Girls behind me, not really

I was looking for this site for a long time. None of my friends knew about it. But finally someone knew. This is a awesome place where in you can have some naughty fun. I would like to term it as "Elephant's hunger", which is nothing but our desires. It is considered that the hunger of elephant is very high as almost 5 times more than what humans have. Looking at these snaps, you would also feel the hunger strike you 5 times in 2 minutes. Something for girls also. Lot of snaps for girls with your dream dress, dream guy or the popularity you might have dreamt.

The address of the site is www.photofunia.com.

Have fun!!

Of all the snaps, I like the last one!! :) :)

Indian of the year

The 60th Republic day, what does that mean to us as a common man. For most of them it is just another national holiday. The republic day parade goes on at Delhi and it is proudly telecasted in DD. Not many watch it or do they? We would rather watch some special programs on regional language or watch a Hindi movie. As a young guy, when I was taught the National Anthem, I was never thought the underlying meaning in it. Till this day, I never know the meaning in it nor have I put the effort to know the meaning of what it stands.

Being an Indian is just by chance, as I was born here. I ask myself, what I have done to change the phase of India. The answer comes out to be mere nothing. I did have aspiration as a young kid to become a nuclear scientist or later even a pilot and to serve the Indian Air Force. Nothing happened and I ended up being a telecom engineer, working for a MNC.Yes, I have no right in asking others what they have done for their country.

I watched a Republic day special show on NDTV "Indian of the year 2008". The theme of the show was on the terror attacks on 26/11. Most part of the show did give me goosebumps. The terror attacks were relived through this show. The people who gave their lives for others, the police constables the inconspicuous people like the hotel staff, the CST train personnel who tired to stop trains, so that people don’t reach station. Last but the main guys without whom, we cannot live the normal life today, “The NSG”.

All the police inspector’s wives were called upon in the show and also the NSG commandos’ family were present. The all accepted the Indian Hero of the year award, for their respective soul from the family who had laid their lives for us to live without tension. One of them said, one constable took 18 bullets and other constable took 9 bullets. How can a person stare death on its face? I don’t have an answer for it.

The award ceremony if I can call it, was not only about the terror attacks. There was Aamir Khan, who never attends any award functions. He was awarded for his movie Taaren Zameen Par. There was lot of things in the show, that made me think, how can I forget these guys. Sania Nehwal, badminton has broken into the top 10 seeds and gives the Koreans and Chinese badminton stalwarts a tough fight and we brood about Sania Mirza not getting into the second round of Australian Open.

Vishwanathan Anand, the most humble guy in sports I should say and easily also the most brilliant and intelligent India. Humble, because he is not in the limelight often. He has defended his world title this year and made a hatrick of three consecutive years and here we think about including me about cricket, football and F1. The “Chandrayan” mission to Moon costed less than the IPL TV bidding. Not many know that. I read an editorial today on “Times of India” written by a normal layman like us. The Delhi traffic was diverted on Friday the 23^rd for rehearsal show of the republic day parade.

He was asked to take an alternate route and he had never seen an army men marching before. So took his time parked his vehicle and got a glimpse of the whole show. He was really thrilled by the whole experience and the whole feeling of Indianness. So he has asked people not consider the Republic day, just as another national holiday and go and visit the parade with their family, to inculcate patriotism that has lost its roots.

I conclude by this incidence at my office. We celebrated the republic day on 23^rd as it was a long weekend. We were each given flags to be pined beside our heart for that very occasion. And so we did. One of my friends had come in his traditional dress. At the end of the day, he wanted to get comfortable and get into a comfortable dress. Another friend was arguing with him, that he should not remove the dress as it does not show true Indian. All this I don’t know, but what followed made me angry. This friend of mine removed the flag that he had pinned on the traditional dress, and made an action as if he was throwing it. The friend who was arguing was more irritated by this. When we asked him, why he did such an act, he coolly replied that, he was trying to irritate the other guy. So much for the patriotism and so much for Indianness. Some people are just not fit to be called Indian.

Best dressed guy for a day!!

Owing 26th January being Republic day, all of them at office were asked to be dressed in traditional attire which depicts or matches with the national flag colour. Usually I don't follow the rules, as I want to wear the colour I feel on that day.

