Happy New Year 2015

I think a New Year is just a conspiracy to give us hope. We hope that new year will be different as if this world or even us will start working in a different manner just because we bought home a new calendar :) Nevertheless like in good movies no animal is ever injured during giving us a good hope. Eat better, do better and feel better in the new year 2015!

Superman: Salman-Ka-Fan

Arjun Kapoor dances to the tunes of “Mai hun Superman… Salman ka Fan” and something is just too loud to be ignored. We can call it pride or even arrogance; but being Salman-ka-Fan sort of justifies it all… With this brush if we want to paint the fossilized topic of comparing the three famous Khans of Bollywood, how do we rate the Aamir, Shahrukh and Salman?

Aamir had always been too ‘girlish’. Several times he tried too hard to break this image but alas – how could be change it unless he comes on screen with a mask every time! So it does not matter whether he plays a tapori in ‘aati-kya-Khandala’ wearing leather jacket and growing a bit of stubble, he still appears like a cheeky chick. Shahrukh has slightly different flavor - even when clean-shaven he always appeared like unshaven – and he made the ‘boy-next-door’ look his biggest strength. Not all girls actually believe in their dream of marrying a prince – most of them would perhaps agree to marry a frog if the frog wears Versace. And what a rich wrinkled frog Shahrukh has been! A dog can bite, even a cat can bite, but a frog is too harmless to be of any harm – and that is what makes him attractive to girls. Girls could dream a lizard to turn into a monster but never an SRK to be threatening to them – that is quite some quality to possess. That brings us to the only Khan who has remained himself all through the ages. Salman Khan is the only Khan who never needed to humiliate himself in order to win our hearts… Don’t believe it? Just look at coy and childish Aamir playing pK!

Photo: Aamir playing pK

Coming back to Aamir being girlish. It was no surprise that Aamir failed when he tried to portray a Manly (Mangal) Pandey. In order to hide his girlish looks, Aamir tried something which worked just as bad – he tried to play the kid! We all loved him in 3-Idiots because appeared too natural for the juvenile’s role he was playing. He continued the same to Dhoom-3 where he played a character suitable for his looks – that of a cute child. Btw, before that he failed once again in Talash – because he was playing the role of a Manly Policewallah with a manly moustache. So in pK he returned to his comfort zone and this time took it several notches above – he made himself into a clown! Ok, fine, it was alien. But the alien he was playing seemed to have been inspired by a clown – just look at the way he carries himself off…

Photo: Aamir failed each time he played a manly character like Mangal Pandey or in Talash but succeeded when he played a boyish joker or a clown-like alien.

While Aamir thrived on his girlish looks, Shahrukh was neither a proper ‘boy’ nor a proper ‘girl’ and his only strength was his ‘newspaper vendor boy-next-door’ look. So our so called King failed when he played Ashoka the Great. His tapori-panthi, sly, street-smart moves were out-of-class for the classy look and feel needed in the character. Shahrukh also made complete fool of himself when he tried to outdo the original Bachchan’s Don. People would accept him a road-chhap tapori but he appeared to be wearing rented suits and stolen deodorants for his role as a Don. SRK being the only Khan without a look worth second glance outdid all his previous antics by growing his six-packs which appeared more naturally grown in a starving smoking man than a person frequenting a gym of any shape and size. With his eight-packs he proved in front of the whole world how desperate he could be! Before all this madness about body-chiseling SRK was thriving on being a rare combination of intelligence, manners and romanticism. All his earlier life he must have been an ignored, average and invisible boy and hence the viewers connected with him instantly! After all, despite having the worst biopics he always used to get the girl by the end of the movies! How fascinating for the public to see such a pathetic boy getting all beautiful girls from one movie to the other! To the girls, he appeared to possess many complimentary qualities which they would like to have in their boyfriends, if nothing less then nothing more than that also. Being a boring loyal husband was not an option but compulsion to the King Khan without a proper beard.

