I Believe

To believe in God do you need to believe in People.

Should you're religion become you're beliefs or should you're beliefs become you're religion.

The Idea

Without Limits

Running Without Limits - Marathon Legs

Bingo

iPhone iGoogle iCare

Running for NGOpost

We have the world richest 10K run coming up in bangalore this weekend...
http://sunfeastworld10k.indiatimes.com/
needless to say i will NOT win any of that money!!!

Anyways.. about 30+ of us have decided to run for NGOpost this coming sunday. Many have never run 10K before...

Someone was doing a practice run and I'm not sure where he was looking but he tripped on stones and fell down... bruising his knee and injuring his thumb.... however he will run... this time a bit more focused... There are two who ran 11 kms to office on wednesday, just as a practice run!! One of them took a lift inbetween.
And then there is another who tells ppl that its NOT a marathon. Its just 10Kms. So its quite a motley bunch. But what we have in common is that we all will be running for an NGO called NGOpost (www.ngopost.org)

*What is NGOpost?
*NGOpost is a place where people share news, stories related to NGOs. The thought is to make it a one stop platform for getting all news, updates and information about social welfare initiatives. You could also post a problem and ask for suggestions or help to solve it. This initiative was started about 8 months back, and as on date it has over 400 users, with an average of 5-8 stories daily, and most of them real good inspiring stories like this

During the run you will be able to spot us amongst the many runners by the t-shirts we will be wearing. The basic idea is "I phone, I google, I care" and "iPhone iGoogle iCare". Since ngopost.org is an online NGO the idea behind the words are to cover ppl that use the latest technology for communication. Also I sometimes like to keep things a bit abstract so as to make ppl curious to know what its all about :-)

You can support our run by telling more ppl about the site www.ngopost.org.
Also if you wish you can make a donation to our running cause at
http://ngopost.org/donate.php

Thanks,
Alistair

for those at bangalore...
PS: registrations should still be open. So if you would like to join us please let us know. online registration can be done here...
http://reg.sunfeastworld10k.indiatimes.com/marathon/marathon.jsp
or you can directly register at kanteerva stadium till saturday evening

Here is a mail form Parul who started NGO post.
----------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,

Most of you know that I have been involved with NGO Post - a web-platform for sharing ideas and information related to various social issues and helping people work together for their solutions across the globe. It started at UCSD in August 07 with a friend(Nitin) and I, and we have since grown to a team of 10 students and young techies. Going further we have lot of plans for making it a powerful network for people interested in social welfare, get experts to drive technology to places which need them and so on. Big dreams but we are on our way :-)

With all the enthusiasm building around Sunfeast 10k run in Bangalore, I, Goli (a NGOpost team member) and 20 of our friends will be running for NGOpost's cause. Here's How you can help:

1. Support NGO Post in the Bangalore Sunfeast 10K run
• If you are running or know anyone else who is, please join the NGO Post troop! There are about 20 of us so far.
• Donate for NGO Post. Every small contribution matters! Our parent organization, Sewa Bharti Nidhi Trust is registered as a Public Charitable Trust with the Govt of India and is an official charity partner for the Sunfeast marathon.
2. Participate - Since NGO Post is all about exchanging ideas and connecting people for social change, the more people use it, the more useful it becomes! Go to NGO Post, share stories and ideas about various social issues, vote for the best stories and connect with other changemakers!
   
3. Spread the word - Let your friends know about NGO Post! A few ways to do it:
• Link to http://ngopost.org/ from your websites, blogs, orkut/facebook profiles. We have a scrolling widget that displays the most popular stories which you can add to your site.
  
• Pass this mail on to as many people as you can. Please PLEEEASE :-)

The Builder

The Builder
by Pablo Neruda

I chose my own illusion,
from frozen salt I made its likeness--
I based my time on the great rain
and, even so, I am still alive.

It is true that my long mastery
divided up the dreams
and without my knowing there arose
walls, separations, endlessly.

