This is ridiculous. I just don't have any other words for it.
An appeal for your support
A very strange time is upon us…
Very recently, TATA Sons filed a case against us (oktatabyebye.com) in infringement of their TATA name (as our domain name contains the 'TATA' word!). Tata Sons has contended that it is confusingly similar to its 'Tata' brand and the travel portal runner has no rights or legitimate interests to use it. The company had argued that the site infringed the right of its registered trademark/service mark 'Tata'.
What is even more ridiculous is the fact that TATAs actually won this case.
And in a decision by a sole panelist, ownership of the domain OkTataByeBye.com has been awarded to TATA by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) Arbitration and Mediation Centre.
This is taking the whole idea of copyright infringement to another (stupid) level altogether. What next? Are they planning to sue every one of us for uttering TATA without their permission?
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Meena Mami-2
Hello world :-)
It seems so good to be back here. I was away all this while because I just did not feel like blogging anymore. It was one long break. However, the urge to communicate in this space has come back and I'm glad to be here once again. So many things have happened ever since I blogged last. But then let's not delve into that. Ever since I decided I want to blog again I kept wondering what should be my comeback post. Something happened few days ago that made my decision very easy. I was convinced that I have to write about it because there is a small connection with my blog. I don't know how many of my old blogger friends, acquaintances who would read my latest post. But does anybody remember this ? For all the new readers here, please do read this, otherwise the following post wouldn't make any sense.
Circa 2004...
It is amazing but I got to meet Meena Mami just few months after having made this entry.
(I still remember that I wanted to write about the incident but laziness took the better of me). Out of the blue, one day my father told me about how his common friend mentioned about Meena Mami coming to Bombay to meet a relative. I was so excited hearing about the news and I couldn't believe that I was getting a chance to meet her just months after having written the post. That was quick! I got the details of the relative and went to meet her. Before meeting I did call her and she stood outside the door waiting for me. It was wonderful meeting her after
such a long time. Mami thought I had changed quite a lot and we began catching up with our lives. Meanwhile I also called up Lalitha who spoke to Meena Mami after more than 15 years. It was amazing. Pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were finally falling in place. However we still had to find Bablu.
Circa 2005...
Later I got busy with my graduation, work and other things in life that searching for Bablu was put on a backburner. Then in 2005, Lalitha came back to be my neighbour once again...after 17 long years and it was just as it was before :-) During that time we realised that even though we were in touch with Meena Mami, we still did not know anything about Bablu. It is only after this that we both began a search for him. Till then funnily enough both of us (me and Lalitha) did not know his official name. We never needed to know, he was always Bablu for us. We later learnt that Bablu's official name was Vijay Raghavan. Wow! This news was enough for us to find him online in this age of Internet (or so I thought). We began our search for him immediately. I searched for him on Orkut and of course, Google. We still couldn't find him. Most of the Vijay Raghavans we found were younger than me. Finally we found one person whom I thought could be him. He was from Bombay. I discussed about this exciting possibility with Lalitha. When we figured out his age from the online records, it hit us that he was 35 which couldn't have been possible even in 2005. Our online search also hit a dead end. Sigh! :-( After then, we always wondered where Bablu would be. We wondered if he ever searched for us. However there were no answers. We left it at that. However somewhere deep down I just knew that we would all meet again. The only question was 'when' for which I had no answer.
2009...
Even though me and Lalitha knew about the whereabouts of Meena Mami, I was not in frequent touch with her though we did speak over the phone couple of times. Lalitha was more regular, thankfully. She used to talk to her quite often and I used to get updates from her. After 2004, I couldn't meet Meena Mami even once. But the very fact that I knew that she was fine kept me satisfied. After 2004, Meena Mami lived in Noida, in Chennai and host of other places before settling down in an old age home in Sringeri in Tamil Nadu. Last month I came to know that Mami would be in Delhi in the month of July. I did not have Mami's contact number and Lalitha told me that she would be contacting me once I reach Delhi by July end. I got a call two days ago and I set out to meet her. This time I met her after 5 whole years. I noticed that Meena Mami had aged even further. Rather than salt and pepper hair, Mami now possesses silver grey hair. We began talking and the subject of Bablu came up again. We again spoke about how sad it was not to know a single detail about Bablu. Then I asked her, "Mami, is Bablu's full name Vijay Raghavan?" She replied in affirmative. "So his father's name was Raghavan?", I asked. "No, his dad's name is Parthsarathy." "Oh so his name is Vijayraghavan Parthasarathy. Ohhhh!" It suddenly hit me that we never knew his correct full name. We had assumed it wrongly. All this while we had searched for Bablu using a wrong name! This information brought a smile on my face since I realised that it would be easier for us to search for him again.
