All I needed...

All I needed 

was time away 

from thinking of you 

every night and day. 

Spending that time 

away from you, 

made me realize 

what I felt for you.

An overwhelming feeling 

that I completely denied, 

a passionate feeling 

that burns inside. 

All I needed 

was time alone 

to realize this feeling 

on my own. 

A feeling beyond 

my greatest fears, 

something that brings more 

than laughter and tears. 

This great sensation 

I can no longer deny. 

No matter the outcome, 

I cannot lie. 

All I needed 

was this time to be true, 

to finally realize 

that I love you.

Jab We Met !

November 15, 2011.


Phew... What a morning it was !!!!


Was at my Mamaji's place since last two days. Actually, I was about to return to my PG yesterday, but due to the tiring outing at RutuGandh Resort, Panshet (near Pune), I couldn't. I stayed back and rested one more day. Woke up early morning today to catch a bus to Pimpri, where I am normally put. Reached the bus stop. Boarded the wrong bus. Alighted at Shivaji Nagar to catch another bus to Pimpri. And an unusual series of event occured.


Well... Yes, it was UNUSUAL ! The title of the post might give you a feeling that its gonna be a love story type post. But alas ! It wasn't... :P


I boarded the (correct) bus to my destination. The bus was relatively empty than the usual bus that I boarded. Ninety-nine percent of the girls here in Pune move around with their faces covered, irrespective of whether they look good or not. They cover their faces with just their eyes visible. Sometimes I wonder whether I am living in Pune of some part of Afghanistan under the rule of Taliban. Well, coming back from the world tour to Pune. In the bus, I spotted a few heads covered the way I mentioned above. I wasn't checking them out, I was just searching for a seat. I sat on one of the vacant seats.


The head on the seat in front of me was also covered in the same way. But there was something unusual in it. And yes, it was a guy. I thought he might be a patient, that is why he has put a robe on the face. But no, I was wrong. Within minutes I found out that he wasn't a GUY, but a GAY !


This is how JAB WE MET unfolds.... :P


In a short bus journey of about 25 minutes, he (or she) showed various mannerisms that confirmed everyone's doubt of him being a 'doubtful case'. There were people who were making fun of him. And I guess, even he was enjoying it.


In a few minutes, he turned around and saw me. The words that he uttered filled me with disgust. He said, "Hi sexy ! Looking very nice." He said this not in a low voice, but a voice audible well enough. I mumbled "What The EFFF !", but then I avoided him. He then turned to an uncle sitting besides me and said something in Marathi, which I could not understand.


By this time, all the seats were full, except the one next to him. So there wasn't any chance of changing the seat. I opted to listen to music with my headphones on, and avoid him or her or whatever it was !


More people were boarding the bus as it moved on. A lot of people were waving hands at him and talking to him. This made me think that he might be a regular in that bus. But it was an unusual experience. After a few stops, one more college going boy boarded the bus, and finding no other seat, sat on the seat next to him, not noticing him.


After he noticed who he was sitting with, he moved away from him, just sitting on one-fourth of the seat uncomfortably with at least a foot of gap between them.


I alighted at my destination after a few stops. And the bus was gone in a matter of few seconds.


Such is life !


PS: Although I don't have a problem with gays, but I feel disgusted when a guy calls me sexy and talks to me like this.

Love Breakups Zindagi ;)

No no no.... This is NOT a review of the movie Love Breakups Zindagi. Well... To tickle your funny bones, here's a hilarious letter from an ex-lover to his ex-flame. I got it as a forward. The original writer (as mentioned in the forward) is Mr Ramvilas Jangid. Full credits to him for such a funny creation.

Read it, and have a laugh. Here it is...