Photo: Shahrukh failed when he tried characters which required class; was ridiculed when he grew six-packs perhaps as a revenge on God for not giving him a proper body

The only Khan who did not need to humiliate himself in order to make it big at the Box Office has been the undisputed Salman Khan. Salman is the ultimate Dabang of Bollywood – the unashamed handsome devil – who had it all with grace and class each time. The only Khan who when takes his shirt off, people don’t close their mouths with hands, like they did with Aamir’s weirdly tattooed Ghazini or Shahrukh’s not-worth-counting packs. While Aamir might have gone completely nude to promote his one movie and Shahrukh might have nearly killed himself to develop eight-pack abs in this old age, Salman is the man who has grown older with grace worthy of his (sur)name.

Photo: Salman Khan is the unashamed Dabang of Bolywood; the only Khan who did not need to humiliate himself to make it big at the Box Office

While Aamir went after marrying multiple women and also did not miss to create affairs with a White woman abroad to produce illegitimate child and Shahrukh with his poor looks held on to perhaps the only woman who agreed to marry him as a loyal husband, it is Salman who dared to love. When he loved, he made no attempts to hide it. When his women abandoned him, he cried like any human would. And when he loved next time, he made no secret of that either! How can you not love the humanly vulnerable yet rock solid Khan? If you see him or watch his interviews, you would certainly notice one thing about him – he never pretends! He is straightforward and dil-se; what all other phony actors claim to be but are not.

Salman Khan is the only Khan with real fan-following from other men. If you are Salman-ka-Fan, you won’t need to be ashamed, something which comes frequently if we start to think about being fans of Aamir or Shahrukh. That is why Arjun Kapoor says “Salman-ka-Fan” and takes the Taj Mahal by storm:

Photo: Arjun Kapoor sings ‘Salman-ka-Fan’ in Tevar

Salman Khan was the only Khan who had the guts to stand with NaMo (Modi) and fly kites in front of the whole media, even before Modi got power in Delhi. On the other hand, Shahrukh is a known Pakistan-sympathizer while Aamir is by and large non-political.

Photo: Salman Khan with Narendra Modi

Salman Khan is also the only Khan who can pair-up with the Dabang Girl Sonakshi. Imagine girlish Aamir or tapori Shahruku appearing like school-kids in front of the Desi Girl? We would rather eat all the popcorn ever produced than watching the lesser-Khans humiliate themselves once again…

Photo: Salman ‘Dabang’ Khan with Sonakshi ‘Khamosh’ Sinha

On these happier notes, let me now take a break :)

© Rahul | Written in leisure | Cheer Up | Detailed Disclaimer |

Some Touching Old Movies

Wishing Merry Christmas

In our last call before client (from a western country) went on year-end vacations I wished her Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance. She said, "Well I do not celebrate Christmas. But thank you." What was my reaction? First reaction was of surprise. But what was I surprised at? I think I was surprised at her frankness, honesty and speaking straight. Now is that something alien in our country? If you wish someone in India "Merry Christmas", and one replies, "I do not celebrate Christmas", I guess you won't judge the person kindly. But if we judge the statement factually and impartially, there is nothing wrong in it. Very often we find people in Western countries open, frank and honest about whatever they do or don't do. In India we beat around the bush. We call it composite culture may be to envelop our insecurities into something of higher purpose as a form of justification. Is it our politeness, accommodating nature, tolerance or conformism and lack of confidence in our individuality which make us not frank and honest about what we do or don't do? I think it is just our lack of thought... I think we are a rushed society with no time to think... 

And btw, Merry Christmas in advance :)

© Rahul

The Madness of King George III

King George III of Britain ruled for 60 years (1760-1820), longer than any other King of Britain, and is considered good king by many historians. George III was very popular in the masses. He was the only British king who did not take a mistress and remained loyal to his only wife (the king and queen had 15 children - 9 sons and 6 daughters). He spent large part of his personal money on art and charity. He was devout to religion and prayed for hours. For most part he acted like a constitutional monarch supporting the initiatives of parliament though also playing power politics. Early in his reign, Britain defeated France and became dominant power in North America and India. Afterwards Americans battled their freedom and became a nation which caused great frustration to him. Later in his life, King George III suffered from some illness which affected his mental balance. 

The movie 'The Madness of King George' shows some of the realities which he had to face even after being a king. When the king goes ill, doctors try methods like bleeding and blistering him as a cure. When he appears mad, he is pushed to ground and sat over by servants, chained in a chair to restrain him, isolated in a castle, and he is treated like any old rag on the street - but perhaps as a method of treatment. His son tries to capture power and the parliamentarians openly ridicule him as a lunatic. 