I got up in the morning and felt today, I should wear a traditional dress. So I opened my cupboard and saw the sherwani that I had got for my sister's marriage. So I put it on. I knew that there was a prize for a best dressed guy and gal. As always, I thought I will never get such prizes.

As the day went on, this slipped out of my mind. There was a get together for singing patriotic songs and also snacks pav bhaji arranged for all the employees. I was having pav bhaji after a long time!!

Then the prize distribution came along, and I was selected as the best dressed guy. Unbelievable, believe it!! :) :) It was like Ripley's believe it or not!! Here are some snaps.....

Times Car Fest disappointing!!

I was really disappointed last time around when Autocar magazine had a car fest; which I could not make it. This time it was the Times car fest at Bandra-Kurla. This time I was hell bent on making this one. Finally I did make it for this one.

It was not quiet upto the mark though, all Indian cars. The only car I liked was Volkswagen beetle. Very cool car, I will buy it some day!! :) I already had a seat in it. Check out some snaps, they are not clear but, just the memory of car exhibition. Not to forget there were ducati bikes also!!

Discover Israel Part 2

From the last posts of Israel; you must have atleast got a outline hang of it. Now lets travel to different places in Israel. Starting from where my hotel was. Ramat Gan, a small city in itself near Tel Aviv. Around 20 mins from Petah Tiqwa, where my office was. I stayed on a street called Bialik street, famous for it shops. 90% of the shops were for women. From Stylish hats to boots, fantastic collection. If you are a girl reading, this is a dream street for shopping. Check out some snaps to get a bird's eye view of the street. I did get a waist coat from this street.

Next stop is Dezing Off street, another marathon runner; when it comes to shopping. A huge mall called the Dezing off center. Amazing brands, and amazing prices. I had been there during the new year celebrations, so checked all kinds of discount and sale. Got lot of cool t-shirts from here. There is a brand called "Bee Good", which apes makes a funny cartoon of it. I got a tshirt that said COMA, with a picture of puma shown upside down. No prices for guessing which brand was the scape-goat.

After some costly shopping, it is time for some cheap stuff. From fixed prices boards to bargaining prices. The name is Caramel market. The place for all cheap and duplicate brands. One of friends, is very interested in duplicate brands. He even shows off his duplicate brands and asks people to guess the price of it, just to make a mickey out of himself. Some snaps of Caramel; it sure looks like Dadar station.



Very near to Carmel market ("Sukh ha carmel" in hebrew) is Allenby. Once I had been to a handy craft exhibition, awesome paintings and hand craft. One guy made the chess board and coins with just nut and bolts. One guy had made a number of things like a guy fishing using just spoons and forks. The streets of Allenby is also cool. We had a stroll for some cheap stuff. I got a ManU scarf for one of my friend.

The Tel Aviv beach was also cool. But I could not find time to go into it. Just had a stroll outside it. But did get my feet soaked in dead sea mud and into the cold waters of dead sea. It is considered to be the lowest place on earth, below 400 m of sea level. Enjoying the view of dead sea and seeing Jordan on the other side of the sea was a freezing experience, as it was very cold.



Jerusalem, what an amazing place it is. One of the oldest city in the whole world, and had been the center of attraction for such a long time that the roots of its history has almost touched the core of the earth. Just kidding exaggeration. Amazing orthodox city, with both past and present which is very much alive and kicking. The place where Jesus was crucified and his tomb; were places to be remembered and cherished.


And the streets of Jerusalem with shops all around with colourful shawls and key chains, stores for holy water, t shirts, etc. The streets were really colourful. Hope you don't get lost in one of them. Very confusing without a guide. And atlast the most controversial part of Jerusalem. They say there was a temple of Jews built lot of centuries ago, but was destroyed by Arabs and a mosque was built on its place. The archaeologist could not find the remains of that temple. The mosque with its golden dome stands today. There is a big wall which faces the mosque, wherein the Jews pray.

Places to visit are aplenty in and around Jerusalem, if you are a historian. When I was there there was this war ongoing with Gaza. The rockets from Gaza hit many locations at Israel. Being so much into war, Israel had taken precautionary measures. Having enemies surrounding your country and living a normal life is not a easy task. Israel has done it for almost 60 years now. The Gaza problem is one such minor part of their everyday life.