डियर डिम्पू,

तुम ने डेढ़ बरस तक जो मुझ से प्यार किया, उस का शुक्रिया. आशा है, पत्र मिलने तक तुम ने नया प्रेमी पकड़ लिया होगा. उस के साथ अब डेटिंग पर भी जा रही होगी. हर प्रेमी को बहुत स्ट्रगल करना पड़ता है. मैं भी स्ट्रगल कर रहा हूँ. प्यार के ढाई आखर कमबख्त बड़े मुश्किल से पकड़ में आते हैं. मैंने भी तुम्हे मिस करने के बाद मोहल्ले की ही शीनो पर लंगर डालना शुरू कर दिया है. प्रेम का मेरा यह चौथा प्रयास है. लेकिन इन प्रयासों ने मुझे एक सीख दी है. डिम्पू, तुम तो जानती हो कि प्रेम शुरू करते ही कमबख्त लव लैटर लिखने पड़ते हैं. पता है ना, मैंने तुम्हे कितने पत्र लिखे थे? पहले के दो प्रेम प्रकरणों मेंन भी लैटरबाज़ी करनी पड़ी थी. बड़ा झंझट है प्रेम मार्ग में. इसीलिए तुम मेरे समस्त प्रेम पत्र लौटा देना. तुम्हे लिखे उन प्रेम पत्रों पर सफेदा पोतकर डिम्पू की जगह शीनो लिख दूंगा. इस से मेरी म्हणत बच जायेगी. प्लीज़, मेरे प्रेम पत्र लौटा देना, क्योंकि उन की फोटो कॉपी भी मेरे पास नहीं है.

डिम्पू, तुम मेरा वह फोटो भी वापस कर देना. तुम तो जानती हो कि वही एकमात्र फोटो ऐसी है, जिस में मैं ठीक ठाक दिखता हूँ. बड़ी कीमती है. मेरे प्रेम पत्रों के साथ मेरी वह फोटो भी भेज देना, ताकि शीनो को भेज सकूं.

और हाँ, अपने प्यार काण्ड में डेढ़ वर्ष के दौरान मेरे द्वारा किये गए खर्च का हिसाब भेज रहा हूँ. आशा है, तुम शीघ्र ही इस खर्च का भुगतान कर भरपाई करा डौगी, ताकि तुम्हे भी नए प्यार के लिए मेरी ओर से एन.ओ.सी. जारी हो सके और मैं भी नए प्यार पर खर्च करना शुरू कर सकूं. हिसाब इस प्रकार है:

चाट पकौड़ी                      895 रुपये

कोल्ड ड्रिंक्स                   2938 रुपये

स्नैक्स                          5645 रुपये

जूस                              3845 रुपये

मोबाइल फ़ोन वार्ता           2546 रुपये

पेट्रोल खर्च                      4255 रुपये

गिफ्ट                            7850 रुपये

                              --------------------

सकल योग                    30708 रुपये

                              ==============

अक्षर में : रुपये तीस हज़ार सात सौ आठ मात्र.

कृपया ये रुपये मुझे शीघ्र भेजने कि कृपा करना, ताकि मैं अपनी शीनो के प्यार में इन रुपयों को कुरबान कर सकूं. और हाँ, यदि तुम्हारे पास मेरे द्वारा दिए गए गिफ्ट पड़े हों, तो उन्हें मैं आधी कीमत पर खरीदने के लिए तैयार हूँ. तुम उन का हिसाब बना कर मेरी मूल रकम में से काट कर पुराने गिफ्टों को भी भेज देना. इस पत्र के साथ तुम्हारे पूरे चार किलो तीन सौ ग्राम वजन के प्रेम पत्रों का पुलिंदा भी संलग्न है, ताकि तुम्हे भी प्रेम पत्र लिखने में फिर से परेशानी ना उठानी पड़े. तुम्हारी वह सुन्दर फोटो भी भेज रहा हूँ, जो तुम अपने नए प्रेमी झंडामल को दे सकती हो. तुम अपना हिसाब भी बता देना. वैसे तुम्हारा खर्च तो कुछ भी नहीं आया होगा. तुम हमेशा अपना पर्स भूल जाती थी. कमबख्त प्यार में लड़कों की ही जेब ढीली होती है. खैर, बीते प्रेम पर कैसा अफ़सोस, जब नया भी पधार चुका है. आशा है, तुम मेरा हिसाब जल्दी से जल्दी साफ़ कर के मुझे नए प्यार में कूदने में मदद दोगी. तुम्हे सातवाँ प्रेम मुबारक हो.

तुम्हारा छठा पूर्व प्रेमी,

मोती.

