Dear Anonymous Writer

Dear Anonymous Writer,

Thank you for your letter, which I must add, was very, moving, for want of the right word. My secretary, who has seen more world than Christopher A. Columbus, was in shivers when she delivered the letter to my desk. She held your letter the way first time mothers hold their newborns. With so much affection that you think the mere touch will hurt the baby. That you will leave permanent spots, ugly and dark ones, wherever you hold the baby from. Such was the shock on her face that I had to leave my putting practice for the charity golfing event next week and attend to her. And trust me, no man worth his salt wants to be interrupted while he is practicing putting. Who else would know if better than someone who uses the 9 iron!

Coming to the matter at hand, you obviously are talking about last week’s double homicide at Civil Lines. I must say that you have woven a very tight story around the evidence recorded at the crime scene. Even the 9 iron. Not even the real murderer would have known the things that you have shared with us. Like the 9 iron. The editor in my head wants to give credence to your letter and declare you the actual murderer. But then the skeptic in me is not allowing me to. And, over the years, I have learnt to go along with the skeptic whenever in doubt. On one hand, your letter could mean the story of the year and on the other, a shot for a Joe Nobody at his 15 seconds of fame.

Talking of Joe Nobodies, there are quite a few like you. You might be surprised to know that just my office has received about a dozen letters relating to the case, eerily similar to yours. May be because of exclusives we ran on the murders or may be because we were the only paper to have dug so much background information on the victim and his lonely life. In fact, the profession I am in, we are bombarded with communication from readers day in and day out. Most of it is the anonymous kinds. In the regular course of events, almost all of it finds its way to the trash can or the paper shredder almost immediately. If not for my secretary and her fear of golf clubs, especially the one that you claim that you put to use last week, your letter would either be resting in my dustbin, along with remains of the sandwich that I had for lunch or would be shredded into thin long paper strips and would have other pieces of unsolicited messages, office memos, even death threats for company.

However I must commend you on the beautiful prose that you have written. You obviously are a man with excellent literary talents. On a different day, I would have offered you an opportunity to intern and may be, just may be, one day, allow you to work here with me in my team and the newspaper that I spend my life building. As a fan of written word, I really want to share your letter with the world but since I respect the institution, the responsibility, the power of media, I will not. But then, I did send a copy to the police station. Trust me, howsoever burdened they might be with all the crime in the city, even they like reading fiction once in a while.

Finally, I would want to offer a piece of advice, before I go back to my practice. In my profession, anonymous letters are not really accorded as much respect. We ascribe anonymity to the writer’s inability to stand scrutiny and often doubt the intentions. Next time you exercise your right to freedom of speech and want to fulfill your unfinished childhood businesses or fantasies or whatever you call them, try using your real name. People tend to take you and your thought slightly more seriously.

I sincerely hope that you use your talents elsewhere and do something constructive! Please do let me know should you think I could be of some help. And please wish me luck for the tournament.

With Regards,
The Editor

18 till I die

After I dont know how any days, I slept well. Maybe overslept. And as a result, I woke up fresh. Fresh like a whatever is meant to be freshest.

I feel young, good, sexy, super efficient, loaded with work all at the same time. Looking forward to the day.

iAm isBack!

And we are back!

Who I am!

I have said on countless occasions that Hugh of the GapingVoid fame is God. He proved it yet again by sketching this masterpiece.



This is the closet anyone has been able to define who I am and what I stand for. I have the intent but I do not have what it takes to create magic. Hats off Hugh.

P.S.: You might want to join Hugh's newsletter mailing list. Totally worth it,

A Reason to Start Over New!

From that wonderfully brilliant song ....

I'm sorry that I hurt you
It's something I must live with everyday
And all the pain I put you through
I wish that I could take it all away
And be the one who catches all your tears
Thats why I need you to hear

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is You

I mean it all btw!

Notes from Paris and Amsterdm

Just came back from Paris and Amsterdam. Made some notes and will be putting them on soon.

And no, I did not go up the Eiffel Tower this time. And no, I did not bicycle at Ams. I want to buy one here in Delhi. And T3 is fab. More coming soon.

Random Productivity Idea

I have been using todoist.com for about a week now and I am very impressed. The website has actually helped me get things done. And fast. I have used lot of todo list software in the past and for some reason or the other, discontinued the use after a while. Either the interface was tardy, or the thing was too complex to use or it was not ubiquitous.

Imperative for anyone who suffers from Indianness - Procrastination, Lethargy, Laziness etc. I would have loved to post a screenshot but then I guess am too lazy to post it!

Go, give it a shot!

Delhi to Bangalore and Back

So for my birthday, I decided to disappear again (last year, I went for Vipassana). Why would you do something like that dude? I think I just wanted to hide. I cant handle all the sudden attention for the day. I mean I dont mind attention but then I cant tolerate how fast the attention disappears after the special day.

Anyways, so I went to Bangalore. Of all the places in the world, why would I choose Bangalore? Because I have this very special friend there. I trust her and her family and I know if I am with her, I will be left alone and I can do what I really wanted to do in these few days. Then I had grand plans of borrowing her car and driving to some hill station in Karnataka of Kerala. And I wanted to read, write, think, laze around, catch on sleep, do things that I like - walk, window shop, click random pics etc. I made copious amount of notes and I am hoping to jot them down (digitally) tomorrow.

I met up with a few friends that I hadnt met since ages. And a friend that I have been talking on the Internet for some months now. And a senior from MDI who I am enamored by. I am trying to coerce him into becoming my mentor. Second after VK.

BTW I loved Bangalore. The weather is very pleasant. Imagine, I was walking around Bangalore at 11 in the afternoon. There are ample roads and footpaths to walk around. Most of these are covered with trees. And there are surprisingly very less beggars. Those tales of racial slurs and attacks sounded distant as whatever few people I interacted with were warm and hospitable.

Most of my opinions tend to be colored anyways. I loved the time I spent at Bangalore. And I think I need to do this every three months.

Why is sgElectra a bad idea!

I rode sgElectra to work today. And it turned out to be a bad decision. Nah, not biking but biking given the circumstances. Bad roads, potholes, unruly traffic, never ending distance and the ten KG bag that I lug to work everyday.

My hands are sore, legs ache, back is stiff. My butt hurts so much that I cant even sit straight!

I am sure my butt is now shaped like the bike seat. Thanks god for mundane things like shower, mattresses, coke!

Prof. Garg hits a roadblock!

Prof. Garg. Sounds old. May be it does. But it sounds interesting for sure.

Ever since I can remember things, I have wanted to teach, share my gyaan. I have wanted to interact and learn from all the bright minds. And I want to spread the curiosity virus. And I have wanted to help people get out of the rat race.

I have taught in the past with IMS but I am not sure if I was adding value there. I was teaching public speaking skills to students at tier two cities around Delhi. But I did enjoy the teaching bit and feedback from students was encouraging.

Anyways, I have been applying to business schools since two weeks now and funnily, no one wants to hire me. Worse, they dont even acknowledge that I have written into them!. Except one - they replied and when they realized I was from the batch of 2006, they too backed out. The count stands at 7-0 right now. Lets see who gets lucky!

And until then, I am available for coaching/tutoring. Do let me know if you want me to ;P