All students after the college have to undergo compulsory 3 years in army. Everybody is trained as a reserve army solider. When there is a need, normal common man are called in to fight. Most of them have well built physique. Fun loving people, adventure sports freaks and not to forget very cute girls and stylish girls. As we ape the westerners in our style of living, they too follow the Europeans.

The one month trip in winter to a place where Jesus was born and had lived during the Christmas was the cheery on the cake. Malls and retail market have not caught up that much in Israel, may be they will eventually. I had a great gang and enjoyed meet new people and tried my hand in learning Hebrew the local language. Hope this being my first visit outside India, be the one that will be followed my many such tours to many other countries. After all, some habit of the Israelis must catch up with me, which is of seeing the world.

Six packs no kidding!!

After a long time; I did get the shape for the imaginary six packs. I should really say, it was not as easy as it looks. It never is. Getting many to believe that I have six packs is another story all together. So I thought, I should put some snaps of it, as no one believes me. I was actually going to post my second part of my Israel trip. But this got into my mind, so here goes. As the snap is from an angle, the snap does not underline the packs totally; but u can get an idea of it!! :) :)


Living to everybody's expectation I should say. Really, it is time to be on diet again to maintain it!! If still you think that is not my stomach, here is one more snap with a face.....ofcourse my face......

Discover Israel!!

Finally, coming back to India is like, coming back down to earth. The Israel trip did keep me on my toes and found me wanting at lot of occasions, where I was not upto the mark in terms of my working capabilities. But it did allow me to look at the pros and cons of say Mumbai with respect to Tel Aviv. Taking nothing away from Mumbai, as it is the city I have been in for quiet some time and consider it to be truly my home.



Tel Aviv is a wonderful city, so clean. I have not seen many cities around in the world, but I consider this as really a awesome city with responsible citizens. I would like to underline the word responsible here. Got to say, it is the people who have kept the city so clean. There are separate dustbin's for plastic cans and normal rubbish. I was taken aback by the fact that these citizens are so meticulous in throwing away the waste. The plastic cans are sent for recycling and the normal rubbish is used for many useful things. This Dustbin, shown in the picture is the recycling bin. In India, the plastic is separated by the rag picker or the bin collector.




Thinking back at this trip, I did get in some rather interesting snaps like this one of the mug. I could never find a reason for such a bizarre object. All the mugs used in Israel have two handles. I could never find a reason for this.


Shifting our attention to traffic and rules. I did not see one person, breaking the signals. I don't know how the things work down there, I mean the fines and bribes. I think the fine for breaking a signal must be too high. I did see police catching and fining people for improper parking. And the Zebra crossings. If there is a pedestrian crossing traffic light, all the people crossing the road wait for it to turn green. If there is no traffic light, then the pedestrian gets the first preference. All the motorists and cars stop for them to cross the road. Unbelievable, I was in a taxi and it was at 60 km/hr. The taxi-driver sudden stopped with a screeching halt and allowed a person to cross the road. This I can never imagine in India!!



The cars and bikes I saw here is so advanced. They have all advanced features like GPS, leather seats, power windows, etc. I think for all this to come to India, it will take another 10 years. Not to forget the currency. It is shekel here. One shekel is almost 12.6 rupees. I did get some time to make a snap out of some typical notes. One US dollar is around 3.91 shekel, although it stays around 3.5 mark. The person on the 100 shekel note is Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel. The International airport in Tel Aviv is also named after him. "The Ben Gurion international Airport"


The food; being a vegetarian is not that tough. Got to say, spicy food is very difficult to get, but if you are on a non-spicy diet, it is aplenty. It does get quiet bland, after some days, but I did not have any problems with food. I used to eat a lot of salad and many fatty substances, still I did not increase my weight at all. It was the same when I got back to India. They have a special bread called Peta bread, which is the great specialty of Israel. Check my appetite for lunch.. :) :)


I will continue this blog as a two part series, with places I visited in my next blog.. Till then L'hitraot ( which means see you soon in hebrew, the local language of Israel) :) :)