How to produce original content? As an armature blogger, like millions others, I must know the answer to this burning question.

Yet another absurd title, considering what I’m planning to write about. I still hope it’s justified (by itself) by the end. I started 'typing' this article back in mid-2006 (on July 2, 2006 - to be precise). Not sure what stopped me from completing and publishing, I guess I had to move to Bangalore to realize the need.

Ever tried locating your house from an airplane approaching your ‘home’ airport? I’ve tried that. I do that. EVERY TIME. While take-off. Landing. Hovering. And fail to find anything. EVERY TIME. I can't even locate/recognize a specific area, let alone a building or a 'house'.

It must have been due for a while. Especially for the things I’ve done (rather, things that happened to me) in last two weeks,

To Himalayas, via McDonald’s at Lonavala: Just like all my previous whacky trips, this too had to start on an odd note. For the flight at 6 AM from Bombay, I was still at work in Pune at 1 AM. With the grace of God (and pressure/torture from Nirav and Kaushal), we hit the highway by 1:40 AM, reaching Khapoli Highway Foodmall by 2:50 AM. Deadly ‘Tum Tum’ tea with some fries, pizza-puff and a few egg-do’s, we suddenly realized we only had an hour and a half and crouching Bombay-traffic before reaching the airport. Kaushal and Nirav were already sleeping on the rear seats; I didn’t have anyone I could confess to – that my situation was no better. We still made it to the airport by 4:30 AM. I’m good! So far, no pictures – we actually didn’t have any time for that. 

1. I love reading. I read absolutely anything that comes handy. Of all, my favorite book is “Indian Muslims – Where Have They Gone Wrong?” by Dr Rafiq Zakaria. With all that in place, I feel my vocabulary is limited to a very small set of words.
2. I have full faith in Indian government, their initiatives and efforts. I know the future is even brighter.
3. I some times feel people (/Indians) not living in India should not be allowed to crib about issues in India. (If you can’t see the brighter side, be equally blind to the darker one.)
4. I wish India and Pakistan were never separated. I would’ve loved supporting a cricket team with opening batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and opening bowlers like Wasim Akram. (And Sania Mirza could marry Shoaib Malik with peace - without making any political news. Shashi Tharoor could also mind his own business.)
5. I hope Indians do equally great in other sports (than Cricket) in future; in Hockey to start with. We are better than China in many ways. Why not in Olympics then?
6. I love Banana milkshake. Any day, any time. 
7. The cook at my parents’ place is just great. But I specially go home, just that I can wake up to the tea my Mom prepares.
8. Pune is the best city I’ve ever lived in. I just wish the citizens had better traffic (and civic) sense.
9. I don’t like pets – dog, cat, fish, birds, just any of them. They’re better off to their nature-defined habitat.
10. Believe it or not, I’m quite shy. And I don’t lie, as far as possible. With the spread of world wide web and people’s momentous presence online (Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, etc), I feel it's practically impossible to lie about anything. Nobody, but Rajinikanth, can hide from Google's Search Engine Spiders.
11. My family’s my life and my friends are my life-support. No wonder I’ve survived not-so-pleasant phases of my life, so effortlessly.
12. I’m quite selfish (and self-centered?) compared to my friends. I guess my friends know that too. They still love me!
13. I owe my financial and social independence to my teachers (/trainers) and my employer. (My parents are my teachers. My sister, is like my mother.)
14. I’m not a foodie. I can barely sense/differentiate tastes. I’m just not into junk-food and given a choice, I can live with all-boiled, no-spice food (satvik aahar) for the rest of my life.
15. Something’s terribly wrong with the way I speak/talk. Somehow, on first, most people feel I’m arrogant/have an attitude problem.
16. My likes of profession is pretty unrealistic. It's a mix of some random things I’m good at.
17. I love writing with fountain pens. (It’s one of many other things I try and copy from my Father.)
18. I am not superstitious. But there’s certainly some magic in the shooting stars.
19. I have an OCD for hygiene – especially that in toilets, kitchen and the dining area. I guess I also have an acrophobia.
20. I prefer: Facebook over Orkut, Tea over Coffee, Pune over Bombay/Bangalore/Surat.., Windows over Linux, Red Wine over White, Test-match over ODI/T20, Vada-pav over Burger, Scotch over Vodka/Rum/Beer, Animated over SciFi/Action flicks, House over Hip-hop music and Sambuca over Tequila.
21. I believe in Karma and the ‘Karmic Law’.
22. I hate cooking. I hate it more, when people expect me to cook.
23. It really surprises me that some people are still stuck to hard cash, and worse, they believe that plastic money/cheques are bad.
24. Internet (on Mobile phone) is the best invention ever. Swimming is the best exercise ever.
25. I do play Tabla and Harmonium. I’m formally trained in Indian Classical Music (vocal) and my personal favorites are Raag Kaafi and Bhairavi. I’ve turned to the western music now. Starting with Saxophone.
26. I sincerely feel people should wear helmet/seatbelt without any exceptions. We’ve lost some precious lives due to this ignorance in the past, and I hope everyone understands that her/his life is much more important than s/he thinks.
27. I can’t compromise with my ‘space’. I get quite upset (and annoyed) if the entropy of my house changes. I love my freedom at my new ‘home’. But I do feel quite lonely on times.
28. In my free time I like making random changes to my website. I’ll always be obliged to Pritesh (and Dharmesh-bhai) for this great gift!
29. I always over-do things, like I couldn’t limit it to ‘25’ (or '15' in Quick 15 Books...).

I’m a narcissist. I feel I possess a perfect human life, with no regrets for the mistakes in past. I’m blessed, in many ways.

But I really want more. 

Wooppiee! My tweet got ‘published’ (as in ‘printed’) in today’s Times of India – Pune Mirror (Feb 2, 2010 – Page 31 Variety). Boy, am I excited to see my name up there! Probably my trip to Shirdi did some trick… (I just can’t stop blushing – as if I had won the Nobel prize for World Peace!!)