It feels really strange to realize that in those few minutes when I was at CCD, just after having felt the bombs; I was there, between two bombed sites, joking, trying to preserve my calm, while people were injured, while they were crying, trying to find their loved ones, while they were witnessing violence, gore, and death. It is a tragedy of unknown proportions…
A tragic end to a day full of twists and turns. Sadness and sorrow fills me as I write this. As I began my day, I had never thought how it will end. I had no clue at all.

September 13th, 2008. New Delhi
8.0 AM
It started with me rushing to my Ahok Vihar office for the monthly strategic review meetings. Had to work on the Marketing Divisions strategic intent and planning and put it across the board. Had just updated Open Coffee Club Delhi in the morning that I shall be attending the OCC Delhi Meet at Café Coffee Day, Outer Circle, CP later in the evening.

At around 12:40, between the series of meetings, got a mail at the OSScamp Community mailing list about the offline Drupal Meet up at Srijan Campus, Nehru Place. God! I was going to miss it as my schedule was already overflowing. I didn’t want to miss it anyway. But that’s what short notices do. No offence.

3.20 PM
Started my presentation. Discussed the various aspects of our brand building exercises, problems we are facing and possible solutions and the ones the marketing team would recommend. A fierce discussion on a new brand identity that needs created. A lot of discussion I wouldn’t want to bore you with. Finally, I was free by 4.15PM.

4.20 PM
I left a note for my boss that I am leaving for the OCC Delhi Meet at CP; an unusual first for me. At the time it felt the right thing to do even when I have never really cared about updating my boss with my every movement. It’s like we have an understanding at OSSCube that if we are doing quality work in stipulated time, it proves that I am a good judge of how to utilize my time and we don’t question each other. My boss doesn’t question me and I don’t question my team. That’s the way it goes. So it puzzled me: why I wanted to leave that note. Obviously, now I can speak a lot about my intuitions and premonitions and other such myths. But that wasn’t it, exactly. Not very easy to understand what it was.

4.35 PM
Trying to get an auto for CP has always been a tough job for me at Ashok Vihar. Finally I got one and I called Satpal to update him about my being late. The problem with unconferences is that people generally don’t take the deadlines very seriously. Or let’s put it correctly, diplomatically: we all are busy people with overflowing schedules; unconferences are just flexible enough to accept such situations. Needless to say, moron me was not the only late guy. But that’s what the game is all about – people coming.

5.11 PM
Some problem at Ramakrishna Ashram. The road was closed. Had to take a detour through Gole Market for CP. A thick jam there due to all the vehicles detouring.

5.20 PM
Finally reached CP. Café Coffee Day, Outer Circle. A few hundred meters from Central Park and Gopal Das Building.

(more…)

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don’t know where it goes
But it’s home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
and I’m the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone

My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
‘Til then I walk alone

I’m walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line
Of the edge and where I walk alone

Read between the lines
What’s fucked up and everything’s alright
Check my vital signs
To know I’m still alive and I walk alone

I walk alone

My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
‘Til then I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I’m the only one and I walk a…

My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart’s the only thing that’s beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
‘Til then I walk alone…

It so happens, in day to day life, that we stumble upon some piece of news, some stuff, that makes us feel like shit. We blame the system. We say the nation is going to its doom. We blame the government. The Media. The Herd-like crowd. Everyone. Everyone, but ourselves.

And we proclaim, nothing good can be done for this nation. And though I write this for my nation – India, it stands true for almost all nations. After all, who doesn’t like to find faults. And if truth be told, I love to crib a lot.

Such one day, I was cribbing about my nation with my friends. How various evils, various negatives haunt India and what should be done for it. We talked about a lot of issues – poverty, illiteracy, environmental concerns, corruption, morality, mortality, media etc. A lot of things. And all we kept concluding was: “The government won’t get things done. It’s all concerned with being in power”. And we were not just talking about the current Congress power. We were quite indifferent to what political party is in power. It’s the same everywhere.
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The Chronicles of Alex Hall

EXODUS & SURVIVAL

VOLUME I

A Crevey House Anthologies Edition

Alex Hall

Member, UPC and Administrator, PE

Honorary Grumpa of the NPR, Eiskweldt of S13

Medal of Honour Awarded, Celebrated War Hero

Crevey House

Publications & Studios

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Live in a coastal region? No? Inland? Continental? Never seen a ship all your life? Except the Movies and the TV? Oh! You live on the Internet? Great! So do I! Unfortunately, these days I am almost homeless. Why? A ship just disrupted my life. Some 2500 Miles away.

That’s Why!

Internet access in India and large parts of West Asia including the UAE, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia has been hit following breakdown of two undersea cables in the Mediterranean Sea.

A ship diverted from Alexandria (Egyptian Port) due to bad weather has severed the Indian-owned FLAG and the SEA-ME-WE cables (more details at Tech Tree). Net Services have fallen down to 60-70% level of services. The problem is expected to continue for another fortnight or so.

And So I have decided to make use of that fortnight in a compiling a list of ways a ship can disrupt your life, no matter how inland you live. Here’s my list (will be updated):

1. It can make your Internet crawls.
2. Where is my peace?
3. It can make sending an email a tedious process.
4. It takes away the caek of your life.
5. Using messenger becomes a tedious process as it keeps logging in.
6. GMail is always unavailable.
7. It leads to cyber tsunamis.
8. It can make you write crazy blogs.
9. It can be a safe way to bring extremely unsafe creatures to your city.
10. Last time I was in a ship, I was ship-sick.

Know any interesting? Contribute please.

Note: No ships were damaged in the writing of this post. Neither will ever be.