Mischievous
He had a ‘knack‘ for a systematic destruction of things – and specifically the neighbours’ scooter. That was always the target for his swordsmen, pike men, arrow men and even scouts from the mud-fort built during Diwali. How could the army survive without a war being waged? What would they do otherwise and how would the king, Shivaji, be happy?
The monsoon had begun a couple of weeks earlier and the weather was cool and pleasant. He had just returned from his maternal uncle’s (mama’s) place. It was the last day of the summer holidays. This simply was the opportune moment.
Only the kid knew what all ways he had tricked the neighbour. It was last day before school. He just had to make his presence felt, before the school began.
He played around with the scooter. Systematically disassembled some parts, forgot about it, went to the maidan and played cricket in the evening – just like any other day.
When he came back home, to his disbelief he saw an argument between his parents and the neighbours. The neighbours held him guilty for the regular goof ups in their scooter.
He lied. He completely rejected that he had anything to do with it. He was just too afraid to tell the truth. His parents supported him, for what ‘he’ said.
The argument did end bitterly.
He felt he had won. In his heart of hearts, he had learned a lesson.
The thought of his parents supporting and trusting him – had taught him a lesson he remembered for life.
He knew they would support him and believe in him unconditionally. . This lie gave him the courage to tell the truth – always everafter.
Defensive Publishing
A disclosure that I had submitted, recently got published as a ‘defensive publication’ on IP.com.
The disclosure, detailed a way in which Smart Phones could be used at Point of Sale terminals for receipting purposes. [Thanks to a close friend, for discussing that with me a couple of years ago.]
I had hoped that the invention would be considered for patent purposes. But, it was just published.
Nevertheless, the process of going through the submission, review and publications vs a file – has taught me several things.
Most important thing I got to learn was about – ‘Defensive Publishing’ – what it means, and how it plays a part in protecting the intellectual property of a company. IP.com , has a good explanation for the same here.
“Defensive publishing is a low-cost way to prevent competitors from obtaining patents and protect your freedom to practice.”
My personal views, about the entire patenting process? It needs to undergo a major overhaul. I plan to post a detailed explanation on that soon.
Disclaimer: “The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent my employer’s positions, strategies or opinions.”
Quick ReCap Oct, Nov ‘09
A quick recap of things that have happened over the last few months. Got too lazy for not blogging and posting any updates. But whoever follows me @nishantmodak, never misses me!
Twitter used to be microblogging. Now blogging is an extended Tweet.
iBought the iPhone 3GS 32 GB- Finally! What to say about this? Its THE iPHONE! You get the idea.
I am not at all a typical fanboy @apple, Just as any other person, I hate the entire closed App Store ecosystem.
Even after all this, its the awesome device that I love. It is a techie’s dream come true.
Watched a U2 Concert – Not live on YouTube, but really really live at Norman, Oklahoma!
Worked on OAuth with twitter and completed all the 3 GTalk bots.
One helps me Google effectively.
Another is a video search for you tube . I love this because it helps me watch video right from Gmail.
This one is a GRE Quiz bot – which keeps on asking me antonym / synonym questions almost every hour. – I hate this one, because it does me a reality check every hour or so.
Working on the fourth one.. which could be quite popular – if I can just devote 1 more day completely!
Plan to elaborate on these very soon!
Special Songs / Artists
~Musical Journey Till Now.~
I am Looking inside.. trying to remember the songs / artists that I have come to love over the 25 years of my life. And in doing so I enjoy the process of reminiscing about those days, finding and listening to those songs over again.. and sharing with you all.. with a different perspective on each.
(I have *never* been an avid listener of music, only till recently..when I have had all the free time in the world to do so.)
‘Papa Kehte Hai’
This song from QSQT, is special among all the songs. I very vividly remember, my mom teaching me the dance steps for this song when I was in UKG. The pic on the right is when I performed during the fancy Dress Competition. Guess What? I won! 
. Years from that time, when anyone asked me.. who was my favorite actor? My response was Aamir Khan.. and the reason?.. since I won the fancy dress comp. and the song was that of Aamir..(how intelligent 
). It has remained so since then. Favorite actor – Aamir Khan.. reasons for that have changed though
Playing guitar to the tune of Papa Kehte Hai
‘Dheere Dheere Se’
This is not really a song- I *listened* to. One tends to hum songs unknowingly he/she listens to around them (which happened to be my parents in this case). In particular .. it was my Dad! He used to play the Aashiqui cassette in repeat(!), Imagine, the song playing *dheere dheere* (slowly) and we running around the house! I must admit though that the song remains a classic.. and has found a place in my playlist.
Mālavikāgnimitram (Not really a song)
This was not really a song, but an ‘act’ I did during a play in my 8th Standard. I played the prince Agnimitra. And must admit that, I still laugh at the thought of playing that role! I almost got married during the act! really! to whom? my teacher’s daughter! But then, I could not refuse the role also, as it was offered to me by the same teacher! 
