star and I and the catcher in the rye

’52 Pandit Nehru, elections, england’s got a new queen
India wins a test match, Queen Elizabeth, Green Revolution

Chorus
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

’53 congress party, Stalin, nasser and Truman
Raj Kapoor, Tenzing Norgay, communist bloc
Ambedkar, Lal Amarnath, Vyjayantimala, denim
Indian airlines, Vande Mataram

’55-56 einstein, Ravi Shankar, pyar hua ikarar hua
Warsaw pact, Sathyajith Ray, Sputnik in space
Devdas, Bandung conference, Shree 420, krushchev
Elvis Presley, Balbir Singh, trouble in the suez

Chorus

’57 -58Aparajito, pasternak, IIT’s, Naipaul
Sputnik, Hirakud dam, Mother India
Krishna Menon, Ayub Khan, Baba Amte
Dilip Kumar, homicide, children of thalidomide

’59-60 Vietnam war,Fidel Castro, doordarshan born today
pluffed sleeve blouses, castro, HIV strikes
Milkha Singh, Dalai Lama, kennedy
Air India flies USA, Malgudi days, Mughal E Azam

Chorus



’61-64’ Khushwant singh, annadurai, nationalization
Rafi, berlin, goa annexed
Aradhana, China War
MGR, Sarabhai, White revolution happens big way
Nehruji pass away, what else do I have to say

Chorus


’65-‘79
NAM, Tashkent pact , Asha-Lata ,Bangladesh liberated
INC splits away, angry man comes to screen, Kishore hums away
ISRO makes us proud ,Mera naam Joker,Osho ,Smiling Buddha
Emergency, Mandal rocks,Janata party is the say

79’89’
asiad ,Bhopal gas blows up,Hum Log,PT Usha in the race
Khalistan , rakesh sharma goes to space ,Bluestar,Indira gandhi blown away
terror on the airline, Rushdie gets Fatwa,
Rajiv gandhi, LTTE in srilanka,VP Singh days



’90-‘99
Gulf war ,Insurgency peaks ,Masjid, world Cup, Harshad Mehta
KBC, Bombay Blast ,Bofors, sachin is superstar
Infosys,Kargil ,aids, Tsumani strikes
Clemenceau at Alang, Pakistan under martial rule
Rock and roller Reliance wars, I can’t take it anymore

Chorus

We didn’t start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...

Oh..Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

confessions of a school kid

My own little pleasures in school....Those are times when innovations happen..........

1) In school we had this amazing craze for cards especially with those WWF stars ruling our idol list and football cards (Bubble Gum Company’s raked a mollah those days) that became rage during the world cup. They were my material possessions those days..In fact study books were poor second cousins in my room and I had this bad habit of excessive adoration for the cards. The game had to be played in the sly in some obscure corner in school.Infact teachers perceived those who played cards as kids with not-so-good academic track records .But those flipping card games with passionate calls for the height of “giant gonsalves” or the goals scored by “Klinsmann” gave thrilling moments those days.......


2) “FLAME” ...It was a game that was quite a rage when I reached seventh standard...Infact it can be called a teenager’s “Horoscope matching technique”. For the not informed FLAME translates to “Friend Love Affair Marriage Enemy”. Infact with a unique permutation of the names of the suitor and the princess charming a bunch of freaks decide whether they are destined to fall in the lucky letters in FLAME...Absurd it may be , But that was a game the entire class watched in earnest.Rumours fly like helter skelter the next day..Suitor in question will be looked at “Uh-U-ARE-AFTER-THAT-GIRL” kinda look...Damn funny neways....


3) A lot of games can be categorized under a single segment which included legendary “Book Cricket”..”Dot box” and “cross and zeroes”...These games are universal and should be categorized under “legendary folk games during school days”...eh...Since these games could be played using a scrap of paper and pencil it was easy for students to pass of as attending to the jargon coming from the teacher’s mouth.........

4) Then there were my own ways which involved making weirdo designs on “Nataraj pencil with those red/black stripes”...Making sculptures on chalks...Creating a paper cricket ball with as many rubber bands as possible...paper boats and rockets...using school desks for my own personal sculpture fantasies using compasses and dividers which are supposed to be put to better use...the list is endless...........

Uh..Tempting to go back to school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Down the lane

Year 2086

My grandson was in his toes when he saw the bold headlines in “The General Express”......

“YERJUNE SING JUNIOR INTRODUCES RESERVATION FOR GENERAL CATEGORY –BROUHAHA IN PARLIMENT”

Backward Delhi.27th May... The union HRD minister has introduced reservation for the general category segments of the society considering the widespread protest that has been going rounds in the past 80 years. It implies realizing the dreams of millions of “general” class people. At the press conference the spokesman..........................”