Hope you all had a great laugh ! :)

Proud to be a BANIYA :)

Although I don't believe in the castes & the erstwhile caste system which was prevalent in India, but here's something which I couldn't resist posting on my blog. Here's a very very interesting story about India's castes...

A few weeks ago, the prestigious Forbes magazine has put out a list of the world’s 1,210 billionaires. 55 of them are Indians. A billion dollars is somewhere around Rs. 4,920 crore.

A Baniya is a member of the Vaish caste, originating mainly from the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. They constitute less than 1% of India’s 1.25 billion population.

Here are a few interesting facts regarding the Indian billionaires who feature in the Forbes list of billionaires.

• India’s richest man, Lakshmi Nivas Mittal (Mittal Steel & Arcelor Mittal), world’s sixth richest man with $31.1 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s second richest man, Mukesh Ambani (Reliance) with $27 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s third richest man, Azim Premji (Wipro) with $16.8 billion, is a Khoja.
• India’s fourth richest men, brothers Shashi & Ravi Ruia (Essar) with $15.8 billion are Baniyas.
• India’s fifth richest person, Savitri Jindal (Jindal Steel) with $13.2 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s sixth richest man, Gautam Adani (Adani Group) with $10 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s seventh richest man, Kumar Mangalam Birla (Aditya Birla Group) with $9.2 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s eighth richest man, Anil Ambani (Reliance-ADAG) with $8.8 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s ninth richest man, Sunil Bharti Mittal (Bharti Airtel) with $8.3 billion, is a Baniya.
• India’s tenth richest man, Adi Godrej (Godrej Group), world’s 130th richest man with $7.3 billion, is a Parsi.

 Score: Baniyas - 8, Rest of India - 2.

If we consider the two Gujaratis, Godrej and Premji (from the Lohana caste), as coming from the mercantile communities, then actually Rest of India wasn’t even playing this match so far.

Well, lets continue further...

• India’s 11th richest man is K P Singh of DLF ($7.3 billion). He is the first departure from the trend of mercantile castes. Singh is a peasant (not now though), the most populous caste grouping of India, about 50% of our population.
• From numbers 11 to 20, there are four Baniyas. They are Anil Agarwal of Vedanta ($6.4 billion), Dilip Sanghvi of Sun Pharma ($6.1 billion), Uday Kotak of Kotak Group ($3.2 billion), & Subhash Chandra Goel of Zee ($2.9 billion).
• The non-Baniyas are Shiv Nadar of HCL ($5.6 billion), Malvinder & Shivinder Singh of Ranbaxy ($4.1 billion), Kalanithi Maran of Sun TV ($3.5 billion), Mukesh Jagtiani of Landmark ($3 billion) and Pankaj Patel of Cadila ($2.6 billion).
• Between 21 and 30, there are five Baniyas. They are Indu Jain of The Times of India ($2.6 billion), Desh Bandhu Gupta of Lupin ($2.1 billion), Sudhir & Samir Mehta of Torrent ($2 billion), Aloke Lohia of Indorama ($2 billion) & Venugopal Dhoot of Videocon ($1.9 billion).
• The five non-Baniyas are G M Rao of GMR ($2.6 billion), Cyrus Poonawalla of the Serum Institute ($2.3 billion), Mumbai builder Rajan Raheja ($2.2 billion), Narayana Murthy of Infosys ($2 billion) & Gautam Thapar of Avantha ($2 billion).
• Of the non-Baniyas, three are from mercantile communities: Poonawalla (Parsi), Raheja (Shikarpuri Sindhi) and Thapar (Khatri). Murthy is Brahmin.
• Between 31 and 40 are two Baniyas: Rahul Bajaj of Bajaj Auto ($1.6 billion) & Ajay Piramal of Piramal Group ($1.4 billion).
• The non-Baniyas include three Brahmins: Nandan Nilekani, former CEO of Infosys & present Chairman of UIDAI ($1.8 billion), S Gopalakrishnan of Infosys ($1.6 billion), & Vijay Mallya of UB Group ($1.4 billion).
• Three of the others are from mercantile castes: Mumbai based builder Chandru Raheja ($1.9 billion), Brijmohan Lall Munjal of Hero MotoCorp ($1.5 billion) & Vikas Oberoi of Oberoi Realty ($1.4 billion).
• The last two are K Anji Reddy of Dr Reddy's Labs ($1.5 billion), from Andhra’s dominant peasant community, & Ajay Kalsi of Indus Gas ($1.7 billion).
• Between 41 and 50 are five Baniyas. They are R P Goenka of RPG Group ($1.3 billion), investment banker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala ($1.2 billion), Brij Bhushan Singhal of Bhushan Steel ($1.2 billion), B K Modi of Spice ($1.1 billion) and Mumbai builder Mangal Prabhat Lodha ($1.1 billion).
• The non-Baniyas are Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge ($1.3 billion), Keshub Mahindra of Mahindra & Mahindra ($1.2 billion), Infosys co-founder K Dinesh ($1.2 billion) & S D Shibulal of Infosys ($1.1 billion), & Yusuf Hamied of Cipla ($1.1 billion).
• The last five, from 51 to 55, include two Baniyas: Mumbai builder Mofatraj Munot of Kalpataru ($1 billion) & Ashwin Dani of Asian Paints ($1 billion).
• Two of the others are from mercantile castes: Parsi Anu Aga of Thermax ($1 billion) & Khatri Harindarpal Banga of Noble ($1 billion).
• Delhi builder Ramesh Chandra of Unitech ($1 billion) ends our list of Indians with a billion dollars or more.

