Obituary - Capt. Dr. Manoj Agarwal

In loving memory of our dear collegiate Manoj, who succummbed to a fatal head injury while discharging his duty in the service to the nation. Salute to you my friend.


Capt. Manoj Agarwal (02.03.1982 - 25.02.2011)

Dearest friends and family who've lost him too:

Our hearts ache with yours.

We send you our profound sympathy and condolences at the loss of Manoj.

We know how loss devastates, especially a loss so inexplicable. There is a paradox in times like these. Just as it seems events have slipped from the control of the Master of the universe, our sorrow compels us to believe even more firmly in the power of our Master. We pray you will be delivered His peace and His understanding.

While no words can bring perfect consolation, we hope you may take comfort in the familiar tone of the Psalms -
"Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning."

Peace be with you, Manoj's family, just as we are with you. Always.

Remember Ross and Rachel singing to their baby??

Yeah, remember that song? I am sure you wanted to know the entire lyrics no??

Then here it is:

"Baby Got Back"

I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get sprung, wanna pull out your tough
'Cause you notice that butt was stuffed
Deep in the jeans she's wearing
I'm hooked and I can't stop staring
Oh baby, I wanna get with you
And take your picture
My homeboys tried to warn me
But that butt you got makes me so horny
Ooh, Rump-o'-smooth-skin
You say you wanna get in my Benz?
Well, use me, use me
'Cause you ain't that average groupie
I've seen them dancin'
To hell with romancin'
She's sweat, wet,
Got it goin' like a turbo 'Vette
I'm tired of magazines
Sayin' flat butts are the thing
Take the average black man and ask him that
She gotta pack much back
So, fellas! (Yeah!) Fellas! (Yeah!)
Has your girlfriend got the butt? (Hell yeah!)
Tell 'em to shake it! (Shake it!) Shake it! (Shake it!)
Shake that healthy butt!
Baby got back!

Hahahaha...funny isnt it? There is more to it. Do a google check if you want to. Have fun singing it. :)

A walk of faith

‘Life and all that lives, is conceived in the mist and not in the crystal.’ – Kahlil Gibran

Last night was a lovely rainbow ring around the moon, filled me with wonder. Remembering that without the night sky, would not see the moon and stars.

Little children have no concept of tomorrow, beyond hope and places they visit in dreams.

That reminded me of The Alchemist, and enthusiasm, things done with love and purpose.

‘In art, truth and reality begin when you no longer understand anything you do or know, and there remains in you an energy, that much stronger for being balanced by opposition, compressed, condensed….. You clearly must have all your accomplishments behind you, and have known how to keep your Instinct fresh’ – Henri Matisse

This writing is like a prayer. A walk of faith. Thankyou all the writers.

Love to All, extra hugs to those who need,
Shibu

Guerrillero Heroico ('Heroic Guerrilla')

Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, wearing a black beret and with an expression described as 'absolute implacability as well as anger and pain' is shown in this famous photograph taken by Alberto Korda on March 5, 1960. and it's entitled 'Guerrillero Heroico' (Heroic Guerrilla).

Guevara, 31 years old at that time, was attending a funeral in Havana, Cuba, for victims of an explosion at the town of La Coubre. The photo was actually published seven years later, and is now considered to be one of the ten greatest photographic portraits of all time. It has become a universal symbol of rebellion for human rights against social injustice.

The Art Institute of Maryland (USA) has called it ‘the most famous photo and graphic icon of the twentieth century’, and London's Victoria & Albert Museum has stated that the photograph has been reproduced in every conceivable form more than any other image in photographic history.

Meet Mr. Awesome

The first thing you cant miss after having even the minuest conversation with the para-commando Lt. Sharyfsinh Bhonsle is his liberal use of the word awesome in all its attributes. Awesome, awesomeness, super awesome – all of it. But the more you get to know him, you realise that he actually lives upto his self-declared image of being uber awesome and you cant help admit that this boy from aamchi Pune is indeed a force to reckon with. The only son to a real estate enterpreneur father and an air hostess mother, Sharyf has all the qualities that makes him stand out, even without him trying. Having passed out from RIMC with flying colours, this lad went on to be the runners up in Mr. NDA and also the Best sportsman of that year. Story repeated in IMA and he became the only cadet ever to win the title of Best sportsman in NDA and IMA. He also was adjudjed Mr. IMA. For some people winning is a way of life and Sharyf stands tall by doing things just right by doing perfectly well in all his courses and also bagging the Best All Rounder trophy in the Commando Training in Belgaum. When asked about how it felt, he says, “I’ve been lucky – thats it.” With a massively swollen leg because of an absess, running a 40km and coming in excellent is something that only the direct descentants of Maharaja Shivaji Bhonsle could do, which by the way he is. Smart, dashing and confident Jr. Bhonsle is also endowed with the gift of the gab. Living life “josh types”and taking life in fourth gear, one can only wish that the exuberence he exudes infects all those he interacts with and that life hereon for him is riddled with all those things in which happiness lies.



