Pyaar Ho Jaaye...

Guys, enough of apologies every time for not being serious about the blog ! Its exactly SEVENTY days since I last updated my blog. I now remember what one of my teachers used to say during our school days, "Sorry tabhi bola karo, jab tum wo galti fir se naa dohraao... Warna us sorry ka koi matlab nahi reh jaata hai..." That is the reason why I will not apologize this time. Because I know, no matter how much I try, situations and time don't permit me to post regularly on the blog.

Well let me cut the crap. Readers, the credit for this post goes to one of my dear friends Swati, who is an ardent reader of my blog. She was the one who made me aware that its been really very looooooooonnnnnngggg since I have updated Good For Nothin'. May be I just needed a wake up call and may be Swati just did that. :P

And with this wake up call, I bring to you yet another Hindi poem, which I wrote sometime ago. No prize for guessing the theme. Yeah... its love again !

Here it goes:

चले वो क़दम क़दम जो साथ मेरे,

तो उन के साथ  प्यार हो जाए.

थामे जो प्यार से हाथ मेरा,

तो अपने ही हाथ से प्यार हो जाए.

जिस रात आये ख़्वाबों में वो,

उस सुहानी रात से प्यार हो जाए.

जिस बात में आये ज़िक्र उन का,

उसी बात से प्यार हो जाए.

जब पुकारा प्यार से नाम,

तो अपने ही नाम से प्यार हो जाए.

  अगर है प्यार इतना खूबसूरत,

तो काश आप को भी हम से प्यार हो जाए...

Hope you guys liked it ! Once again, thanks a lot to you all for your never ending patience and support.

Anjaani Chaahat

I know I am way too late for this post, but as it is said, Better late, than never ! Here comes a short Hindi poem to touch your souls !

यूँ ही अनजाने में तुझ से चाहत स़ी हो गयी,

दोस्ती करने चले थे और तुझ से मोहब्बत स़ी हो गयी।

तू ना हो तो मैं खुद से ही उलझता हूँ,

क्या करूं, मुझे तेरी आदत सी हो गयी।

मैं अपने वजूद में तुझे तलाश करता हूँ,

मुझे तुम से इस कदर मोहब्बत सी हो गयी।

मेरे पास  आओ, तो जी लूं दो पल  मैं भी,

मेरी तो हर एक  सांस  तेरी अमानत  सी हो गयी।

मैं सोचता था तेरे आगे ज़िन्दगी क्या है,

पर तुझे चाहने के लिए  ज़िन्दगी एक  ज़रुरत  सी हो गयी।

Main Kasab Ban Jaaunga

I know.... I know you all are missing me... and my posts, of course ! Well, I was busy with my exam preparations. Yes, MBA has semester pattern... Matlab university waalo ko saal mein 2 mauke milte hain humaari beizzati karne ke !!

And this one is not my original creation. I read it on Facebook. I liked it very much. Yes ! Its a poem. It is a Hindi poem originally titled "A poem by unemployed youth of India", but I feel this poem not just reflects the sentiments of unemployed youth, but it is a mirror of general Indian sentiments. 

Here you go !

माँ मुझे एक बंदूक दे दे

मै कसाब बन जाऊँगा

दो चार मंत्री को मार

रोज कबाब मै खाऊँगा

यहाँ तो इक चादर भी नहीं

वहाँ नरम बिछौना पाऊँगा

दिन रात मै जागूँ यहाँ

वहाँ चैन की नींद सो जाऊँगा

यहाँ मिले गाली और घूंसा

यहाँ रोज मार मै खाऊँगा

वहाँ मुझे छिंक भी आये

तुरंत दवाई मै पाऊँगा

घर की सूखी रोटी से तो अच्छा

रोज बिरयानी खाऊंगा

और जब मैं अदालत में जाऊ

तो मंद मंद मुस्कराऊंगा

मुझे देख भारतवासी गुस्से से तिलमिलाए

तो उनकी किस्मत पर तरस खाऊंगा

फिर देना जब जनम मुझे

मै ऐसा भाग न पाऊँगा

माँ मुझे एक बंदूक दे दे

मै कसाब बन जाऊँगा

I do not preach violence or killings. But the fact that a bloody terrorist is enjoying the Indian hospitality rather than being hanged hurts me a lot. Kasab is the safest man in India. And we, the citizens of India, are still unsafe !

Thodi kahi, zyaada samajhna !

Such is life.

PS: If the Government of India is citing silly reasons like shortage of hangmen, I would love to play a hangman for Kasab ! Kasam se....

Two Dozenth Birthday

Birthday - A day, which comes once a year (unless of course you celebrate "fake" birthdays), for which we wait for days, weeks and months, a day which passes by with lightening speed, a day when you were dropped on the earth, a day when you feel special (or in case, you always feel special, this is a day when you feel extra special) !