It shows how life is unfair in a way; how life is a great leveler; how people respect your position and not really you; how relationships change when situation changes...

© Rahul

God Speaks

I looked at God as if asking why there was so much pain and misery in this world? It appeared God did not say anything. But He was looking back at me. I got the answer - God wants us to solve all problems. Who says God does not speak? It is us who have forgotten His language!

Some Wonderful Movies

The Terminal

The Santa Clause

Problem Child

Evan Almighty

Stella (1990)

Saving Mr. Banks

Mary Poppins

Everything we see is a perspective

Some months back I posted this pic on facebook. I got so many 'likes'. I loved this image because of three reasons: 1. Wisdom in its quote, 2. I am a big fan of Russell Crowe 3. In my wildest fantasies sometimes I fashion myself as a warrior :) But blinded by these reasons, I did not notice what was there on Russell Crowe's shoulders :) Many months afterwards when I realized that there was a dead animal on his shoulders, I said Yuk!!! I wanted to be a warrior but not one who carried dead foxes and wolves on his shoulders! Because after all "What we do in life echoes in eternity"! So I searched for his image without a dead animal on his shoulders. And I don't find one... So what is the message? I see it as a dead animal, he saw it as utility. Marcus Aurelius said, "Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."

Perspectives

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." - Albert Einstein

"Do good and feel good. Do bad and feel bad. It is that simple."

#Society: Who is Anti-Women?

Saw some random posts on facebook, where women wrote anti-men posts and got 100+ likes (it's sure way to get fame). But I think I subscribe to an old practical wisdom which says that "women are women's worst enemies". Let us discuss some of the most serious problems women protest about.

Dowry: if you observe, most serious and adamant dowry demands come from mothers-in-law and not from fathers of the grooms (fathers being worldly wise demand it when they know the other party can pay while mothers are often ruthless and merciless on such matters); women's celebrated infatuation towards gold and jewelry is also a reason why dowry system continues to live. Women rule the house - is a widely known fact. But since mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law fight for power, the later suffer in the beginning while the former suffer in the last days. Some families don't educate their daughters beyond a limit - because girls become too 'demanding' and insist on 'equal' match ('equal' boy means 10 times wealthier), which poor families find difficult to court. Solution - women should stop looking at potential grooms as 'ticket to good days' and should accept them as 'human beings' who got feelings. It is the mothers who treat their sons preferentially, like feeding them better, since they believe boys have to do more work. Such differential upbringing makes boys respect girls less. The fact is that most fathers love their daughters more than they love their sons. (Many mothers love their sons more than daughters.) Most brothers will go to any extent to protect their sisters. (Most sisters will side with their husbands than with their brothers when time comes.) A husband even ignores parents many times to support wife. (Many times wives treat husbands merely as cash-cows) But what do men get in return? Loads of abuses. From women, who have to complain since it makes them feel great; and from men, who have to be biased towards women in order to appear unbiased towards women.

- Rahul

(All personal opinion based on observations - no claim to be holier than your opinion :) 

Uber Banned in India for Right Reasons

In India, because we were ruled by corrupt parties/politicians in the past, we developed an attitude which said, "if govt has done something, it must be wrong." This theory explains why as soon as we heard about any decision made by govt, our first reaction was, "it is wrong". After recent crime in Delhi by its driver, govt banned Uber. Since Delhi is under central control, opposition got chance to target BJP/Modi govt over it. But if we care to read the news, Uber was banned for right reasons.

Uber does not even have a call center. No emergency number passengers can contact. Also no police verification for drivers. No permit for rent-a-cab. Uber also violated RBI's guidelines on its payment service. The only problem is that it was not banned before and banned only after something horrible happened.

Delhi is too important a place for Govt not to be knowing about this service. They should have banned it from the beginning until it complied with the rules. And we should thank govt for taking actions like these - if govt continues like this, all companies will become responsible in maintaining safety services for us. This ban shows, that govt is decisive, it took big decision to ban companies because of one incident of rape. In the past what was govt's attitude? "It is only one case", "it is exceptional case" etc etc..  and now? We shall ban a company if they fail in maintaining safety features for women. We should note this change in attitude by the govt and we should appreciate it.