I went online and I began searching for Vijayaraghavan Parthasarathy. I thought not many people would have a name like this. But no, I was sorely mistaken. I found close to 10 people by the same name. I wondered who would Bablu be among this. I surfed through people's profiles and found that they did not quite match Bablu's probable description. Finally I landed on a page which was out of bounds for me. But I could still see the guy's communities and I decided to send him a message. I also found a guy on Facebook and I pinged him as well. During this process I did wonder if I would be successful in my attempt. Subsequently I got back to my work. After about 15 minutes I refreshed my Orkut page and I saw that this Orkut fellow had added me. I wondered why. Within a moment I saw his scrap on my page and I couldn't believe what I had seen on the page...."This is Bablu, the same. I have been looking out for ways to contact Meena Mami so long. After we moved to a different place we lost contact. When we did go back all we were told was she moved to Delhi. PLease give me your phone no. Where do you live? How are ur parents. I live in USA. I will be waiting for your reply."
I kept staring at the screen and still couldn't believe it. The other contents of the scrap convinced me that he can't be an imposter. The jigsaw puzzle pieces had finally fallen in place. It was amazing :-) I had found Bablu...finally!!!! It took me few moments to register this. I immediately called Lalitha. She was on another call. I kept calling her. Finally when she did answer, I screamed....."We have found Bablu!!!!" Lalitha was dumb stuck and her reaction was quite thanda! All she could say was, "Yea? How?" I explained to her. She did not appear to be very convinced. Meanwhile I added Bablu on my messenger and hoped and waited he would come online. After an hour he did come and then called me. At 1 am, me, Bablu and Lalitha had a telephonic conference. Oh...it was just unbelievable. Bablu couldn't believe it and neither could we. Meena Mami could finally talk to Bablu. Bablu had tried hard to trace Mami, but sadly was
unsuccessful. He had not tried searching for us...hehe! He admits that he did not think about that :-) But we did the needful and here we are...all back in touch again :D This is such a filmy story....This is my Yaadon ki Baarat!!! Ismein drama hain, emotions hain, bacche bichadte hain....phir 20 saal baad milte hain... too much :D When we finally did meet Bablu, we found him married with a kid. Bablu promptly called Meena Mami the next day. For Mami, this was a shock and such a pleasant shock at that :-) When I spoke to her later, she couldn't believe how quickly everything happened. Bablu gave her contact details to his parents and even they got in touch with her. My parents and Lalitha's parents still can't believe that we found Bablu. It is tough for them to realise that world is indeed such a small place for people of our generation :-)
Come to think of it, if only I had asked the correct question of Bablu's father's name few years before, the reunion would have happened long time ago. But it's all good now. Better late than never :-) Many people ask me in wonderment how I can remember incidents when I was so young? Well, even though I don't remember everything, I do have vivid memories of certain things. Besides I was showered with lots of love that I have a good feeling whenever I think of those days (despite memories being hazy)
Currently, the reunion has still not happened in its entiriety. We are all waiting for Bablu's visit to India so that we all could go and meet Meena Mami together :-) Now that'll be one filmy pic :-) YAYY!!!
It seems so good to be back here. I was away all this while because I just did not feel like blogging anymore. It was one long break. However, the urge to communicate in this space has come back and I'm glad to be here once again. So many things have happened ever since I blogged last. But then let's not delve into that. Ever since I decided I want to blog again I kept wondering what should be my comeback post. Something happened few days ago that made my decision very easy. I was convinced that I have to write about it because there is a small connection with my blog. I don't know how many of my old blogger friends, acquaintances who would read my latest post. But does anybody remember this ? For all the new readers here, please do read this, otherwise the following post wouldn't make any sense.
Circa 2004...
It is amazing but I got to meet Meena Mami just few months after having made this entry.