Yesterday was my two dozenth birthday (i prefer it 'coz 24 seems a bigger number than 2 dozen) and it was made special by some great friends of mine !

Frankly speaking, I was not that excited for my birthday on the evening prior to it, since it was probably my first birthday away from my family. However (yes, I am an MBA-student, and its kind of offending to use "but") the day was made special by some special people around me.

Although I couldn't maintain a record of all the people who wished me throughout the day, but I will mention the names of some really great friends who made this day indeed very special, namely Kamlesh, Pratik, Vijay, Tarun, Garima, Swati, Aarzoo, Seema, Khushi, etc among the few :) You guys made my day !!

Besides these friends, almost all my family members and friends wished me throughout the day and made my birthday really special one. The number of birthday wishes I got made me think for a while that I'm really growing 'old' !!! :P

My prankster buddy Kamlesh Parihar, whom I gifted a matka (clay pot) for his birthday, compensated my gesture by gifting me a really big watermelon carefully gift-packed exactly when the clock struck 12, and later a pair of "keyboard chappals" :) Thanks buddy !! I loved them both :)

Key Board Chappals or KBC

Moreover, the biggest surprise on my birthday came from my blog, Good For Nothin', which crossed the 1,00,000 pageviews milestone on my birthday. What a coincidence !!

Last but not the least, a few really great friends who missed to wish me on my birthday also deserve to be mentioned in the post. I never thought that they could forget my birthday, ever ! But as they say, Life mein bahut kuchh first time hota hai maamu !

Leaving you all with the two lovely cakes that I had cut on my birthday, but alas, I couldn't save it for you, as they were so tempting that I couldn't resist finishing them off !

The IRRESISTIBLE Cakes !!

Better luck next time guys !

The love I found in YOU.

I know I'm still lagging behind on my promise of posting more frequently. This post comes exactly one week after my last post. Well, as they say, Better late, than never. :)

And in this post, I'm back to what people say I'm best at... P.O.E.T.R.Y.!

Here it is... Dedicated to someone very special... Someone whom I'm yet to find... :P

You are the air I need to breathe,

The river of life inside of me.

You are the half that made me whole,

You are the anchor of my soul.

And you are strong when I am weak,

You are the words when I can't speak.

You never fail to see me through,

That's the love I found in you.

You are my shelter from the storm,

You are the road that leads me home.

Baby with you here face-to-face,

Oh, I know I found my place.

'Cause you are strong when I am weak,

You are the words when I can't speak.

You never fail to see me through,

That's the love I found in you.

Once in every life,

You find the one who's right.

And when you say forever, it's true,

That's the love I found in you.

You are strong when I am weak,

You are the words when I can't speak.

You never fail to see me through,

That's the love I found in you.

That's the love, love I found in YOU.

Its all about money, honey !

Yes... Yes... I remember that I promised to post on the blog more frequently than I used to do for the last few months. And I'm trying to make sure that I keep up my promise.

I could not post anything after the last post since I was busy with my brother's wedding. Yes, my brother got married. Now, just like everyone I come across, don't start commenting "Agla number tera hai..." or "Teri line clear ho gayi ab toh !" :)

I was in Mumbai for the last 18 days or so. And back here in Pune, my good for nothin' college had planned something else for me. They sent a 'love letter' at my place, back in Falna, claiming that I had attended barely 16% of the lectures. Well, the last time I met my co-ordinator at the college to collect my first sem marksheet a couple of weeks, she told me it was 55%. So, how does it go down to 16% in a matter of just a few days??

What raised my doubt was that the Defaulter's List claimed that one good friend of mine, who was successful in grabbing a government job just before Sem-1 exams, who did not appear for the exams and who has left the MBA course, had an attendance of 6%. A lot of the other batchmates also had some random figures in front of their names in the defaulter's list. And the fine print said that a fine of Rs. 500 would be imposed on those having attendance below 50%. This fine print made me think that it's al about money honey !

With this 'love letter' reaching my home, I had to listen to a lot of bhajans from my folks !  On reaching Pune, when I saw the Defaulter's List myself, I noticed the following:

• The highest attendance was 66%.
• Nearly 90% of the students had attendance below the mark of 50%
• A few of the names that I haven't seen for the whole semester, had attendance upto 10%.
• And no one had attendance of 0%.

It confirmed that they had put random numbers in the list, some of the most favourite students of the faculty had attendance above 50%, and yes, it's all about money honey !

Its all about money, honey !

May be this is because my college, one of the nicest MBA colleges in Pune, has the least fees in Pune University. And may be because they want to make some money out of such unfair means. Shocking, but true.

These twists and turns make life frustrating !