Then I went to the coast.

I saw the beginnings of the ship,
I touched it, smooth as the sacred fish--
it quivered like the harp of heaven,
the woodwork was clean,
it had the scent of honey.
And when it did not come back,
the ship did not come back,
everyone drowned in his own tears
while I went back to the wood
with an ax naked as a star.

My faith lay in those ships.

I have no recourse but to live.

Unforgiven

I knew what I wanted to capture. I tried out some trial shots the previous evening and was waiting for day to break, when I would get my chance again. The sun shone on the motorbike that had just romanced the road over a couple of hundreds of kms. I asked Dhruv to move his bike closer to the tree, facing away from it. He stood beside it and smiled at the camera. I clicked a snap and then said, "Now move!".

Unforgiven. That was the image that lay in my head. I had seen the movie 'Unforgiven' a couple of years back. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris and Clint Eastwood himself, it deals with the man and the myth in all those tough western movies.

It begins with the Clint Eastwood digging his wife's grave below a tree, the woman who reformed him from the thief and murderer that he was. The movie ends with him standing below the tree at his wife's grave. Unforgiven, is about forgiveness and the lack of it. An insight into the movie can be found here.

How to Sit in Dog Shit and Influence People

You are on the road again; armed with that open mind and that adventurous spirit. You've romanced the road a couple of times before. Only to be blown away by the wind as it whistles seductive overtones, revealing itself and the secret of memories; those simple answers that are forever blowin in the wind.

But memories have a way of trying to erase themselves, as you inch forward; trying desperately to break away from the pack. The exhaust fumes find their way to you and you inhale them with a nonchalant demeanor. You are given no other choice. Everything is moving bumper to bumper as time tries to move faster and ends up piling up the seconds, which in turn pile up the minutes; nearly half an hours worth of them. The distance traversed is less than a kilometer and uneasiness starts to creep in, threatening to take over everything, including you're plans. The honking gets to you and pierces deep. Pressure mounts and frustrations soar; you need to break free; free from all of it. You just need a little space for yourself and you need to see the road ahead in silent lucidity. You start to wonder if the open road is just an illusion. But then out of nowhere the wind beckons and carves its path, an opening, and right there in front of you lies the open road; seductive and raring to be romanced all over again.

A plan was floated but hindsight was more accurate as it engulfled Shravanabelagola and Belur as detours in the 630kms that were covered by motorbikes over two days, covering 85 kms in an hour in the fastest stretch. The destination turned out to be Mullayangiri, Karnataka's highest peak, with an overnight stay at a temple at Seetalaingiri, where we were tested in more ways than one.

A 3 km walk to the peak and we met a very nice little boy named Madan, who stays up there. We could have camped in the cave just below but we didn't have tents. A walk in the dark without torchlight and we reached the temple again, only to hike back at 5 the next morning. Since food was being prepared we decided to sit out in the grass and munch on chips. Three dogs tried hard to convince us that chips are good for them but we thought otherwise. Just then someone put his hand into something and felt it go squish and as they say the rest will go down as his story. I jumped up and told everyone to check their pants and just about then my hand felt something and as they say the rest will go down as my story.

Being in deep shit can surely do things to your mind. Being in dog shit can do even more. And with every such situation lies the opportunity to rise as individuals and influence others to do the same. As pointed out by Dale Carnegie in 'How to win friends and influence people' is can be very very simple. But everyone tries it in there own way.

• "Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never tell someone they are wrong."

yeah sure... what an idea... to sit in the grass in the dark

• "Begin in a friendly way."

Errr... with a pat on the back ? which hand should I use...

• "Start with questions the other person will answer yes to."

it wasn't his idea and it wasn't his idea and it wasn't his either.... errr... so whose idea was it to sit in the grass in the dark ?

• "Let the other person do the talking."

well... its tough to talk with you're hands full isn't it :-)

• "Let the other person feel the idea is his/hers."

so whose idea was it to sit in the grass in the dark ?

