Online Indian Passport application procedure

Due to my extensive experience with the passport authorities in the recent past, I have become somewhat of a passport process expert and the best thing an expert can do is share his knowledge. :)
So here I am.
Now the passport application procedure has become totally online and ONLY online. You cannot walk into the passport office and apply, unless you are applying for a diplomatic passport or a really emergency case like death of a relative etc.
Lets cut to the chase now.
Before you start reading below, if you already have a good idea about the process and just want to clear something check out the answers to questions in the comments below or the official FAQs- http://www.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/online/faqServicesAvailable.
Okay? Lets go ahead.
This is what you should do.
First Register and login here:
http://www.passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/welcomeLink
Registration needs an email and your date of birth that's all.

1. Download the passport application pdf. 
2. Fill it and Save it.( pretty simple).
3. If that does not generate a validated xml file for you, then just export the pdf to xml, open this xml file in notepad and change the “Not valid” value to “Valid” near the bottom of the file.
4. Upload this xml file to the site. No need to upload any documents.(in fact you can’t!). You can upload many applications with the same login(For eg- your and your wife’s)
5. Then just book an appointment using the manage appointment link (you can book up to 10 days in advance, meaning you’ll probably get an appointment for the next week.). For each application you’ll have to book a separate appointment. The apps are distributed into 45 min time slots starting at 9:30 and ending with the 3:30-4:15 slot. Closed on sat and sun.
6. On the day of the appointment,

• Take a printout of the appointment letter(No need to take printouts of passport application)
• Take an address proof(No IT return statements)
• Take an ID proof.
• If married, take the marriage certificate…and a copy of that. No combined affidavit or anything. That’s all.
• Take an ECR proof(10th certificate)(Degree certificate isn’t accepted. Strange, but true.)
• Take the required amount of cash.
• Be there on time. (Reporting time) Don’t be there early; you’ll have to wait unnecessarily. In fact you could be there just at the time of your appointment and you’ll be fine too, but why risk it?
• If not under tatkal scheme you are good to get it done with what I told above. For a tatkal, get an Annexure F(signed by the competent authority(check list on site) on their official letterhead and also a Xerox of their photo id signed by them. Also get an annexure I and notarise it. Get some more cash. 
• This is all you need for a new passport. For a renewal, get the copies as well as originals of your previous passports, front and back pages will do. (Also ECNR page if there’s anything there)
• If you need any modification in existing passport details, repeat the same process as for a renewal. You will need to get an address proof. The passport itself is an ID proof.

    7. Once inside the PSK you'll have a 4 stage processing before you are let out of the premises. At each stage you'll be given token numbres and you'll wait for your number to be announced. The PSKs are all centrally AC, so it ain't so bad.

• The documents check section: This section is like a movie ticket queue. Here the person across the counter will check your documents(originals as well as copies and verify if what you have brought as proofs will actually be accepted. He will send you back or give you a new appointment(mostly for the next day morning) if the proofs do not meet the criteria or are less than required or you have missed something or if there are spelling mistakes in your names or something. This is the elimination stage. You get through this stage, you'll probably get your passport application accepted. After the guy is satisfied that you have all the documents as well as copies necessary, he will print and give you a token number(barcode which you'll use to get through the turnstile and into the next stages of the process. He will also give you back all your documents and copies and put them in an office file for you.
• The identity verification and uploading section: This is where you get to sit in a nice cubicle and talk one to one. Here they'll check your docs once again, take your self attested photocopies and scan and upload them into their database. They'll also take all your finger prints and photo here. Once they are done with this they will ask you to verify if what is in the application is all correct and if you want to change or add anything here. For eg. some street name might be less or wrongly spelt in the application. Once you are okay with it, they'll take the application fees from you and give you a receipt and another token number for the next stage along with your all your documents.
• The Passport official approval: Here you get to see the actual government passport official. He'll mostly see you, check you application, may or may not ask any questions and then stamp an approval on your application. They won't ask you anything unless you have the look of a terrorist or have proofs which are obviously fake. He doesn't have enough time to chat with everyone that comes to him. He will stamp and write an approval on you token from the previous stage and ask you to go to the next stage. 
• Application receipt collection: This is the last stage. Here you collect the receipt which will have your application number which you can track online.
• Exit: These 4 stages will take anywhere from 40 mins to 2.5 hrs depending on the rush and kind of applicants who apply along with you.

