astute perceptions

Drivin to Goa from Bangalore, do you have a visa? Sorry, the Himalayas are another country, mate. For Leh, there's a 20-pg permission form to be filled, and a long waiting. Let's figure out the brand strategy for the brand launch in our neighbouring nations's capitals - Chennai, Itanagar, Kolkata and Kathmandu. Sounds Chinese to you? I thought about the Chinese thought with little faith. But I really had to ask myself, how do I feel about this as a citizen? Do most people feel this way, irrespective of where they come from? Does anyone among us feel cheated to be part of One India ? Are we really bound with a tricolour thread that will ensure out nation never splits? I believe we are. Who's with me?

1. Send your entire team out to a rest-o-bar for dinner – company paid, of course. 2. Ask them to order drinks and snacks to their heart’s content. 3. Let them discuss metaphysical eccentricities, North Korean war, best blooper moments, stand-up comics, world’s juiciest butts – anything under the sun but work. 4. Ask them to order a few more rounds of drinks, then dinner, then drinks again. 5. Order coffee. 6. Order 5 few more rounds of drinks. 7. Call them a cab and fill them in the cab safely. 8. Tell them to reach office at 9am, sharp, before they leave, else they’re fired. 9. Next day, at 9, hand them an 18 page agenda that they were supposed to discuss the previous night. Ask them for conclusions. 10. The answers that come then, apart from the obvious blitzkrieg-hit, hangover-marred crap, will hopefully be some of the most creative strategic ideas ever. Of course, this is most effective only 1 in 100 times. If they are really smart. And very very lucky ;-)

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. - Robert Frost

Life’s a circus, and we’re all jokers in various roles. All authorities, in my opinion, are jokers pretending to be ring-masters. And pretending that we are their tamed lions. But bottom-line, we are all jokers. And joke we do, while others joke with us. No joke is good enough to make us stop being what we are. Jokers. While you pretend to be a ring-master, do all that you will. In the end, it’s an act. It’ll only get as serious as a joker’s. No more, no less. And you don’t like that. You hate being called a joker. You are convinced you are not. You are a ringmaster, right? Take another look, maybe you are no different than me. And I am a joker. In this circus of life.

It's never too late to be whoever you want to be. There is no time limit, start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. - Benjamin Button

A day at Dilli 6. Chandani Chawk, Khari Baoli, Ajmeri Gate. Chole Bhatoore, Rabri Falooda, Clicking Camera. Holy Qoran, Cleaning Marbles, Bumping Rickshaws.