Meeting a fellow Blogger

How do you react when you meet a fellow blogger. When you see the person you have known and come to admire, for the first time? How does the conversation flow - like it does when we discuss things here on the blogospherse - or like when two strangers meet for the first time?

Am sure each one of us will have their own stories of what happened when they met a fellow blogger for the first time. I too have my share of them :). The first time I met someone from blogosphere for real was when we had a meet last year - with me, Vamsi, Abhinav, and Urvi joining in.

The second time was when I met Maddy. We both operate from the same location (Ohri towers) and the same shifts - but in spite of trying many times we never could meet. Then suddenly one day we met without any plan what so ever - and it was great. Now we keep running into each other, and it is fun to talk to him :D.

The third time it happened was on last Sunday, when I met Abhishek for the first time... and how!! It all started when he bought a bike on Saturday, and in the evening we chatted on phone and decided to go for a ride in the morning. The next morning, I rode from my home to Kakatiya, where he stays - and from there we started our ride, chatting about everything under the sun.

There was no set plan for the ride, and we went where ever our bikes took us. After We finally stopped near Lumbini park and had breakfast and a smoke, all the while talking about blogging, friends, cycling, college days, education system, future aspirations, life, and what not.

Finally we parted at Lumbini Park, with a promise of meeting again in future for more such rides....

If any of you is interested in joining us, he or she is most welcome. We plan to ride on weekend mornings (no specific plans as of now) and gradually increase the distance of the rides. Hope to see you there. Till then,

This is Hashir, signing off....

Over and out

What is happening in our country

I am really surprised and dejected at the state of education in our country. If knowing the fact that most schools here just aim to make money and provide substandard education was not enough, comes the news that corporal punishment is still much of a norm here. 

Most of us would have read about, and already forgotten, the case of Shanno - who was beaten by her teacher so bad that she lost her life. On top of this comes the news of Akkriti, who lost her life because her school could not provide her with required medication for her asthma. If this is the state of schools in our country, then I would rather let my kids study at home rather than go out and put their lives at stake every day.

Many of us will argue that punishment is required, and I wholeheartedly agree with them. But why should punishment mean corporal? Can't we disipline our child in a different way - by making him realize his mistake, and that whenever he does one, he has to pay a price. May be the price is that he has to sit in class while the his peers enjoy a fun activity, or by making him miss something he really enjoys doing. Isn't this a better way of making a child realize that he must pay the price of any wrong he does. Or, do you want to say that we are so cowardly that we can't disipline our children except by beating the hell out of them?

My heart goes out to the two kids mentioned above, and the immunerable others who did not find mention in the newspapers. This post is dedicated to them, andto the hope that such incedents do not happen in future.

This is a pained Hashir, signing off

Over and out

P.S. - I must confess, I too had all but forgotten about these incedents. Thanks to Alok and his daughter, Reveda, for reaching out and bringing me out of my slumber. You can read about what they say about these incedents here and here

P.P.S. - I would like to request all my friends visiting this space to raise their voices against such incedents. We all need to make a stand in our own, small ways, to make a difference.

Blog Reader Appreciation Day

For the uninformed, today is Blog Reader Appreciation Day. So, I would like to thank all the readers of my blog for dropping by, and for commenting on my posts.

Thanks again for visiting my space, and hope you continue to drop by in future also.

This is Hashir, signing off,

Over and out

A confession - and a dilemma

I have a confession to make - I am a complete, hopeless spendthrift. The only time I have saved money in my life is when I had to purchase something. But, after getting a job even this habit has started to vane thanks to the great EMI offers, Personal Loans, and credit cards. Infact, the only reason why I am not neck deep in debt is that I still do have a somewhat sensitive head, which stops me from following all my heart's whims and fancies (though I don't listen to it that much).

Okay, now that I have confessed, let me come to the next point of discussion - which is the current dilemma I am in. Before talking (or rather, writing) about that, let me give you a bit of a background which has given rise it. The thing is, we are Inshallah going to have a function at my place in October/November (and no, I am neither getting engaged nor married, yet). Obvoiusly, when you have a function at home, there are a lot of expenses involved, and I want to support my Dad to the fullest possible extent. This means that I have to start saving from now - since my present bank balance is zero (thankfully it is not in negative).

Now, coming back to my dilemma - it is about whether or not should I go ahead and purchase a bike? The thing is - with Tech Mahindra having taken over Satyam, I can breath more easy now than before, and also since I have already paid the last semester's fee of my MS, so some of my expenses have reduced. So, I can think of buying a bike. The problem is, the bike I want to purchase costs a little over 1 Lakh INR, since my dream bike is the Thunderbird

I have wanted to have a bullet since I was a kid, and the TBTS is that and more. And, I know that I am short, fat, and that I won't look good on the bike - so all my detractors - you have no points to comment on (evil grin!!).

This is my dilemma. Should I buy it now, or should I wait till say August, see my bank balance, and then decide on whether I can take the risk or not. I am thinking on these lines, and am requesting you to think and suggest. Till then,

This is a confused Hashir, signing off

Over and out