NOTE: For documents- Get all the originals, Sign yourself (self-attest) on all the copies.
And there’s a copy machine inside the premises of the PSKs so don’t panic if you don’t have some copy.
Take a pen.
Don’t take a photo.

VERY IMPORTANT:
1. For all the proofs that you take, make absolutely sure that all the names are exactly as in the passport application. They will reject the proof if the names are different or have lesser prefixes or surnames or anything at all. If the names are different, that’s when you might want to look at the affidavits section in the site.
2. The payment you make is tied to the ARN number in the system and not to the login. So be very careful while filling and submitting the form. Any major mistake and you will have to fill a new form, re-apply AND ALSO REPAY to get that mistake corrected. If you still make a mistake, I suggest you try your luck once at the PSK to correct the mistake, because you will lose the money anyway.

EXTRA INFO:
And yeah, for a normal application once you have submitted the application it will take about 1 month for the police officer to come to your house for verification and about 15-20 more days for the passport to reach you. If you aren't seeing any progress you can log an RTI and get what exactly is going on with your application.
For a tatkal application you will get your passport definitely within 7 working days. The police officer will reach you within 3 weeks. Although, you should know this that you cannot leave the country without the police verification report on your passport. So plan accordingly.

Q&A -
If you made a mistake and already paid the fees, all you can do, is pray that the PSK guys accept your change. Otherwise, check point 2 in VERY IMPORTANT again.

That’s all the information you’ll need.
Enjoy your application experience! 

What is love?

The term we call love is applied to so many circumstances that it is difficult to describe it in a single context.
There is a love for all humans(because we are the same species), a love for all animals(because they are also living things, like humans)
a love for all Indians, a love for all people speaking our language,
a love for all people in your family(or not! ) and so on...

Then there is a specific love, targeted at a particular entity(living or non-living)
Love for your mom, dad, siblings.
Love for your BF, GF, Husband, Wife, kids, personalities,
Love for your guitar, for your cricket bat, for your 15 year old diary, for your keyboard and mouse(!!).

Then, there is the love for intangibles.
Love for history, love for science, love for mathematics,
love for laughter, love for God, love for love(!)...

The point is, for each kind of love there are limits you are ready to go to(or break!); in physical, mental, emotional, social, financial, spiritual realms.
Love can happen more than once in each of these fields depending on the limits that your mind is ready to go to, or has already gone to, while loving any of them.
After falling in love with one entity(living/non-living, tangible/intangible), if nothing else seems more important than it for the rest of their lives, that is what people term true love.
It's loss might lead some people into deep melancholy, depression, and ...you know the possibilities.
Some others live contentedly with whatever love they have around them.

Some others, go out in the world and experience the love for all the other things present in this world with an open mind, in the hope that there will be something else which will strike a chord with their mind. That is when they find the 'something else' which seems more important than anything else. Introducing, the second true love. :)and so on...
Now there could be more than 1 true loves at the same time too. But, the limits for them should be a non-contradicting/non-competing set.(For eg. entities in different realms, perfectly drawn boundaries etc etc). This is rarely possible.

All hunky-dory? Not quite.
Now, the problem with humans is, they change; physically, mentally, emotionally, and in all other aspects possible.
Hence the feeling of love, as it applies to different entities the person loves, also changes. It increases or decreases, the limits in the mind regarding these things change, and love itself might lose its importance in one's life(suicidal tendencies!! (alias, love of suicide :P)).
So the definition of love is different for each person and for each context, and what love means for you depends on your mental make up and the circumstances and entities you will encounter in your life.