• "Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view."

err... so how did it feel when you put you're hand in it ?

• "Sympathize with the other person."

We gotta go eat food now... with our hands... you know that right...

• "Throw down a challenge."

"Ok food is ready... lets eat".

• "Dramatize your ideas."

[And do it while eating food.. and smile to give it that effect] Errr... I was thinking.... what if....

The night is cold as the ground shivers with the continuous pounding of the wind and rain outside. It seeks comfort from you as it drains your warmth and finally you wake up in yet another predawn. And right there begins a new day that promises to be even better then the last one cause you now know how to sit in dog shit and influence people.

Dreams and Ambitions

Someone I know got this email from a friend who studies in the 12th std.

sorry xxxx, it was too much, the stress n the pressure was just too much, i dont think i'll make it, i couldnt study, i tried my best, but what bothers me the most is that i can feel my dreams n ambitions slip away, it was that difficult, my memory n understanding was so poor, u know failure means delay not defeat but i dont want a 2nd attempt, i guess all that i can do is just sit at home and make toys, its exam time i shouldn't be sending mails but i really needed to talk u know. physics was so easy but on the day before the exam all that courage i had suddenly shattered and i started crying, never touched the book again and i couldnt do well in the exam, and i dont want to take it as a challenge ever again u know, its too much, way too much, i'm sorry.

Into the Wild

my mom, dad and sis were down to goa with me for a wedding. We were at one of our relation's place. So my dad says that there is a wild life sanctuary close by. His book says it about 40 kms away from us. Its afternoon, as the hot wind blows naughty/sarcastic jokes around, everyone is lazying about, the sea and some of its species in your belly. And then my dad and I decide to go to the sanctuary... others who have lived in Goa since biblical times say, "there is a sanctuary in Goa ?"... my mom in her subtle way tries to postpone our trip for later, knowing that it won't happen later... and others suddenly realize that they have stuff to do... "I have to go kill my tailor .. I gave him one design and he stitched something else"... "I have some plumbing to do".... basically it was very very hot.....

and so I packed fours lenses; a zoom, a macro, a wide angle stabilizer and a normal one hoping to capture some good pics... and the two of us travelled for 2 hours, and did a lot of bus hoping... looking thru windows as the countryside passes you by.... and you inquire about hiring jeeps to go thru the sanctuary and they tell you "you can walk around".... it was actually a zoo... the open type ones... hmmm....

and then we finally reach our destination and they tell us, "thursday closed"....

The Wedding Toaster - Toasted

Unplugged and err brownish. The preparatory notes are out here. In a nutshell the toast revolved around fairytales. But fair is for fairytales which we all remember in our own ways.

Anyways, so I was in Goa for a wedding and was asked to raise the toast. They told me to keep it short; ideally not more than 3 minutes. So then I got into speech mode around 2 days before the wedding day. Wasn't tense but wanted to make a good impression, if you know what I mean :-)

So I started to think of flow. Broke up the toast into parts as mentioned out here. Wrote a poetry called "Finding Never Never Land" (about fairytales) to end with. And since ppl wouldn't want to listen to serious stuff, I padded the beginning and end with some humour. So it was 90 seconds of humour/sarcasm/pokes at family etc to start with and then 90 seconds of poetry and some subtle humor to end with.

I searched on the net for marriage jokes but everything seemed too run-of-the-mill types and stuff that everyone must have heard a thousand times (if they attend many weddings). So the week before that in Pune I met this lady who told me about how she had raised a toast with picture ppts and then another one where she used this particular 'upper hand' joke which I had not heard of till then. And since I attend a lot of weddings I thought it was something nice to start with. It was actually something that no one who I spoke to had heard of before. So I polished the joke, added it to the flow.It had this pretty good punch to start the proceedings with and grab people's attention. It had modulated tones and changes in diction and subtle eye expressions etc etc...