The list has three Parsis, two Muslims and Sikhs in one spot (shared by the Singh brothers of Ranbaxy). Banga is also a Sikh name but Harindarpal is clean-shaven. All of them, except Poonawalla, have inherited their wealth, though in the case of Premji, he took a small firm and made it global. There is nobody from the scheduled tribes or castes.

India’s large peasant castes have some representation (Singh, Patel, Reddy), but not much. There are 26 Baniyas on our list. Many of them inherited their wealth, but just as many (Mittal, Ruias, Adani, Dhoot among others) are self-made.

The list has 16 Rajasthanis, and 13 Gujaratis. Every single Rajasthani is from one caste, Vaish, though they are from two faiths: Hindu and Jain. Only Gujarat is capable of producing billionaires drawn from four different faiths: Hindu, Parsi, Jain and Muslim—and three different castes: Baniya, Khatri and peasant.


This is unique in India and there is something about this secular mercantile culture that produces great men across communities. What is it? Three out of the four biggest leaders of the subcontinent under British rule were Gujarati, and they were drawn from these three castes: Gandhi, Jinnah and Patel. Only 5% of India’s population, Gujaratis don’t have the numbers to dominate its democratic politics. But businesses are not run in democratic fashion. And to rise, you need quality, not quantity.

The heartland of India, where our quantity resides, is missing from this list. Bihar, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh have little or no representation and this does not surprise us. On the list are 10 south Indians, in proportion to their 20% share of India’s population. The famous five from Infosys are obviously self-made. Of the others, four are first-generation wealthy. This is a good indicator for the future, and it restores some balance in favour of Rest of India.

One final observation. India’s greatest businessman is not on this list. Why is that? It is because Ratan Tata owns less than 1% of Tata Sons. He is exceptional in every way.

Proud to be a Baniya. Business is in our genes. We think business. We breath business. We live business. We love business.

With the hope that I make it to this list sometime in the future, signing off.....

"Main Aur Meri Tanhaai" in the times of Economic Slowdown

Main aur meri tanhaai, 

Aksar yeh baatein karte hain. 

Tezi hoti toh aisa hota, 

Tezi hoti toh waisa hota. 

Hum yeh lete, hum woh lete. 

Hum is baat pe party lete, 

Hum us baat par treat dete. 

Main aur meri tanhai, 

Aksar yeh baatein karte hain. 

Yeh kahaan aa gaye hum... 

Yeh raat hai, ya mandi ka aanchal. 

Yeh mandi ka jhonka hai, ya kisi ne Sensex ko thoka hai. 

Yeh toofan ki hai awaaz, ya Broker-on ka rona hai. 

Yeh sochta hoon main kab se gumsum, 

Jab ki mujh ko bhi yeh khabar hai, ki tezi nahi hai kahin. 