And if we think that only a poor and uneducated country banned it in one state - we should know that others like Spain have done it too for same reasons:

Uber banned in Spain & Thailand, sued in Portland, hassled in Rio

On Tuesday, both Thailand and Spain banned Uber. You know the drill by now: The company’s drivers don’t have taxi permits and/or insurance, and the authorities have had an earful from furious cab drivers who do have to pay for such things. Yesterday it was authorities in Delhi that told the firm to stop operating locally, after an Uber driver allegedly raped a passenger. Meanwhile, the cities of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and Portland, Oregon, have also told the firm to stay off the roads (via police complaint and lawsuit respectively), and an Uber driver in San Francisco has been charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for driving over and killing a six-year-old girl.

https://gigaom.com/2014/12/09/uber-banned-in-spain-thailand-sued-in-portland-hassled-in-rio/

Also at: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30395093

Also, I wonder why we (people like us) also did not notice the potential threat. Many people in our office were using this service; they were giving away some code to get Rs 300 discount on Uber app; no one thought that absence of an emergency number or even a call center could be security threat... Uber's marketing was so strong that people did not doubt it or expected anything wrong from Uber's part.. Media was busy writing articles about Uber's Mercs and BMWs and at the most about its payment service which saved customers' credit card numbers (as if we did not want to burn calories in swiping our cards every time). If this is to indicate, we must do safety audit in many other sectors and services too...

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect views of any organization author is associated with. 

Grandpa and the Kid

Saw an old man carrying his small grandchild in his arms while they returned from a temple. Perhaps from a Shiva temple as the child had mark of white bhabhut on its forehead. Ever wondered what a kid would learn by visiting temples? A child does not know about gods, bhakti, karma, religion, or anything! I think the idea is to do indirect teaching. We don't learn most of the things we are taught (otherwise all of us would be Einsteins) and we learn most of the things not taught to us (like all the bad things mothers complain about). So let the child learn indirectly by observing what we are doing.

Now this is scary from the point of view of those parents who think the kid is too small to learn anything and hence they could do anything in its presence! Like arguing, watching excessive TV, smoking, or being lazy!

If the kid is watching you - you have to be worthy of being watched by an innocent cute kid!

© Rahul

Image below just for a change; credits mentioned:

Anatomy of a dream

This morning I saw a dream - that I am an Indian soldier on the run while some Pakistani rangers are chasing me. It is happening in the snow clad mountains... I know that it is Wednesday. I have been running since Monday and in the dream I know that I have to run till Friday. So I am running; trying to outsmart the enemies.

Now, this Monday-Friday schedule indicates that in the dream Pakistani rangers must be work-related stress/challenges and I must be waiting for the weekend so as to avoid those. It should be mountains because running is tough there and it must be snow because in the morning my blanket must be off and I must be feeling cold in reality while sleeping.

Anatomy of a dream :)

© Rahul

Annie Menni Talk

“Hello, Rabbit,” he said, “is that you?”

"Let’s pretend it isn’t,” said Rabbit, “and see what happens.”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie The Pooh

"Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that is how dogs spend their lives."

― Sue Murphy

“What's your name,' Coraline asked the cat. 'Look, I'm Coraline. Okay?'

'Cats don't have names,' it said.

'No?' said Coraline.

'No,' said the cat. 'Now you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names.”

― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

“Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.”

― Christopher Hitchens, The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever

“Women speak because they wish to speak, whereas a man speaks only when driven to speak by something outside himself - like, for instance, he can't find any clean socks.”

― Jean Kerr

Future

Some rich people made mansions and big strong buildings, so that their future generations could rent those to film-makers to shoot some pathetic horror movies in those; or convert those into hotels so that any Tom and Peter on earth who could afford a few bucks could eat, drink and pee in those for a few days... Point is - you never know what future has in store for all you achieve through so much hard work and money...

Plight of Yazidi Women in Iraq

We were being sold the Globalization and One-World stories; where boundaries were fainting and thanks to internet and social media whole world, as per the theory, had become one global-village. Finally humans were becoming one race... But then something like IS in Iraq happens and you wonder what went wrong? 