Strawberry

I found a beautiful yet simple fable to illustrate a lesson.
A monk was being chased by a tiger and ran and ran until he got to the edge of a cliff. With the tiger in pursuit he jumped but instead of crashing to the water he luckily caught a branch. While hanging on to the branch he noticed a small bush of strawberries beside him. With the tiger above him, the water below him and the branch giving out on him the monk ate a strawberry and enjoyed it. The lesson: no matter what's behind you or in front of you always enjoy the strawberry.

Sleep

Was reading a book called "Brain Rules". The author stresses 12 principles based on research and science which he emphatically states will increase the efficiency and capacity of your brain to its maximum potential.
One very important principle is sleep.
For your brain to function well for the day as well as in the long run you need to sleep well. Have a good night's sleep and wake up fresh.
Depriving your brain of sleep over a long period of time will cause irreversible damage to some parts of it. It will kill brain cells and some of your skills along with it. So keep this in mind and learn to sleep well. Do not wake up late to watch movies or TV or to waste time on your computer or even to play games(card games etc).
It is simply put, the absolutely topmost priority for your brain's longevity. Try to imagine yourself unable to process even the simplest of things as early as 50 yrs...that would suck. So sleep well and do that daily.
Sweet dreams!

Simply inspired

What seperates you from the greatest achievers on earth?
Well...a lot of things, maybe. But one thing, and probably the most important of those things is the amount of time which an inspiration stays with you, drives you.
People call this perseverence, patience, and other things. But this is what I call it: inspiration. We do everything in life for something. That something is what becomes inspiration when you try to achieve something.
Great quotes give you inspiration. Your Dad's words, people's achievements, someone's attention :), sometimes even a humiliation gives you inspiration.
Some people start working vigorously when they get that inspiration, some decide to work, some just get inspired and go on with their life as usual or just don't care about it.
You will achieve something only if you are in the first or the third group. The second strategy never works out.
The achievements of the first will then actually depend on how long that inspiration stays with him. It is this quality that differentiates great people from the not-so-great. If you read the biographies of great people, they never forget the events and things in their lives that inspired them, changed them. That is why they become what they are.
The third kind will include people who get inspired by themselves and nothing else. This is another group of people who can achieve great things, though it is very difficult to inspire yourself all the time and especially when the chips are down.
Whatever be your category, self-inspired or externally inspired, how long you can stay inspired is what will decide how much you can achieve.

Some crap -2

Some time pass ones from me…..(inspired by a similar mail)

Socha main Ghar jaaon aaj cycle par,
To kampne lage mere pair thar thar thar thar …

Jaaon kahan bata eh dil..
Jaaon kahan bata eh dil..
Clinton ka First name hai Bill.

Chupke chupke maine use dekha…
Chupke chupke maine use dekha…
Meri favourite actress hamesha rahegi Rekha.. :P

Yeh joke jo maine logon pe feka,
Koi na hansa mar ke thahaka.
Gusse mein aake jo de diya maine ek ko mukka,
Sare logon ne mil ke mujhe jee bhar ke thoka.
Ek bande ne cheekh ke sab ko roka,
Fir kaha ki yaaron break le lete hain, main ho gaya thoda thaka!
Mauka dekh ke main jo wahan se bhaga,
Jaise aa gayi ho mujhme ek PT Usha.
Bhagte hue raste mein tha ek police ka naka,
Pakadne ek mujrim ko, jisne dala tha daka.
Mujhe dekh puliswale ne apna lath feka,
socha ki main hi hun jo bhag raha tha dal ke daka.
Lathi se bachne ke liye main jo bhagte hue jhuka,
mere piche aata hua banda ho gaya hakka-bukka.
chat se maine paas ek auto ko roka,
aur bola " Chal bhai, le chalo mujhe ghar, yehi hai mera mauka"
Ghar panhuch ke kampte kampte maine TV jo ON kiya,
Pehli hi gend pe mar diya sachin ne zabardast chakka.
Fir Sehwag ne mil ke jo Australia ko dhoya,
Aaj ke sare dukh dard main khushi khushi bhool gaya.
Yehi hai apne is kahani ki seekh,
ki har dard ki dawa hai Sachin and sehwag ki crickeeet.