Vital Statistics :
DOB: 11 Jan 1988
Favourite color: Black
Favourite movie: Blood Diamond
Favourite sexual position: ****(On request)
Favourite passtime: Facebook
Favourite book: Catch 22
Ambition: To do as much as I can.
Quote: There is no problem so big that cant be run away from. (By – he doesn’t recall)
Love to me is: Something only some get to feel and something some think they know.
Biggest asset: My sense of humour and my free spirit.

HVD

The modern cliché Valentine's Day poem can be found in the collection of English nursery rhymes Gammer Gurton's Garland:
The rose is red, the violet's blue
The honey's sweet, and so are you
Thou are my love and I am thine
I drew thee to my Valentine
The lot was cast and then I drew
And Fortune said it shou'd be you.
Today the world celebrates - Valentine's day. A day with many legends with one common motive - LOVE. Out of many there are two legends which are famous and for which 14th Feb is celebrated.
One legend is the story of a priest called Valentine of Rome. He was a martyred in AD 269. The emperor of Rome, Claudius II, declared a rule under which he forbid men from getting married, as he felt that single men make better soldiers. Priest Valentine who did not agree with the emperor, performed secret marriages of young lovers. When Claudius II, came to know about it, he killed Priest Valentine. 14th Feb is thus celebrated in the memory of the Priest Valentine.
According to another legend, Priest Valentine himself fell in love with a Jailor's daughter. Before he was assassinated by the emperor, it is believed that he wrote a love letter and signed it “From Your Valentine”. Thus, the question, “Will you be my Valentine?” originated.
Valentine's Day reminds us to look into these interesting legends and how since the AD till 2011, this special day has remained one of the most special day for hearts in love. On this day every lover relives those times when a person gave away his life for the sake of love.

With time the seriousness and commitment of the term love has become blur and by 14th Feb 2011, people have come up with a question as to “Why one day to celebrate love?” Many on looking at this article on Valentine's Day, will ask this question once again. There has never been a reason to celebrate anything. A celebration is a created reason to get the society together and relive a remembrance. The reason of celebrating Valentine's Day according to me apart from a remembrance is to dedicate time to your lover. (Ok, I am not trying to things more worse – no phone, no fax, no internet. Still.) Time, which these days is a rare phenomenon. At a time with 24X7 work culture, many relationships are breaking only because couple don't spend time with each other. In such a case, a special day, gives reason for the lovers to gift each other time and with the remembrance of the legend, live every moment together and redefine their love which might have gone through a lot of trouble.
Ok, thats it. Stop sulking. :(

Puking into the Valentines Day – A special report on the worst boat ride of my life.

As if this separation isn’t enough – Army always has with it strange ways to enhance endurance of its troops. Think about it, its Valentines day and I couldn’t have a better idea on my mind than to puke my colons out. And it would be unfair to thank Hon. Maj. Sabarinath and the Hon. EXO for making our dreams come true this day. All three of us – Sharyf, Gagandeep and yours truly, along with our ill-fated buddies had that “experience you need to feel”, in what is best encapsulated in the words of an anonymous source (anonymous because he begged me not to put his name here, and even if you guessed it right, there are no cookies for you. So don’t. Thank you.), “This is the classical example of UTGM and I still cant understand why anybody had to launch it”. Just before I could agree totally to that, there comes our dear khalsa with the line only he can articulate best – “B.C .– Choos maccha di yaar!”
While I was still trying to get my senses back and pull me from my utter misery, I felt like Tom from Tom and Jerry with my eye balls spiralling in the orbit. Though I tried all possible medical tricks to combat sea-sickness, I knew I was wasting my time because I was already 3 times down and little did I know that there were more to come – many more. Well, I puked out every single molecule of whatever formed the gastric content of mine then and to make things more emotional – the gastric content also filled both my nostrils. All thanks to the awesome pitching the ship did when I was puking. Now tears rolled down my eyes for what I still cant remember – was it the nasal content that was gastric or the painful truth of the situation. Times like this really don’t roll, do they? I can bet that that 04 hours were the longest four lours of my life.