This means he has a fighting chance to do his graduation in a “not-so-bad” college. He had lost all hope of getting into a decent college since he dint come under a privileged class which ironically calls themselves “backward”. But this should be enough to kindle his spirits. Meanwhile I turn on the television to hear the latest on the news which was so close to our hearts some years back. But I am broken when I see the opposition leader opposing any reservations for the mainstream society. After all in his words it’s tantamount to “suppressing the opportunities for the so called backward class”. Any flicker of hope my grandson entertained was immediately shattered when he saw that it will be just another political gimmick.

Meanwhile my so called backward neighbour who apparently is a doc (thanx to the 85% reservations that our government blessed on them) stares at me with a wry smile. He is obviously disgruntled at me since I had been craving to get a chunk of the reservations. My daughter comes from office early and she doesn’t look quite happy. She wont be retiring as a headmistress .Her turn will come next decade since as per the rules priority is given to “the under privileged backward class”.

My pensions hardly meet my medical expenses and I wail deep inside at my helplessness. It shouldn’t have been like this...............The rich business man who stayed near my home is still rich. He doesn’t spare a second glance at the headlines. His son is brandishing his gleaming Porsche in some “Wales university” ignorant of hard truths back home. For him “reservations” aren’t an issue worth discussing over a cup of coffee.
Meanwhile I see a gloom descent in my grandson’s eyes......My daughter is shattered, for her years of hard work goes unrecognized...Which category do we come in...Are we just dispensable guinea pigs for political big shots to experiment with...

I look back to those years... When I saw those reservation laws being passed....When our pleas fell on deaf ears....When I watched those lathicharges on television.... When we kept on electing those morons.....

Why if could have stopped that happening..............


This piece of news is so ironical now..........

contemplations

“A long time ago lived a prince in a kingdom where all the people were a happy lot. The prince had a beautiful princess who was adored by the people of the tiny kingdom...But there lived an evil king in the nearby kingdom of......”Those stories were relishing and I remember pleading my mom to buy the tinkle that was kept so temptingly on the stands at Higginbotham’s...It cost 5 rupees those days and I have shed many a tear not being able to persuade mom to buy that....And sometimes while waiting at Trivandrum railway station to catch a train I always expressed my fetish for “Gold Spot” ...

Me:”Amma...Am feeling real thirsty because of the heat”
Mom (who already knew what was coming from me): “Oh..Yeah I have bought this bottle of water. It’s the best thirst quencher”
Me:”Amma...But how it will be like having a Gold Spot. I guess my thirst will be gone only after having that”
Mom (she has already started flaunting her teacher stares):”How many times have I told you....? (Rest of the script is immaterial ...I have already lost the battle)”

Gold Spot cost seven rupees those days...And my Government employed parents considered them luxuries...Frugality was the buzzword those days...Later did I come to know long term financial planning is characteristic of any Govt servant...Their planning is highly detailed with accurate predictions that should make the Morgan Stanley’s and Mc Kinsey’s look mediocre...And my parents thought far ahead.... and all the Gold Spots..Tinkles...5 stars were dispensable luxuries...But they always gave me pleasant surprises when least expected...And now when I recollect those days were usually the first days of the month when they got their hard earned dough...So it was not exactly like living during “The Great Depression” ...Those books were doubly enjoyable. Those chocolates twice tastier...and those gold spots many times quenching.....The occasional 50 paisa or 1 rupee that comes my way went to the nearby bakery which sold Sip-up’s. Sip-up’s were a craze those days just like we have people flaunting Pepsi diet these days (As if the Diet Pepsi is gonna make them loose weight)...And still if you had only 10 paisa you could still buy “Gas muttai”(poorer version of chloromint)...This poor man’s candy has braved inflation and influx of perfetti toffees. You can still get a dozen of em for a rupee or two...Those were times when little joys were exponentially happier for me...

15 years later....... (Just like they show in movies...eh)

Am standing in a main street in Mysore with friends...We just have come out of the coffee day outlet after having Irish coffee and other fantabulously described breeds of exquisite coffees...They cost us two hundred bucks with taxes amounting a cool 25 bucks....My friends tosses a rupee to a pestering beggar nearby...Am already contemplating whether to buy a new sleeker mobile that cost something that was an astronomical figure 20 years back...

And I recollect the ad line of a famous card firm “There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there's....”

Is there really anything that money can’t buy???Ofcoz they can buy you everything...But am not having the same pleasure having the coffee which cost 60 bucks that I used to have while having the hard earned 5 star 15 years back.... There is no pity while parting the one rupee coin to the beggar...Am not drinking the “frooti” spending hours like I used to...
Am still at odd’s comprehending why its so...