Shukriya... Shukriya....

The attraction of the pencil

For the past few weeks, months even, I've been kind of attracted, absorbed and in fact totally consumed by this unstoppable passion to write cursive handwriting using pencils. Its absolutely addictive and ridiculously enjoyable, and I am unable to focus on my life in any small amount. I've got these wonderful notebooks in the Microsoft campus which look more like diaries than notebooks, and then there are these pen-pencil type pencils which you click at the back to make a litle more lead come out of the front of the pencil and then write with it.
I've always been fascinated by beautiful cursive writing and I have always dreamed of writing those beautiful letters...with my own hand, and as much as I want, whenever I want.
I am trying to make that dream come true. I write all my tasks for the day using that pencil in that beautiful notebook and then write descriptions for each task and then, elaborate on how I am going to go about doing it and go to great lengths, using the most flowy, the most verbose language that I can use, to describe all that is going to be done by me and what I am going to assign the team and God knows what not. I love writing with those pencils so much. My manager sits beside me and I won't blame him if he thinks that I am a freak. More than 50% of my day is spent bent over that notebook. I hope I will be able to write those magically beautiful letters in the same magically beautiful style some day. I think I am going to start writing those olden days snail mails again.
-To beautiful cursive handwriting!

The importance of dreaming

"I still dream -- without dreams, life is flat, you stagnate." -Sachin
Excellent words! One needs to understand the importance of dreams to go forward in life. To be happy, to look forward to every new day with enthusiasm, they are one of the most important ingredients.
Without dreams, there is no passion. Without passion there is no true effort, without effort there is no movement. and without movement, stagnation results. Stagnation in the short term can be viewed as contentedness. But in the longer run, it leads to confusion, frustration and ultimately an unsatisfied life.
So never stop dreaming, and never stop pursuing your dreams.
-Kirthi

Some crap

Why does anyone write a blog?
Why do I write a blog?
Just to say what I want to say and read it myself, and also let others read it and enjoy or know me or just to air some view or just plain write something when I feel like.
You know for loong, I have been concerned with how my current blog might effect my current image and future relations and my own feelings and image of my past self when I see the blogs in the future. Its unnecessarily complicated to think and now it seems truely dishonest if I miss to reflect my correct current thought process. But, I also know that this is not my diary, so it is alright if I don't publish everything I write.

Well, thats all! This episode of "Some crap" ends here.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

It is fitting that the player regarded world over as the best one day player ever scores the first double ton in ODI history.
To be able to do what he has done over the past 20 years is phenomenal, unbelievable and for most people, the definition of unattainable. He has reached the limits of the humanly achievable and now toying with the unthinkables. His records now stand as a city of walls that people can only dream of breaking. It does not seem possible that another man will ever be born who can surpass him in even half the areas he now leads the world in. No matter how much praise you pour on him, it will never really express the feeling that people have for him. That is the greatness of Sachin. On field as well as off-field, he is respected and looked up to. He is a man fit to be called a true Champion of this world. The moment people see him, they find joy in their hearts. He gives them hopes, he gives them cheer. His presence is a panacea for cricket lovers. Tragedy, disease, disability, everything blurs when people watch him play. He is a hero. He is a true genius. He is, deservingly, the man, who people call GOD.