Unaffected nations go on partying and conferencing, Noble prizes keep churning out, so do movies, art and literature in rest of the world while some people are subjected to the worst in places like Iraq. What happened to the one-world story? In India, human rights activists are busy promoting public kissing on the streets; women rights orgs are busy talking on television and yet are immune to what happens to other "humans" and other "women". What happened to the great Obama and UNO? 

I think what is happening there has proved that humans are not yet civilized, all humans are not yet equal, women are still livestock, and ancient rule of animal kingdom "might is right" still works..

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/11/28/rescue_might_be_too_late_for_kidnapped_yazidi_women.html

Interesting Movies - Period

Impromptu (1991)

Cast: Judy Davis, Hugh Grant

Recent Book Reads

Corporate Atyaachaar – The Comical Journey of an Office Doormat

By: Abhay Nagarajan

Highly recommended – it’s a hilarious story touching real life scenarios…

The Master Key to Riches

By: Napoleon Hill

Book has good points but it is written in a language which appears old and uninteresting in the current times...

Customer Centric?

Water purifier had something broken in the inlet pipe so I called up the company’s customer care number and a serviceman came to repair it. He opened up the purifier, removed and discarded the broken part and started putting the machine back as his work was done. I felt like a fool – if it were so simple, I could have done it myself! (I did not realize that the smart companies are making their appliances so simple to maintain, not for us, but for their service personnel to save time!) He said like a monk, “why should we replace this part when we can do well without it? Why spend unnecessary money?” Amusing!

I saw there was a hole left because of the discarded part, so I acted intelligent by asking, “what if a cockroach enters the purifier through that hole?” Smart guy asked me back, “has your house got too many cockroaches?” I said, “Well, what if one is too adventurous?” (Just like all ancient human civilizations settled near rivers, insects choose to multiply near water sources till date! All I am not sure is if they pay premium for ‘purified’ water sources!) On afterthoughts I realized that I was supposed to say “no”, because it was supposed to be embarrassing to say your house had cockroaches!

When he started to plug the hole, good sense prevailed in me and I asked him to leave it. I decided to utilize my 2 year old pink cello-tape for the purpose.

When job was done, the service person gave me his personal number and said, “Call me directly; why waste money and time by calling through customer care?” Was he dishonest? May be, but if Customer Care calls me to ask if I was satisfied, I would say “hell yes!” And if his company has customer feedback as the basis of his performance rating; he surely will get most stars! So he will get salary hikes from his company and also earn personal money through out-of-the-channel work! I think his apparent dishonesty can also be called his ‘customer centric’ approach :)

God save the companies which plan to fill up tanks with holes in the bottom-line!

(C) Rahul

Debating - Then and Now...

Once Adi Shankaracharya went to debate with Kumaarila Bhatta (around 700 AD) in Prayag (modern Allahabad) on their respective philosophies. Kumaarila Bhatt, a Maithil Brahmin scholar and philosopher had defeated Buddhist philosophers and proven their doctrine wrong and is credited for decline of Buddhism in India along with Adi Shankar. Kumaarila Bhatt by the time was doing penance by slowly burning his body in a pyre and asked Adi Shankar to debate with his disciple Mandana Mishra of Mithila (Bihar)... 

So Adi Shankar went to debate with Mandana Mishra who was a great philosopher and believed that life of a householder was far superior to that of a monk. Mandana Mishra's wife Ubhaya Bhaarati was chosen as judge as she was a great scholar herself (tells about women's empowerment in those days) and it was decided that whoever lost debate would become disciple of the other... 

At last Adi Shankar won the debate - Ubhaya declared her husband defeated - although knowing that he would have to renounce the world and become a monk to be disciple of Adi Shankar. Then she challenged Adi Shankar for a debate with herself and asked him questions on relationships, which Adi Shankar a celibate Sanyasi won't know (ladies were tricky even in those days). Adi Shankar asked for 15 days break in debate; (his soul) left his body and entered into a king, learnt the answers, and came back into debate and defeated her also. Ubhaya Bharti also renounced world and took Sanyas like her husband. 

In our time if the debate happened, the two would simply 'unfriend' each other on facebook and go on in their respective lives. Also, the one with maximum friend-list count will get more 'likes' and hence will win the debate!

(C) Rahul

Book Reading: Good or Bad?