Now the compere/MC was supposed to introduce me before I raised the toast. So he calls the bride and groom to the cake and just before I start uses the very same 'upper hand' joke in a different flavour. The joke that not many had heard of till now. And everyone laughed... and then he asked me to raise the toast....

And so I started without the joke that would set things in flow. But otherwise the toast was decent.

The Wedding Toaster - Notes

[keep points for each topic/flow but not complete sentences. say something to this effect]

[start with a strong joke to grab people's attention]
As I raise the toast, I would request Vijay to take Manisha's hands and place his right hand over them (pause and change to a soft lovey dovey tone) and look deeeeeeeep into her eyes and cherish this moment (pause). Cause this may be the last time he has the upper hand (the punch line should be delivered with good timing).

We are the choices that we have made. Some choose to get married and some choose to proudly proclaim that they are single by choice (pause). But they never mention whose choice, do they. (punchline to be delivered with a quick, querying and serious tone/sarcastic humor).

And then there are the choices of falling in love, where we dream of fairytales and build castles in the air. But that doesn't happen. And then we make the choice that falling in love is not about finding the perfect person but about learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

[change the flow from love to introduce the families. No qualifications/degrees/designations, but try to bring out humanity]

But love is the union of souls and marriage is the union of families and friends. Vijay and his close knit family are from Malaysia. I know Manisha and her family from 3 years back, when my Mom was visiting her cousins in Goa. I had other plans since I didn't know any of them. But the "what re", "Ahh voice" and "no men" were delivered in such a homely manner that I ended up extending my trip to 2 weeks. So basically what I'm trying to say (looking at Vijay) is that for the first 2-3 weeks they'll be good to you (pause) and then (pause and make people think of the punchline).... I'm sure they'll be ever better.

[if ppl are laughing then make a comment with subtle humor to mark the demarcation where you are finally getting serious]
So now that I have everyone's attention, I think its time I raised the toast (pause).

I've written a poem on Fairytales called 'Finding never Never Land' and it goes something like this.

[read out the poem]

Finding Never Never Land

Once upon a time,
Or so the fiction begins.
Everyone lived happily ever after,
And so the fiction ends.
And the poetry in translation,
In certainty, is what its all about.
So that once upon a time,
Ends with happily ever after.

And so once upon a time,
Somewhere beyond the rainbow.

The cards are dealt as we play our parts,
With poetic license, the rhyming starts.

A blank canvas, that gaping void,
Those dreamy strokes, retracing Freud,

Resolutions to make, and some to keep,
As the mind starts to wander, far and deep.

Coup de main, a consensus breached,
Caught unawares, the rainbow bleached.

Consenting adults, the coming of age,
Juvenile passions, each considered a sage.

Same is the cross, but different the nails,
Those runaway trains, on imaginary rails,

Beneath the embers, as the ashes take form,
From silent lucidity, comes a silent storm.

Astray in the darkness, with each echoing word,
The dialogue begins, others feelings are heard.

Timeless shadows, lurking in the soul,
A solemn understanding, in parts, then in whole,

Out of the blue a whisper passes by,
You tend to ignore it, you seem to know why.

The silent whisper in a world of the blind,
It starts to resonate, is it your kind.

The yellow brick road, a vision, depart,
In search of courage, some wisdom, some heart.

Perchance to dream, a sculptor's bliss,
Those Hands that builds out of nothingness.

They rock the cradle, a dream unfurled,
Hand in Hand, they rule the world.

Our place in the sun, if the books we trust,
From ashes to ashes, just a handful of dust.

As reality abides, we walk on our own,
The Secret of Memories, we are not alone.

The Angel's lullaby, the soprano's song,
The silent whispers still linger on.

Finding Never Never Land, for each I say,
Cause we all remember fairytales in our own way.

So here's to Manisha and Vijay.
Through the wrinkles of time,
May you share everything.
(pause for the punchline)
Including the housework.