Looking out of the window

I am sitting on the steel chair, typing on the laptop on the study table in front of me in a house at the top of a small hill overlooking the I-90 below. I am looking to my right, out of the big glass window towards lake Washington beyond the flyovers. The evening sun is going down beyond the hill bordering the lake. There are clouds around, lying low, bearing the water that makes the state, "The Evergreen State".
Its been 3 months now.
My first visit to US; onsite.
Its been a good time. People suggested that I take photos of the sun in India as I wont be able to see anything like that here. But, from the day I landed here, I have seen the sun every single day. It is now the 26th of Dec and I can see the sun shining brightly onto my desk. This has never happened here, or so they tell me. I am lucky, I must say then. It also keeps raining here...ALL the time; that was what I was told. :) you know the rest. Sun in, cloud out.
Leaving this apart, the green-ness of the place just so fills you, that you can't take it anymore. The green is so rich, so healthy...its so greeeen, it's a treat for the eyes coming from hyderabad. I have never seen a greener place in my life.
3 months have just flown by, but I have a vivid recollection of every experience I have had here.
The first month was totally unreal for me. I had only seen the US and its culture in hollywood movies and I have seen so many of them that the american way of life had become more of a reel fact than a real one! Everywhere I went , I felt I was in a movie. The greetings, the exclamations, the way of talking, the different dialects, the grocery super shops, the tellers, the helpers, the roads, the cars, the blacks, the whites, the girls and the jolly big fat lady.
I am used to it now and... blending in. I have to say that I like more things here than I dislike.
People are generally less tense, more talkative, more explicit in expression and more clear about what they want. And there is customisation everywhere, from the burgers and pizzas, to the 1000 types of cheese, to 0%,1%,2%, fullfat milk. From cars to houses to beds to groceries. Every single thing has a million varieties and you are supposed to be damn sure about exactly which 1/1 millionth thing you want. If you are not, you will be out of place, make no mistake. Pure capitalism, in the flesh. Its refreshing, even good, but it takes some getting used to.
Hmm...and I've got to tell about the traffic here. It is one of the most striking thing about US. There is a huge problem with it: it's too organised! I had to unthink so many of my personal driving tips, to comfortably travel everyday. Consider this, you are driving at 60 Km/hr(or arnd 35-40 Miles/hr) on the main road and there is a road joining into it from the left( in India and from the right in the US). In the US, you don't stop, you don't even slow down. You go past that road at 35 Mph. In India, if you do that, you will be involved in an accident where you'll lose you 1 hand, 1 leg, 1 spine and 1 head. I was shit scared the first few days, I went through Bellevue. I couldn't get over the crawl-through-intersections-to-be-safe rule I religiously followed in India. There is so much blind trust here, trust that everyone will follow rules, its insane. Accepting this fact is the first step to a successful stay in the US. :) And also, that is why the penalties are so heavy for disobeyance, of any rules. And all rules are very detailed and very well thought out to cover every scenario possible.
The blind trust syndrome is what also leads me to assume to be the reason for people here loking for specialists in everything. There is a specialist, an expert for every small thing here. If you want to build a house, there is an expert for lighting, an expert for windows, an expert for plumbing, an expert for walls, an expert for architecture, an expert for glasses on the windows, an expert for the fireplaces, an expert for every damn small thing that you can find in your house. People trust the expert blindly and education is important. That is why I believe, the education here stresses more on practice than theory and is not very easy to mug up and finish off either.
People here believe in proven results and proven results only. And so there is data collection of everything, and there are so many surveys and analysis of surveys and analysis of data and conclusions and debates on the conclusions etc etc. People here are very scientific, in the fact that they trust analysis of data more than promise. Most rules, laws are based on data analysis. Every product made, or even thought about is supposed to be based on data analysis. Analysis of present data is very much a part of people's mindset here. Every conversation has an analysis part to it based on the data present in somebody's mind and if more data is supplied to contradict an opinion, it is taken very positively and very openly. This, I think is one of the best virtues of people I have sen until now in America.( Of course there are always people who are otherwise but the general public is very open)
There are so many more things to talk about the US, so many comparisions with India.
I have them all recorded in my mind. Some are good, some are bad, but there is one thing that I've come to understand through this trip; whatever culture, whatever practices exist right now, in the US as well as India, are the ones that exactly fit the times and the places.

My train travel poem

I am travelling in the train now.
I am moving fast, and shaking too.
My neighbours, a group of happy old men, are cracking jokes, laughing and drinking too.
The girl nearby is working on her laptop, but her eyes sometimes are staring at me too!
The vendor came in, I bought Ruffles lays, two.
I hope they keep the train clean, cause my berth is very near to the...you know...loo.
At office today I was deep into issues. I thought I would have to cancel the trip, true.
But they all got resolved and I am now relaxed and here, phew!
The curtains on the windows here are really well picked. They're beautiful. They seem new.
There's also a painting on the wall, with all the colours one could construe!
Well.....I think I need to sleep now, though frankly I would like this poem to continue...
Enjoyu.