I am certainly a book-lover; and since it is always fashionable to say books are our best friends I might have said that too sometimes. But at times I feel books have also been my enemy. In my growing years, when I read a few on Psychology for example, books gave me a feeling as if I “knew it all” after reading those. Now I feel books give pseudo feeling that we have become learned after reading.

I like to observe little things. I know everyone claims to be sensitive, since it is good to say so and it is true also to some extent, but does everyone really “care” about sensitivity? Books made me consider all people as reasonable individuals with sensible thinking; but real life has been urging me to “unlearn” these things.

I have so many friends who have not read many books but know this world better than any book-readers. And I respect them for not reading books; most books are anyway second-hand opinion. I guess this is why they made terms like “bookish” with a basic premise that this world is not as they write in books.

I think I love Shahid Bhagat Singh’s view on books best – reading a book is a conversation with the writer. Nothing more than that…

(C) Rahul

It is Raining Outside...

I look out of the window - it is raining outside... Rains on a weekend means no going out... In childhood when it rained, that also meant not going out. But we kids stood on a window holding iron rods and looked at the rain drops falling on the water lodged ground... and we were told that the splutters were actually small frogs jumping in joy! So many frogs! And we could not see as many! 

In our small town, rains brought out frogs playing high and long jumps; snails starting on their slow pilgrimage to somewhere; wet birds playing around among themselves while trying to make it appear they were searching for shelter; sometimes yukky insects - Ramji ka Ghoda (grasshopper) appeared to be some alien species landed on earth by mistake! 

Once our cousins-brigade was jumping over our grandpa's bed and it actually came down! The joy of breaking down something was higher than any guilt which could filter down our childhood consciences!

(C) Rahul

Who Did Better - Those Who Sacrificed Or Those Who Didn't?

In our school textbooks, sometimes when I read about our freedom struggle and noncooperation movement; where students left colleges and studies; employees quit their govt jobs; so as to put pressure on the British and strengthen our movement; I wondered what a great sacrifice it was... To quit studies and jobs meant sacrificing not only their own individual future prospects but also of their kids; all for the greater good of our country...

But then I used to read about the likes of Gandhiji and Nehruji; who went to England to study Law; established themselves in professions of power and prestige, and then later on when the time was right, joined the freedom movement. They did not establish the Cong Party; they only overtook it. They were certainly late-risers, or slow-movers; but went on to grab the opportunity with great strength when time was right.

And they not only earned their name and fame but also positions of power because of their education (since they did not quit college), knowledge (since they established themselves in their professions; often law - which gave immense mass popularity), had seen the globe (always appreciated in national leaders); spoke flawless English (because of which many Indians thought these were better fitted to negotiate with the British). So those who sacrificed their personal lives and quit colleges earned meager Freedom Fighters Pensions while those who did not quit colleges but joined the race to the top when the time was ripe, established their family dynasties which are still in power... (Again, truly ethical Gandhiji did not promote his dynasty; so he witnessed dispute with his sons and in general his kins are not as well-off as those of the leaders who chose to acquire positions of power and privilege...)

So can we say that in general selfish people benefited while sacrificing people suffered?

I think it is not so easy to conclude so. One, those who quit their studies and jobs, if they understood the importance of these should have made sure to send their kids to schools and colleges after India got freedom. Though I think it was not always possible to do so; once you are down, it is easier for you to go down than come up. Secondly, for those who were slow-movers and earned qualifications; though their kids had competitive advantage, there was no guarantee of success unless they labored hard and earned their merit. Though again, I think many times it is easier to succeed if you have succeeded in the past; than to succeed if you don’t know how success is gained in general. In any case there are always exceptions. 

(C) Rahul

Bad Boss Likeness

In a television ad, a husband says, (about his own wife), "She does not work because she needs to; she works because she likes to". Statement looked like stolen from someone's tweet - though of course even FBI won't find its original source! Earlier I thought it was my dream but when the man kept repeating it during every commercial break, I had to believe him (what other choice I had?). I think if I don't have to work, I shall resign today and now, I won't even wait to finish Spell-check on my resignation letter... I mean, you get one Bad Boss scenario and all your philosophies of life vanish into thin air! I am already in the process to make a deal with God to make me a housewife in next birth - I am just waiting for his offer of good husband. After all, given my history of bad-boss sickness I can kick and run a bad-boss but a bad-husband will stick like a chewing gum for long enough...