Such is life !

Complaints, Excuses And More !

Well, I know, most of my readers don't even care that a blogger named Ankit B. Rathod ever existed. A lot of them might have wiped out Good For Nothin' out of their memories. But, but, but... I'm a phoenix, who rises from its own ashes (for those who need a citation, click here). I will always come back from a sabbatical, like this.

Actually, kabhi kabhi mujhe achanak se bhoot chadh jaata hai blog likhne ka. And probably, that's the reason why I can't give up blogging completely despite being busier than an Ambani. :P

Being very less frequent on the bloggerdom is my only weakness. And this time, seriously I'm working on to overcome it. My last post was on Nov 26, 2011 and today is Mar 07, 2012. That's exactly 3 months 10 days or simply put, its 102 days. Yayyyy !! I've hit a century !!! I should be happy, its my first century ever. Cricket mein to kabhi century maari nahi, blog pe hi sahi ! Well, don't worry, this is probably my first and last century ever !

Of late, I've been listening to a lot of complaints about myself. If I were in school, I could've been thrown out of the school considering the number of complaints I'm getting ! And being a true Indian by heart, we don't accept complaints against us that easily. We have excuses for almost everything ! Even if someone complains about Team India's poor performance down under, a true Indian fan would have something to blame on - the one less ball that wasn't bowled in the tied match against Sri Lanka. :P

Coming back from the larger perspective to a relatively smaller one, I'm gonna enlist a few of the complaints that people make against me, and the excuses that I give, and some more mirrch masaala. :P

Don't worry,  I won't enlist all of them in the post, nahi to jitne bache khuche readers hai wo bhi padhna chhod denge !

Complaint :

Aaj kal message nahi karta. Pehle to roz subah tera message aa jaata tha. Ab kya ho gaya hai?

Excuse :

Arre yaar, I've stopped messaging everyone ever since I lost my Nokia E63 (more than a year ago, on the onset of 2011 !). Us phone mein mera saara message ka collection chala gaya. And then I took HTC Wildfire. The phone is good, but its really a pain to send group messages in that phone.

And More :

The account that I gave is totally true. And this is one of the genuine reasons that I have stopped sending SMSes to everyone. Other genuine reasons not to be disclosed. ;)

Complaint :

Oye... tu blog likhta tha naa.... Kaafi din se tere updates nahi aa rahe hain... All well naa?

Excuse :

Ya... Of course, all is well. Blog to mera abhi bhi hai, but us pe post karne ka time nahi milta. Jab se ye MBA start hua hai naa, bahut zyaada busy ho gaya hoon... saans lene ki bhi fursat badi mushkil se milti hai.

And More :

Somewhat true ! :P

Complaint : 

No tweets for so long ! Pehle to teri twitter updates se pareshaan ho jaate the.

Excuse : 

Ye hi soch ke maine twitter use karna band kar diya. Wo kya hai naa, mujh se tumhari takleef dekhi nahi gayi !

And More :

Dude, if you think you're sarcastic, think again ! Sarcasm mein main tumhaara BAAP hoon ! :P

Complaint :

Mota ho raha hai !

Excuse :

To us mein bhi takleef hai tumhe? Pehle patla tha to kehte the kitna patla hai, ab mota hua to kehte ho mota kyun hai !!!! Complain karna kab chhodoge?

And More :

Its true ! Main mota ho raha hoon !! :(

Complaint :

Tu kitna travel karta hai? Bore nahi ho jaata kya itna travel kar ke?? Kabhi Pune, kabhi Mumbai, kabhi Falna.... Ek jagah to tere pair tikte hi nahi hain... Bhatakti aatma hai kya?

Excuse :

I love to travel ! And ghar pe jaane mein main bilkul bhi bore nahi hota :) Well, you can call me a bhatakti aatma, but a nomad would be a better word ! :P

And More :

Contrary to the excuse that I present, I don't love travelling that much, but its the destination that excites me more. Ghar jaane ke liye to mujhe aadhi raat ko neend mein se jaga ke bhi bologe to bhi I'm ready !

Complaint :

Less Facebook, Even lesser blog posts, Almost nil tweets? Kitna badal gaya insaan....

Excuse :

Actually wo kya hai naa ke mujhe ab gyaan ki praapti ho gayi hai... Ye sab moh maaya hai ! Aur main in ka tyaag karne ki koshish kar raha hoon.

And More :

Told you, I'm Sarcasm ki dukaan ! :P

Well, these were just a few. Agar sab likhne baith jaaunga to shaam to idhar hi ho jaayegi. Plus I have a lot of other things in my priority list. :)

People will never stop complaining. You just have to be more creative in the excuses that you present. That's what I'm trying to do !

Such is life !

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 ]