Finding Never Never Land

Finding Never Never Land

Once upon a time,
Or so the fiction begins.
Everyone lived happily ever after,
And so the fiction ends.
And the poetry in translation,
In certainty, is what its all about.
So that once upon a time,
Ends with happily ever after.

And so once upon a time,
Somewhere beyond the rainbow.

The cards are dealt as we play our parts,
With poetic license, the rhyming starts.

A blank canvas, that gaping void,
Those dreamy strokes, retracing Freud,

Resolutions to make, and some to keep,
As the mind starts to wander, far and deep.

Coup de main, a consensus breached,
Caught unawares, the rainbow bleached.

Consenting adults, the coming of age,
Juvenile passions, each considered a sage.

Same is the cross, but different the nails,
Those runaway trains, on imaginary rails,

Beneath the embers, as the ashes take form,
From silent lucidity, comes a silent storm.

Astray in the darkness, with each echoing word,
The dialogue begins, others feelings are heard.

Timeless shadows, lurking in the soul,
A solemn understanding, in parts, then in whole,

Out of the blue a whisper passes by,
You tend to ignore it, you seem to know why.

The silent whisper in a world of the blind,
It starts to resonate, is it your kind.

The yellow brick road, a vision, depart,
In search of courage, some wisdom, some heart.

Perchance to dream, a sculptor's bliss,
Those Hands that builds out of nothingness.

They rock the cradle, a dream unfurled,
Hand in Hand, they rule the world.

Our place in the sun, if the books we trust,
From ashes to ashes, just a handful of dust.

As reality abides, we walk on our own,
The Secret of Memories, we are not alone.

The Angel's lullaby, the soprano's song,
The silent whispers still linger on.

Finding Never Never Land, for each I say,
Cause we all remember fairytales in our own way.

------ Alistair D'souza March 30th 2008

Taare Zameen Par and the Art of Motormouth Maintenance

On 'Taare Zameen Par' and the Art of Motormouth Maintenance.

Ok, so lets face the facts. Consciously or unconsciously we have been mean people at some point in our lives. And no matter how good we endeavor to be, we will be mean people again at some point in the future. And lets also face the facts that deep down inside we all think that we are good people and at some point or the other we have tried to show the world/ourselves that we care, consciously or unconsciously, in order to attain that certificate that claims, 'Don ke seene me bhi dil dhadakta hai!!!!!'

So I met this friend over the weekend in Pune. He has this habit of tipping girls off. He loves doing it. So we were in the midst of a conversation and this girl mentioned in a very serious and emotional aura that she cried while watching the movie 'Taare Zameen Par'. Just then his eyes lit up, as the hair on the back of his neck tingled with mind boggling certainty with regards to the choice of his next words and the high it was about to give him. With sarcastic humor and a tone of self proclaimed insanity he poked her, "Alistair did you cry when you watched the movie". I hinted a subtle 'No', setting out on the verge to explain that I was probably immune to such a mild show of emotions as I have watched many such movies and my threshold was a tad bit higher.... But all he wanted was the 'No'; cutting me short in my introspective reverie, so as not to lose the moment; the stage was set and he pounced on her like the big bad wolf.

"I know you must have been very bad at studies. All people who had problems in studies point to the screen and start crying. That was me. That was me. And the amount you cried is proportional to how bad you were."

Well it sure killed my reverie but it sure made me hysterical as I silently applauded that near perfect delivery. And then the two of them got into this nice healthy argument. It sure made the conversation more lively and I enjoyed every bit of it.

I tried this on some other people. The idea is to catch them in a serious/emotional mood. Its amusing to see the receiving end, pause for an ephemeral second, think about the reasons why they cried and then hit back with an explanation; the stutter in their tone, the smile on their face knowing that they've just been had. It sure makes for some healthy poking. And at the end of it brings smiles on everyone's faces.

PS: only to be tried on friends you know well... :-) otherwise you'll never get to know them well...

Scraps of Paper

Sometimes there are no bonds of blood.
Just
Scraps of Paper.