Details about the play? Really? Have a laugh.. look below
The play tells the story of the love of King Agnimitra, the Shunga king of Vidisha, for the beautiful hand-maiden of his chief queen. He falls in love with the picture of an exiled servant girl named Mālavikā. When the queen discovers her husband’s passion for this girl, she becomes infuriated and has Mālavikā imprisoned, but as fate would have it, in the end she is discovered to be of royal birth and is accepted as one of his queens.
The play was actually enacted as though the queen gets me (oops!) – the King Agnimitra married to Malavika (another girl). Kinda weird, but wishful indeed!
Dev-Anand Songs
All of them. Yes. ALL. This is just another instance about repeat songs on the cassette player . Courtsey: My Dad
This was an era, when a silly teenager wanted to compete with listening to whatever YouCanGetYourHandsOn – but strictly English songs so as to one-up his friends. But frankly, never liked any of them.. Except a few.. which were good tap tap .. like.. Brazil , Lavinda Vida Loca .
Teens
Things changed. Hormones started having their effect. And the love for romantic / melodious songs been evident since. Those days were made memorable by BoyZone, Bryan Adams, Enrique Iglesias, Kishore Da and a lot of other artists. Most memorable songs being Zara-Zara, Mere Rang mein, Words are hard to find, Look into my eyes. ..
Hormones, really helped me explore new artists.
After-Effect.
This time was when The Beatles rose to stardom in my musicverse.. and would continue to rock it for eternity, for reasons very close to my heart.
“In the End by Linking Park” , “No Reply / Norwegian Wood etc by Beatles”
The BE Dance.
And then there was that ShahRukh Khan dance during my Final Year of Engineering. How memorable! Please watch through that video, so as to have the Laughing Dose of the Day. Its on my FB profile.
Currently.?
Priscilla Ahn … when sings a Lullaby – I go to sleep. Such is the power of her very very soothing, melodious voice. Very similar to Dido infact.
Since I would like to know, about what have been your favorite artists over the years… consider this as a TAG. and blog about it.
To make the tag clear…
List down 5 songs running through your mind / Playlist right now.
- Dhan Te Nan ( Kaminey)
- Where the streets have no name (U2)
- Norwegian Wood (The Beatles)
- Raat ke dhai Baje .. (Kaminey)
- Ama Ye.. Ama Yo (gangsta blues) (Slumdog Millionaire)
What are yours? People who are tagged by default are Nidhi, Anoop, Chinmay, Prashant, Rujuta and Night-Flier
*This post does not entirely / necessarily capture the songs .artists / hums I love.
Personality of a City
Peaceful retreats
Every place or city has its own personality, just the way human beings do.
Visit Pune and you would be greeted with numerous _paatya.
Go to mumbai and you get the ‘mumbaikar’ feeling.. something that you can experience only in mumbai.. where you jostle your way through hordes of people, to reach CST and go for that long walk on marine drive, or to see the Taj Hotel bask in its glory at the Gateway. The feeling of being there is just viral. It mesmerizes you ..
Go to Kolhapur I am sure that I would meet people like DP, who go by the mantra of _je je phukat te te paushtik_ [whatever is free is healthy] and are well built .. and dont ever miss a chance of bullying other people.
As a general observation, I have come to realize that when visiting a new place, especially in India.. the interaction with local auto-wallahs or chai-wallahs gives you a pulse of the city. So, if its Mumbai auto wallahs, or Benga-kala-roo (Bangalore) or our own sweet (sour?) pune.. auto wallahs rule!
Delhi Cafe
Being away from India, for almost a year now.. I was trying to understand how easily can you guage the pulse of a city in USA?. Fortunately or otherwise, I haven’t been able to correctly identify it. Though, you happen to get that New Yorker feeling when in New York, a Cow Boy feeling when in Dallas, a cool (nerd) being in the Silicon Valley*.. or… a wannabe playboy feeling when in Miami..
There are always certain places where you want to go .. just for the sake of being there. I just cherish the feeling of serenity that begets me when I visit such places…..places that un-wind me..
Eureka Springs happens to be the latest such place. About an hours drive from my current location.. its a very easy get-away. Yes, Its a Long and Winding Road
Bikers - All I want to do is speed, speed.
Listening to a band at Delhi Cafe, and having garam samosa’s with hot indian masala-chai, in
that gulabi thand.. is a great feeling in itself.
The entire way to Eureka Springs, is through a very densely populated Ozark jungles.
Delhi cafe, is a restaurant which is run by an American, and serves really good Indian
food. There is also a outdoor patio with live music, where they serve beer and wine.
When I was there with a group of friends last time, the owner guessed exactly, from which
part of India we were.. How could he do it? I still wonder..
I have attached some snapshots of the place below… Would be uploading all pics to my
flickr account soon. Update: Link to Eureka Set
I found my chai – samosa wala in a small town, in Central America.. at the most unexpected place. Chai (tea), once again helped me unravel the pulse of a town, where I least expected.
Life can truly be full of surprises.
“Happiness is a cup of chai!”