Magar ye dil hai jo keh raha hai, tezi yahin hai, yahin kahin....

[ PS : Not my creation, got it as a forward ]

Destiny

No matter what happens,

No matter where I go.

There's always a special place

in my heart that you hold.

Even when we're far apart,

I trust my destiny. 

One day we'll be together, 

that's what its meant to be. 

You know you're the chosen one.

Although we're apart, 

I'll never stop loving you, 

You'll always have my heart. 

 I always have a hope, 

that some day you will see. 

The only one who loves you like this, 

I hope you know its me....

PS : No apologies for being damn irregular. I guess that's what MBA does to you ! :)

On the move....

No. I am not apologizing today ! Not because I am not feeling apologetic today, but for the only reason that I might sound monotonous if I keep on apologizing in the beginning of each of my blog posts.


Yes I accept the fact that I have been a li'l careless about my blog and my readers. Yes, I accept the fact that I have not even sincerely thought of posting. Yes, I accept the fact that my blogging has taken a back seat. I accept my fault.


But all this has happened coz of my MBA plans. I was almost always on the move or very busy doing some thing or the other. And this is why my priorities towards blogging changed ! Not only blogging, but my priorities towards Facbook and the Internet as a whole have changed.


Although I am a person who doesn't accept changes that easily. But this is a fact that I am devoting a lot less time to all these stuffs than I earlier used to. I don't know whether this change is for good or for bad. It might be good for me, but ironically, it indeed is bad for my blog !


Okay, I know most of you (from the few who religiously used to follow my blog) are least interested in my story. But its MY blog, meri marzi main kuchh bhi post karu ! :P


There are a lot of changes in me. I have left my lovely home town and shifted my base to Pune. I have started pursuing my MBA. I do miss my home, my lovely home town, my superb friends, my college, etc etc etc. I miss a lot of people and a lot of things. The list is endless ! You all know naa ke yeh banda kitna emotional hai. ;)


I still maintain that I might not be able to devote my time to my blog, but I will try my best to carve time out of my schedule. :)


Missing FALNA !


Life has changed... I'm always on the move...


Move it baby !

College Days - Full Text

Ahhh !! Back from a sabbatical... well almost !

I know I'm risking my blog by not posting frequently... I have lost a lot of regular readers by not posting at all ! But then, as it is said, "As you sow, so shall you reap !" Its my loss any way !

Okay, I'm back, not with a bang, but yes, err... I'm back, isn't that enough? :P

Without much ado, this post is related to my last post "College Days". It was a poem on college days. I intentionally didn't post the text. I posted a video... an audio-visual (no visuals, it was audio in a video format... lol) of the poem because the poem was to be felt, and not just read.

But bhai-log, public demand ki wajah se I am compelled to post the full text of the poem. Here it is....

Raah dekhi thi is din ki kab se,

Kitne hi sapne sajaa rakhe the na jaane kab se.

Bade utaavle the jaane ko,

Zindagi ka agla padaav paane ko.

Par na jaane kyun, dil mein aaj kuchh aur aata hai,

Waqt ko rok lene ko jee chaahta hai.

Jin baaton ko le kar rote the, aaj un par hasi aati hai,

Na Jaane kyun, aaj un palon ki yaad bahut aati hai.

Kaha karte the, badi mushkil se teen saal seh gaya,

Par aaj kyun lagta hai ki jaise bahut kuchh peeche reh gaya.

Kahi ankahi hazaaron baatein reh gayi,

Na bhoolne waali kuchh yaadein reh gayi.

Meri taang ab kaun kheecha karega,

Mera sar khaane ko kaun mera peecha karega.

Jahaan 2000 ka hisaab nahi, wahaan 2-2 rupaye ke liye kaun ladega,

Kaun raat bhar jaag jaag kar saath padhega.

Kaun birthday par cake mere muh pe lagayega,

Kaun mere naye naye naam banaayega.

Main ab bina matlab ke kis se ladunga,

Bina topic ke kis se faaltu bakwaas karunga.

Kaun assignments ke liye aage peeche chakkar lagaayega,

Kaun lab mein chhup chhup ke Facebook aur Orkut chalaayega.