Psychology test developed by Hopkins medical Center

Got tagged by swathi..Still figuring out whether its insane to answer these weird questions...neways its fun when you are sitting idle in office and got nothing else to do...

The question below seems like a psychology test or is it something still dumber....

1.Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.

Am writing this sitting in office and I dont find any books nearby..But still found a book 3 cubicles upfront on CAD which says... "Give an offset of required dimensions to get the desired result"..how stunning a sentence..eh!!

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can

Cubicle walls with the calender stuck to it..

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?

Channel V..listened to the Pardes song...n then some portion of the ghulam song..
I should have said CNBC just to sound intellectual...lost oppurtunity.!!!

4. Without looking, guess what time it is?

12 in the noon..

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?

10.52 am..uh..close call.. :)

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

They switched of the air conditioner..so its just the music from my comp n the fan humming..

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

Had a strawberry milkshake from the canteen outside..yummy..........

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?

The music list I had decided to play for today....but am playing "The Return of Innocence" for the fourth time today...

9. What are you wearing?

A blue T shirt given by the company and a Lee jeans..thank god I got a brand to speak of...Thanking my stars...If I were at home ..should have been talking about pathetic clothings..

10. Did you dream last night?

really I cant recollect that...but usually am dreaming all day..

11. When did you last laugh?

yesterday night while making a call to my college mate...

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?

Am in glass cage finding hard to find wall space..But i can see the FIRE exit sticker on it..

13. Seen anything weird lately?

Always do..when I look at myself in the mirror... :)

14. What do you think of this quiz?

Will there be anything like.. you have some points for all these questions and in the end say..

<15 abnormal
=15 normal
>15 extra terrestrial

I always try to mug up such surveys to fit in the normal block...eh...

15. What is the last film you saw?

Aarru..tamil movie...after a real long time I got to watch a characterstic tamil flick..
me a big time Trisha fan........

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?

Invest in a petroleum firm..See its nice to invest in firms that loot the Junta..

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.

Oh..I had this amazing date with Preity Zinta..But she told me to keep it anonymous..neverthless the paparazzi can be a big trouble..

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

Go back a thousand years..Life should be quite fun that time...

19. Do you like to dance?

The question should be how others percieve about me dancing..and they call it "pathetic" :(

20. George Bush.

War doesn't determine who's right. War determines who's left.

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

Mira...

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

Just cant imagine a name...I need lotta time to think abt that..

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?

Nope..But would defintely love short trips...

24. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?

Dude..you are too good..ready to be my minister in heaven??

25. 5 people who must also do this in their blog.

uh..Anyone who thinks got enough time to do such weird jobs.......... :)

random

Inspired by a blog ...just felt like jotting few random things...........

5 things you never want to forget

1) My first holy communion... Where I was the cynosure of all eyes...When a party was thrown in my honor or whatever........When I could stand in the middle of a photo shot...unlike before where I used to be part of fringe add ons in most family photo ops........That was the first time I shook hands with a huge number of well wishers...For the moment I was truly a celebrity (in my own eyes).....

2) Wining the painting competition while at school...Nothing beats the euphoria I had when the prize was announced. That certificate was the only armoury I possessed when my friends used to brandish those top scoring student certificates...Fastest 100m certificates...or best singer certificates.......Felt good to know I was good at least in something...

3) First time when I bought something for my parents with my own dough. It felt good to be in the other side after a long 23 years...It really clicked me at that point.”Raising and taking care of someone for 23 years is no big deal and I wont be able to repay them any day even if I promise them the sun ”

4) My occasional trip to gopalsamy betta near Mysore..This place is a hidden paradise. I do experience true bliss anytime I visit this place...A secluded hill top from where you can see the nilgiris in full flourish...

5) My first trip to my native place alone in a train. It was a feat indeed traveling alone on a four hour trip from Trivandrum to Kottayam when I was barely 13 years old...It was a radical shift from the journeys before where I was safely confined to my parent’s protective cocoon. The best part was when I was applauded by my relatives for my “heroic act.”.!!!


5 things you wish to forget

1) The day when I was caught copying in a exam at school...uh..I felt ashamed big time especially when I had to look at my parents face after that. Should say I was fried alive that day....

2) I was given an admirable role in a skit at school and was party to making it a disaster because I forgot my lines and the hour long skit was cut short to a few minutes as a result.

3) When I was caught skipping the Christmas mass and was found sleeping in the car along with my cousins. The high browed elders at home were not very lovable that time.....

4) The times when I spoke rudely to my parents when I was kid. Although for trivial reasons I still feel guilty about it.

5) The viva’s I had to endure at college when a blank faced ignorant bum like me had to configure engineering concepts that were as foreign to me as a Neanderthal man would have felt about internet.......

I would like to pass on this tag to others....guaranteed this gonna give you lotta pleasure pondering about good ol days............