It rained in Hyderabad.

I drove my car out of the parking and started for home. It was raining and raining heavily. The clouds, which had been lingering around in Hyderabad skies, threatening a strike anytime, for the past few days, finally delivered what they had threatened.

I was expecting a few traffic jams on my way.

One particular jam, which happens regularly and very near to my house is the most frustrating.

There is a 2 lane bridge across the river Musi just before the next traffic signal. When traffic gets heavy people drive in to the opposite lane(on the other side of the divider) and block oncoming traffic from the other side. And it was raining today.

There is a bus stop just after the bridge(near the lights) and a traffic jam there means no buses on the reverse route.

I was listening to songs while waiting for the traffic to clear, all the time watching more and more people enter into the other lane from before the bridge and try to take a right turn through the opposite lane.

The traffic came to a halt. Nothing moved. The I started looking around for anything interesting.
I saw a student arguing with a biker about something pointing towards the traffic lights. I thought he might be asking a lift and the biker refusing and all.. But then he talked to another biker, then an autowalla. I got interested.

He was talking to people who crossed into the other lane and was very softly(with nerdy glasses and a notebook in his hand) trying to convince them that it was not right and they are blocking the traffic from the other side. People just neglected the guy. His words fell through deaf ears. But he kept going. He tried talking to more people, but their responses did not vary.

It was still raining slowly. I felt a slight pity for the boy. And a feeling that he needs to use force not persuasion to have effect.

Slowly I saw a few more youngsters join with him in trying to convince people not to come into the other lane. Then a few more joined in. And then more came in.
By the time I reached the traffic light the boy was standing at the starting point of a chain of students forming a human traffic divider, guiding vehicles into the right lane.

And the traffic flowed. The jam was gone. And while crossing the junction I could see four smiling, relieved, proud policemen standing in the 4 different directions telling the boys when to stop people and when to let them go.

I had that smile people have when they actually see something they think is only a matter of TV shows or intellectual talk, propaganda bullshit and the types...

It was real. It happened. I saw it. And it rained in Hyderabad.

Anger Management Joke!

Go on and read this.. For all those anger freaks....!!