Kaun exam mein padhne ke liye motivate karega,

"Kitna hua..." kaun raat ko message kar ke ye puchega.

Kaun last moment tak notes zerox karwaayega,

"Mujhe to kuchh bhi nahi aata..." hamesha ye kaun sunaayega.

Kaun fail hone par dilaasa dilaayega,

Kaun galti se number aane par gaaliyaan sunaayega.

Canteen mein slice kis ke saath piyunga,

Wo haseen pal kis ke saath jiyunga.

Aise dost kahaan milenge jo khaai mein bhi dhakka de aayein,

Par fir tumhe bachaane khud bhi kood jaayein.

Meri pange lene ki aadat se pareshaan kaun hoga,

Kabhi mujhe kisi ladki se baat karte dekh hairaan kaun hoga.

Kaun kahega, "saale, tere joke pe hasi nahi aayi..."

Kaun peeche se bula ke kahega, "aage dekh bhai..."

Class mein message chat kis ke saath karunga,

Kis ke saath boring lectures jhelunga.

PJs pe ab raakshas ki tarah kaun hasega,

Roz message na karne par taane kaun kasega.

Mere mobile ko dabba kehne ki jurrat kaun karega,

Bina darey sachhi advice dene ki himmat kaun karega.

Stage par ab kis ke saath jaaunga,

Juniors ko free ka gyaan kaise de paaunga.

Achaanak bin matlab ke kisi ko bhi dekh kar paagalon ki tarah hasna,

Na jaane ye fir kab hoga, keh do doston ye dobaara sab hoga.

Doston ke liye teachers se kab lad paayenge,

Kya ye din fir se aa paayenge.

Kaun mujhe meri kaabiliyat par bharosa dilaayega,

Aur zyaada hawa mein udne par zameen par le aayega.

Meri khushi se sach mein khush kaun hoga,

Mere gham mein mujh se zyaada dukhi kaun hoga.

Meri poems kaun padhega,

Kaun inhe sach mein samjhega.

Bahut kuchh likhna abhi baaki hai,

Kuchh saath shaayad abhi baaki hai.

Bas ek baat se darr lagta hai doston,

Hum ajnabi naa ban jaayein doston.

Zindagi ke rangon mein dosti ka rang feeka naa pad jaaye,

Kahin aisa naa ho dusre rishton ke bojh taley dosti dum tod jaaye.

Zindagi mein milne ki fariyaad karte rahein,

Agar naa mil sake to kam se kam fariyaad karte rahein.

Chaahe jitna has lo aaj mujh par, main bura nahi maanunga.

Is hasi ko apne dil mein basa lunga.

Aur jab yaad aayegi tumhari,

Yehi hasi le kar thoda sa muskura lunga...

This poem is dedicated to all the people who touched my life during my college years. It is an ode to my college, my classmates, teachers, staff, and everyone who were a part of my life in these wonderful years. Miss you all !

College Days

Everyone says that "All good things come to an end." But has anyone dared to ask "WHY?"

No one has the answer to this question. Even I don't ! :(

As they say that all good things come to an end. So were my college days ! I never expected that these 3 years would be so precious and memorable in my life. I never thought that I would make so many bestEST friends during this phase.

Well, I forgot to apologize for such a lonnnnnnnnnnnggggg break from bloggerdom (not to be mistaken with boredom, which obviously is not the case). The reasons are plenty, studying being the most important, but they're not to be discussed.

Apparently, my last post, which was published almost 3 months ago (a week or 10 days less), was titled "Miss You". And coincidentally, even this post is on the same lines ! I am missing the good old college days. And this post is dedicated to all those buddies and profs, who made this 3 year journey a memorable one.

Following is the video, which features a poem, recorded in my voice, but not completely written by me. The original poem was written by someone else which I got as a forwarded message. I modified it according to my college life. THANKS and FULL CREDIT to the one who originally wrote this mind blowing poem.

I am not posting the exact wordings of this poem on the blog, only for the reason coz this poem is NOT meant to be read, its meant to be FELT !

And before you go ahead with it, here's a personal request from my side, just put on your headphones, close your eyes, remember your friends and listen to it !

Thank you very much for being there in my life :)

Miss You !!

