So , yours truly had quite a hectic and eventful morning, 8am cab to office and then off to MG road at 11 for an appointment with the CA to collect my IT returns receipt , listen to some gyan from the dude regarding smart mutual funds that made so little sense to someone like me who is so investment-market-wise challenged. And then a phone call from a friend in distress , and I had to don my cupid avatar for a while .. and so on. Finally I got into the shuttle heading for the EGL office . Was on the front seat and 2 of my colleagues (I do not know them by name or face) , were behind. By then my migraine had started showing up a bit and the ac in the vechicle wasnt helping at all , and to add to it , the 2 buddies behind decided to talk about SRK !! !! !!

"He does not know acting"
"Before Rab ne was released , he declared on some interview that he was a Pakistani which is why no one went to watch the movie"
"South Indians will never watch any movie of his"
"The media has glorified him , other wise he is all dumb and useless"

Now this was utter blasphemy to my ears , okay okay let me state that I am a total die hard fan of SRK. Cummon , he is witty , he has attitude and style and he knows how to entertain the public !!
Listening to all this certainly ensured my migraine levels reached new records ! I was in a good mind to turn back and reply to some of their comments but sigh , the migraine did not let me do that. Also I had no idea who those 2 souls were , and didn't want to get into the conversation.
Anyways , outcome of the morning was me with a bad headache for the next few hours.And when i got all fine , the only thing I wanted to do was scream 'SRK rocks' in front of my shuttle friends !!

Wonder how sometimes life cheers up at the the tiniest and most unexpected and remotest things ! How spirits get lifted up just by listening to a certain song , by chance. Happened today , while on the way back home from the lunch get-together . all I needed was to listen to the 'mera maula' song from Dostana :)
It was an instant change in mood , from a lil sulky to a rocking freshness :)

It is purely amazing actually how each day brings along so much anticipation and twists , so much that whatever it was on mind the previous day fades into oblivion . Nothing hovers over thoughts for a longer period , as it is certainly taken over by yet another of those things. At times there is uncertainty , feeling of a light rift from normal endeavors and the next minute it vanishes at the realization of newer prospects...
Been postponing making calls to some close friends , long pending lunch/coffee catch up sessions...
Wondering if the state of 'too much to think about and plan' , has taken over my sanity ;)

So it is over finally, or is it ?

60 hours of fear , uncertainty and anger blended with hope for the survivors , faith on the armed forces and a strong gush of unity that extended beyond Mumbai and marked the sentiments of the entire nation. It has been a weird calm since yesterday , out TV isn't bubbling with reports of more grenade blasts and hostage killing anymore , but for the first time in our history of terror strikes this one has brought out feelings of 'we need to do something desperately ' amongst everyone. While life in Mumbai limps back to normal and not bounces back like earlier as this time the city witnessed something so petrifying like never before.
Yes , Leopold's is open again while at the Taj and Oberoi empolyees have series of meetings to discuss what to do now. CST must be crowded as well as people get back to work , to their routine life.I do not think it is the just the spirit of people of Mumbai, it is more of necessity. I can see in Bangalore , the security at places enhanced so much since Friday , esp in my campus where we are checked atleast thrice before entering.But this time I am not complaining, neither are the others. This I guess is the minimum bit we can do to stay safe. Of course the debate of lets all vote continues , I think a lot of us will enroll ourselves this time, Ankit already has :)
Resignations do not matter , while I am dumbstruck at the statements made by some so called leaders. What matters is being equipped to deal with such situations , whether a regular security chap or the police constable . It is scary to think that some of the terrorists might still be free on the streets of Mumbai or anywhere with their stock of explosives just waiting to rewind the terror on a certain black Wednesday night in Nov.
Taking a moment to think about those that lost a family member , a friend or a colleague in those 60 hours ... a special dinner at Taj on Wednesday turned into the worst possible nightmare. Also taking a moment to salute those slain policemen, commandos and hotel staff who put others before them, salute those 250 firemen who risked their lives hanging from ladders to rescue people all night , the marcos and other commandos who killed those cowards while still managing to rescue those trapped inside.
This for me defines what my country is at the moment , and I feel tremendously proud of just this one fact.

As I write this post , it has been over 36 hours since terror gripped Mumbai and the war is still on. Latest reports being that they are killing hostages !Anyways , not going into the other details that the new channels are anyways doing a fantastic job of , let me say what really got me worked up is when I head our PM's speech last night. I don't know if someone forced him to speak like that or if he really was that unconcerned and indifferent as he sounded ! That was hardly motivating and definitely not assuring the country anything.
I would much prefer to hear the defence heads speak as they carry out the real action , their guys risking their lives for all those trapped . Am hoping we do not get to see any other politician making ridiculous speeches in an attempt to glorify himself on tv, we have had enough of it.

It is possibly the worst possible terror strike as far as I remember .The all night gun battle in the top hotels of the city or the visuals of fire emerging from the central dome of the Taj Hotel , reports on so many security folks killed not to mention the 100 odd innocent lives that have been lost so far ... It is like a never ending nightmare. I watched the news coverage late last night and crashed in some time assuming everything would be fine by morning as there were no reports on casualties or hostage like situation yet. But this is turning to be very very ghastly, with so many people still trapped in the fire and held hostage by a handful of terrorists. As the news flashes in of more police men killed including the ATS chief ,my heart goes out for their families. Here we are watching the coverage on tv and then heading off to bed for our peaceful sleep while those guys fight it out all night and not just for them.Makes me realise suddenly , they are the real fighters while we are probably just a bunch that is contented in passing occasional comments and whining when such incidents occur . Sincerely salute them all and my prayers are with their families.
A strange disturbing feeling this is , as though we are not safe anywhere, expect anyone to start shooting anywhere. The threat looms all over even while we are on with our routine chores. And another question pops up as well , whats happening to our country, what went so wrong ?
I am at work now , but somehow still shocked , yet to absorb the fact that such a security breach can happen. Terrorists loaded with AK-47s and other ammunition in 5* hotels ! What is more scary is that there might be a lot of them still roaming free in the streets of Mumbai , ready to strike just as we get a grip on the situation at other places...
All that we can do now is may be just pray , for those trapped and for those fighting it out for all of us. But a tiny part of me also wants to just go an shoot those ******** right now.

There are 4 of them , each one more ferocious than the other and trying to scare me more than the other. Waiting for the office shuttle in the morning has never been a more terrifying experience for me :( I am sure the folks around have a neat time watching me jump from one spot to another , as my eye balls rotate at exponential speed in trying to keep a watch on those monsters! The other day I actually tripped and almost fell over on one of the flower sellers .
I can't believe it , this is my 3rd post on them, creatures that i am not too fond of. Somehow they make their presence felt in my life though and these days a gang of 4 has made the place near my cab stop their morning adda. Wonder why , there is no litter , no stray food lying around as well , then why me !Unless they feast on the terror in my eyes :((
In case you haven't realized what I am talking about .. it is the deadly 4 legged canines that haunt all Bangalore streets and lanes, and of course you must have realized my symptoms also , dog-o-phobia :(
Seriously , I have been thinking of excuses to miss the shuttle , thanks to these dogs ! It is literally mortal fear of life when I stand there for those 10 mins every morning. And I don't know how to overcome it , any tips ? At times I think I am entitled to a body guard as well :D