Are you pissed off? Take it out on someone! But don’t take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don’t know!
I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I’d forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying “Hello.”
I politely said, “This is Chris. Could I please speak with Robyn Carter?”
Suddenly a manic voice yelled out in my ear “Get the right f***ing number!”And the phone was slammed down on me. I couldn’t believe that anyone could be so rude. When I tracked down Robyn’s correct number to call her,I found that I had accidentally transposed the last two digits.
After hanging up with her, I decided to call the ‘wrong’ number again. When the same guy answered the phone, I yelled “You’re an ass hole!” and hung up. I wrote his number down with the word ‘ass hole’ next to it, and put it in mydesk drawer. Every couple of weeks, when I was paying bills or had areally bad day, I’d call him up and yell, “You’re an ass hole!” It always cheered me up.
When Caller ID was introduced, I thought my therapeutic ‘ass hole’ calling would have to stop. So, I called his number and said, “Hi, this is John Smith from the telephone company. I’m calling to see if you’re familiar with our Caller ID Program?”
He yelled “NO!” and slammed down the phone. I quickly called him back and said, “That’s because you’re an ass hole!” and hung up.
One day I was at the store, getting ready to pull into a parking spot. Some guy in a black BMW cut me off and pulled into the spot I had patiently waited for. I hit the horn and yelled that I’d been waiting for that spot, but the idiotignored me. I noticed a “For Sale” sign in his back window, so I wrote down his number.
A couple of days later, right after calling the first ass hole (I had his number on speed dial),I thought that I’d better call the BMW ass hole, too. I said, “Is this the man with the black BMW for sale?”
He said, “Yes, it is.”
I asked, “Can you tell me where I can see it?”
He said, “Yes, I live at 34 Oak tree Blvd., in Fairfax. It’s a yellow ambler, and the car’s parked right out in front.”
I asked, “What’s your name?”
He said, “My name is Don Hansen,”
I asked, “When’s a good time to catch you, Don?”
He said, “I’m home every evening after five.”
I said, “Listen, Don, can I tell you something?”
He said, “Yes?”
I said, “Don, you’re an ass hole!” and I hung up, and added his number to my speed dial, too.Now when I had a problem, I had two ass holes to call.
Then I came up with an idea. I called ass hole #1. He said, “Hello.”
I said, “You’re an ass hole!” (but I didn’t hang up).
He asked, “Are you still there?”
I said, “Yeah,”He screamed, “Stop calling me,”
I said, “Make me,”
He asked, “Who are you?”
I said, “My name is Don Hansen .” He said, “Yeah? Where do you live?”
I said, “Ass hole, I live at 34 Oak tree Blvd, in Fairfax, a yellow ambler.I have a black Beamer parked in front.”
He said, “I’m coming over right now, Don. And you had better start saying your prayers.”
I said, “Yeah, like I’m really scared, ass hole,” and hung up.
Then I called Ass hole #2.He said, “Hello?”
I said, “Hello, ass hole,”
He yelled, “If I ever find out who you are…”
I said, “You’ll what?”
He exclaimed, “I’ll kick your ass.”
I answered, “Well, ass hole, here’s your chance. I’m coming over right now.”
Then I hung up and immediately called the police, saying that I lived at 34 Oak tree Blvd, in Fairfax, and that I was on my way over there to kill my gay lover.
Then I called Channel 9 News about the gang war going down in Oak tree Blvd. in Fairfax.
I quickly got into my car and headed over to Fairfax. I got there just in time to watch two ass holes beating the crap out of each other in front of six cop cars, an overhead news helicopter and surrounded by a news crew.
I feel much better (sigh).Anger management really does work.

The Match.

I was pained today. emotionally. Mumbai Indians lost the match against Rajasthan Royals. It was a match that they had almost won half way through the Royals innings but somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Sachin will be out of IPL this year now.
I supported his team all through and in the end they could not hold their nerves. That really made me so sad. I trust myself to perform my best when most needed(call it crunch situation). And when I am supporting someone so wholly and with the heart and when he(I refer to the team as a person here.For me its Sachin=Team.Coz hes the captain) turns out a choker, I feel really let down.
This brings me to the question:
Why should I feel so much for a team? Why should I relate my happiness to someone else's success? And that too when I really have no direct relation there; No personal stake in his success; No contribution I can make and no result I can have a share of.
Why should I get so excited?
One reason could be that I personally think I would have become a Sachin tendulkar if not for studies and parental pressure to pursue reading more than playing... And then in that case that would be MY team playing out there.
One reason for this is that you need to associate yourself to something. Man, by nature, is a social animal. He needs company. Of course groups were initially formed for resource aggregation but, through the ages now, every social animal needs to share its feelings, anger love, hunger, gaiety, anything. But it needs to share. For that it needs to associate itself to some group. A personal group. Could be a family, a class, a friends group, a players group, a city, a state, a country, and many more. It just needs to have something in common. Or some interest in common. In this team's case it is the win which becomes common. When they win you win. You feel great. They lose you lose. You feel bad. You moods are dictated by that teams perfomances. and so it goes on...as long as the team exists or you severe the connection with it.

Another true(and deeper) reason is, I admire Sachin so much and believe in his ability so much, I want him to win.
Now .. Why?? WHy is it that I want him to win?

That is because if he wins my trust in his ability will be vindicated. I get emotional benefit and satisfaction as well as confidence for recognizing and trusting the right ability. And it proves to me that what I recognise as talent is surely talent. So when I recognise something in myself I will trust it to be true and hence it will add to my overall confidence in myself and my abilities.
So things like these really matter.
It applies to almost all people, old guys to kids, everyone.
And this applies also to you and ...me .