Some scraps of paper that I have with me since almost forever... Got the first two from this little girl...

Notice the 'mine' changed to 'you'... it gives it a subtle new meaning which I'm sure she didn't think of since she was really small then... but hey, it rhymes :-)


The last one is from an eighty year old lady who I used to practice for elocutions with. I loved to visit her since see seemed to have all the answers. She wrote something behind.

Have a few more random scraps of paper...

Getting used to it

Hehehehehe.... This struck so many chords when I first saw it.... from B sharp to C flat.... just had to put it up out here...

Madness, Fireflies and Chocolate Mint Liqueur

2005: Madness, Fireflies and Chocolate Mint Liqueur
2006: Madness, Fireflies and Chocolate Mint Liqueur
2007: Madness, Fireflies and Chocolate Mint Liqueur

Being called a veteran means a lot. It means that you are supposed to know the route to the Fireflies which you have been religiously attending for the past 3 years. It means that ppl hold you responsible for their derrieres; covering and cushioning it over the twelve longs hours that you have to sit on hard rock. So sporting a hairstyle (or the lack of one) that you don't get at any salon I picked up Swarna from IIM and headed to Ayush's place, where they were packing for a three day trek. We packed the essentials (read cushioning and a PSP!) and set sail. During the long drive Ayush tried hard not to tell us about his exploits in Vegas cause his wife Pallavi was sitting next to him. And then finally the time of reckoning; which beckoned me the way directions are beckoned from me... err yes people had their doubts as that first pearl of sweat found its way across my forehead and down into oblivion. My senses were put on high alert and finally I shouted, "There!!!! Take that right!!!!". Well till now we were headed on a straight road and this was just the beginning. What lay ahead of me was a labyrinth of teeny weeny criss crossing roads. They say wisdom comes with age, but in my came age just showed up all of a sudden as I uttered those words to everyone's relief, "Follow that car!!!!". Phew!

Well this year there were a lot of new performers; Jazz by Glen Rogers from Australia, Kaman and group on acoustic portuguese guitars, Esperanto, a lot of alternative music, blues... a group from Pondicherry and then to the usual Oikyotaan, Qawali and other stuff. This time the place was packed to capacity.

When time came to stretch my legs I went backstage and shot a lot of ppl in action.

And oh yeah the chocolate liqueur was provided by Bala the next day who just returned from Israel, who was actually secretly shooting for Ralph Lauren's swimwear line. Send him an email and ask him to show you the pic in the dead sea.

My cousin Irene

It was Ash Wednesday and I went to my relation's place after church. Ash was on my forehead, which marked the beginning of the period of repentance/abstinence forty days before Holy Easter. The basic idea is to try and humble yourself. My cousin Irene asked me if I was gonna fast and I said no. She told me that she also was not gonna fast and decided that she could do other things instead. Then she lit up and told me that she was taking her school children to Disney's Magic show the next day, the first day first show in Bangalore, which would extend over two weeks.

She used to work in Microsoft but then decided to leave and teach at a school for poor children. The tickets for the show were priced at 500, 750 and 1000 Rs and so she decided to call up the organizers and see if she could do something to get some of the children, whose parents can't afford those pricey tickets, to watch the magic show. She ended up talking to various people in the organizing company over the next week or more. She also tried to talk to people in Microsoft to get something done. First the organizers told her that they could give them the tickets for half the price but she said that too was way too much for people who can't afford a good meal. She kept on calling daily and they used to tell her something or the other and then tell her that they would think about it but the people above have to decide. So she would get the numbers of the higher ups and start all over again.

She then went for one of our cousin's wedding in Nagpur and when she returned she called the organizers again asking them what they had decided. Finally they told her that they had some good news as they had decided to keep aside 1500 free tickets on the first day for under privileged children. This included her school which has 250 children and other organizations that teach street children.

It brought a big smile on my face to say the least :-)

The Dark Supper