And Danny Boyle would make his next movie named 04 hours and it would cast 03 super heroes if he knew what we put up with. Anyways, as they say – when you are in your worst time, worser thoughts come into your head. Now don’t laugh when you read what came into mine. I thought that some shark nearby would smell all the blood laced content I just puked out and would come and eat us all up and thus Valentines day would be my Death Anniversary. Now what is important to note here is that – to make some sane person imagine such serious shit, think what he went through. Again, at this juncture – I would love to thank everybody who contributed in making us LIVE this experience.
And then I looked at my watch and saw I have crossed my half time. I really wasn’t sure – the light at the end of the tunnel – was it the exit or the light of the train that was gonna run over us. But this much I know – the sight of the sailor who put the ladders down for us to climb up after the most gruelling four hours, was the most beautiful sight I have seen in a long time and something I would cherish for a long time. And when I had to say good luck to Gagan who was next in the slaughter list, I couldn’t imagine the shit he would have to swim through too, especially when the sailors told me just an hour before that the sea is just gonna get worse. And as imagined, Gagans buddy lived my nightmare – fully and worse.
This experience has also ignited fresh adulation for the war ships and the enduring men at sea. Sharyf puts it : “I never realised the true value of a ship journey until I, experienced the LCA. Now I value every moment spent on the ship.”

For those who dint know : LCA:Landing craft assault, UTGM:Udhte teer gaa** mein.

BLOGGING AND BITCHING

So what happened?

From where I sit (anchored in the sea, miles away from civilisation), honestly, the title and raison d'etre of what should have otherwise been a blog really no longer apply. I've been out of academia now for something like five years--long enough that I'm not actually sure how long it's been and also more than a week out of any sort of communication with the outside world, including my wife. The phones have been confiscated and sealed (Yeah, don’t drop your jaws – I was there too at the EXOs den to witness the blessed event). My only attempt to use the internet dongle to connect to the internet and know whats happening to my blog/FB/and also the world have also crashed and burned – again thanks to the EXO. He HAD to take a round then, just about when the net was getting connected. Anyways, talking about the blog, I always used my blog to vent my frustrations – be it personal or professional and its really cut down a lot on my hypertension. It allows me to bitch in fourth gear and still not be worried if I am being watched/ judged. And from my experience I tell you – strangers can actually give you some of the best advice. I think its mostly because they aren’t biased towards you and also because they really don’t care/know if their advice can hurt/really solve the situation. Though the bitchiness of the blogging has come down a lot now, I still have strong opinions, but the severe unhappiness and depression that were, to be honest, major drivers of the urgency and bitchiness of conversations that filled my blog (minus the night long bitchy session yesterday I had in lieu of blogging, in the wardroom) are also things of the past. For now anyway, and I hope permanently. And most importantly of all, my primary purpose in indulging in the bitching has, I think, been met: there are *tons* of people out there who are also depressive/bitchy/feminist/married/academic/anxious/funny/cynical/etc. types, who experience at least some parts of the world in ways that are congenial to me, and I to them, and the blog has, I think, been a successful part all of our discovering that the internet is a really awesome way to ditch the facades and talk, honestly, about our experiences. Even the pseudonymous part of doing so feels almost like an afterthought: it's been quite some time since I have been fairly transparent (though still quite enjoyable) nom de plume, rather than a proper mask.

That plus it sort of feels like my mad blog is a more or less complete body of work. Not that we don't/won't continue to have things to say on the blog's topics--feminism, politics, society, recipes, emotions, even academia--but we, the various contributors into the bitch sessions, have each reached a kind of closure of the parts of our lives that the blog served. We may not all be living happily ever after, but I think we're all at transitional stages and ready to move to something new.

But as I said, that doesn't mean we're, like, dead or anything.
For now the blog will stay exactly where it is. But I have decided that I need to think and shoot about newer, better topics. Like travel. In other words, stuff will still be around, hopefully to be occasionally discovered by new readers but my readers are going to miss the bitchy content from now on.

I shall forever remain your humble servant.

www.docshibs.blogspot.com

PS: 1. Face it – Men can almost always beat women in bitching.
2. Being happy and having someone with whom you can discuss what you think, drastically cuts down on the bitching. See, it worked for me.