In the morning when I wake up,

And I open up my eyes,

I feel an aching in my heart,

That’s when I realize.

How much I really miss you,

And long to have you near,

My heart is filled with sadness,

And my eyes are filled with tears.

At different times throughout the day,

I find i’m missing you,

And I wonder if, perhaps a bit,

Maybe you miss me too.

I miss you in the shower,

When i’m in there all alone,

And when I want to hear your voice,

And call you on the phone.

When I check my inbox,

And I find there’s nothing there,

I can’t help it that I worry,

And I put you in my prayers.

I think by now it’s safe to say,

That I miss you very much,

And my heart will never be the same,

Since it suffered cupid’s touch.

PS : Happy Valentine's Day :)

Wildfire !

I remember publishing my last post titled (UN)Happy New Year on 3rd January. The same evening gave me another reason to call the new year even more unhappier ! I lost/dropped/forgot (whichever applicable, as I myself don't remember what happened) my beloved Nokia E63 somewhere in a hurry.

It was like parting with something I have always treasured. It was an irony that someone who couldn't stay without his cell for a minute lost his cell. I never believed in destiny. But of late I have started believing that everything is destined. And this time the loss of my cell was destined !


Well, after a 'mourning' period of 17 days, I bought myself a HTC Wildfire on 20th of Jan. That too within 10 minutes - something that is by far the 'fastest' deal of my life ! And I'm happy to buy this Android.

Initially loaded with Android OS ver2.1 (Eclair), HTC Wildfire with 5 MP camera with autofocus and LED flash comes a great value for mony at Rs. 13,600/- with bill. The upgrade ver2.2 (Froyo) to the OS is available. Although I haven't upgraded it, my brother who took the same cell the very next day has already done it and is loving it to the core !


The camera quality is great. The touch is awesome. Loaded with HTC's Sense UI, Wildfire aptly suits its name. The browsing speed is way way better than Nokia's age old Symbian phones. And even when connected on PC via cellphone, the net gave a lot better speed than its Nokia counterparts.


One thing I loved in Wildfire is the contacts integration with the social networks. The contacts get linked with their respective virtual profiles - be it Facebook, Twitter or Flickr - and then displays their photographs (from FB, Twitter, etc) and their latest status updates at the time of making or receiving a call. Its something unique, as of now.


The in-built web browser is flash enabled making it more attractive. Being from the HTC stable itself gives the quality guarantee. And being an Android, lots and lots of apps can be downloaded from the built in Android Market.


I was wondering why was I stuck with Nokia's age old Symbian OS for so long. And in fact, Google should have named this OS "Sky", coz just like sky, Android has no limits.


Starting with the looks, although it doesn't have some damn attractive looks, it has pretty simple and decent looks which is a HTC benchmark. With four soft keys and a fairly large capacitive touchscreen on the front and the 5MP camera and flash on the back, its a no fuss phone. Coming to the display, it offers SIX different home screens which can have a number of on screen widgets, icons and shortcuts.


The voice quality in calls is fairly good and the volume levels are excellent. The loudspeaker volume is also great. The image gallery offers some great features including slide show, filmstrip view and of course the pinch to zoom feature. The built in video player is a showdown in this package. Not upto the mark for me. And add to it no support for xViD and DiVx codecs. In simple words video files with .avi extension will not be played in the built in video player. To sort out this issue, I have downloaded QQPlayer from the Market. And now I can play almost all video formats on the phone.


The music player is fairly good. Nice interactive interface and easy to use options make it more attractive. The clock, the weather feature which locates your current location (with the help of GPS) and displays the current weather and temperatures on the home screen are some awesome features in it.


The Android Market offers you a wide variety of applications, games and other downloadable stuff. Just look out for what you are searching for and you'll get it in minutes.


The battery life is just ok. With full net usage, it stays up for a day. For some, it might be a good battery back up, but I definitely expected more from it.


THE OVERVIEW
All in all, HTC Wildfire is a great package. In fact its a 'mini' version of the HTC Desire. A competitive price tag makes it a real value for money phone. And with Android OS, it gets a MUST HAVE tag too. Wildfire, although not amongst the cheapest Android phones, is definitely a first timer's Android.