(I still remember that I wanted to write about the incident but laziness took the better of me). Out of the blue, one day my father told me about how his common friend mentioned about Meena Mami coming to Bombay to meet a relative. I was so excited hearing about the news and I couldn't believe that I was getting a chance to meet her just months after having written the post. That was quick! I got the details of the relative and went to meet her. Before meeting I did call her and she stood outside the door waiting for me. It was wonderful meeting her after
such a long time. Mami thought I had changed quite a lot and we began catching up with our lives. Meanwhile I also called up Lalitha who spoke to Meena Mami after more than 15 years. It was amazing. Pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were finally falling in place. However we still had to find Bablu.
Circa 2005...
Later I got busy with my graduation, work and other things in life that searching for Bablu was put on a backburner. Then in 2005, Lalitha came back to be my neighbour once again...after 17 long years and it was just as it was before :-) During that time we realised that even though we were in touch with Meena Mami, we still did not know anything about Bablu. It is only after this that we both began a search for him. Till then funnily enough both of us (me and Lalitha) did not know his official name. We never needed to know, he was always Bablu for us. We later learnt that Bablu's official name was Vijay Raghavan. Wow! This news was enough for us to find him online in this age of Internet (or so I thought). We began our search for him immediately. I searched for him on Orkut and of course, Google. We still couldn't find him. Most of the Vijay Raghavans we found were younger than me. Finally we found one person whom I thought could be him. He was from Bombay. I discussed about this exciting possibility with Lalitha. When we figured out his age from the online records, it hit us that he was 35 which couldn't have been possible even in 2005. Our online search also hit a dead end. Sigh! :-( After then, we always wondered where Bablu would be. We wondered if he ever searched for us. However there were no answers. We left it at that. However somewhere deep down I just knew that we would all meet again. The only question was 'when' for which I had no answer.
2009...
Even though me and Lalitha knew about the whereabouts of Meena Mami, I was not in frequent touch with her though we did speak over the phone couple of times. Lalitha was more regular, thankfully. She used to talk to her quite often and I used to get updates from her. After 2004, I couldn't meet Meena Mami even once. But the very fact that I knew that she was fine kept me satisfied. After 2004, Meena Mami lived in Noida, in Chennai and host of other places before settling down in an old age home in Sringeri in Tamil Nadu. Last month I came to know that Mami would be in Delhi in the month of July. I did not have Mami's contact number and Lalitha told me that she would be contacting me once I reach Delhi by July end. I got a call two days ago and I set out to meet her. This time I met her after 5 whole years. I noticed that Meena Mami had aged even further. Rather than salt and pepper hair, Mami now possesses silver grey hair. We began talking and the subject of Bablu came up again. We again spoke about how sad it was not to know a single detail about Bablu. Then I asked her, "Mami, is Bablu's full name Vijay Raghavan?" She replied in affirmative. "So his father's name was Raghavan?", I asked. "No, his dad's name is Parthsarathy." "Oh so his name is Vijayraghavan Parthasarathy. Ohhhh!" It suddenly hit me that we never knew his correct full name. We had assumed it wrongly. All this while we had searched for Bablu using a wrong name! This information brought a smile on my face since I realised that it would be easier for us to search for him again.
I went online and I began searching for Vijayaraghavan Parthasarathy. I thought not many people would have a name like this. But no, I was sorely mistaken. I found close to 10 people by the same name. I wondered who would Bablu be among this. I surfed through people's profiles and found that they did not quite match Bablu's probable description. Finally I landed on a page which was out of bounds for me. But I could still see the guy's communities and I decided to send him a message. I also found a guy on Facebook and I pinged him as well. During this process I did wonder if I would be successful in my attempt. Subsequently I got back to my work. After about 15 minutes I refreshed my Orkut page and I saw that this Orkut fellow had added me. I wondered why. Within a moment I saw his scrap on my page and I couldn't believe what I had seen on the page...."This is Bablu, the same. I have been looking out for ways to contact Meena Mami so long. After we moved to a different place we lost contact. When we did go back all we were told was she moved to Delhi. PLease give me your phone no. Where do you live? How are ur parents. I live in USA. I will be waiting for your reply."
I kept staring at the screen and still couldn't believe it. The other contents of the scrap convinced me that he can't be an imposter. The jigsaw puzzle pieces had finally fallen in place. It was amazing :-) I had found Bablu...finally!!!! It took me few moments to register this. I immediately called Lalitha. She was on another call. I kept calling her. Finally when she did answer, I screamed....."We have found Bablu!!!!" Lalitha was dumb stuck and her reaction was quite thanda! All she could say was, "Yea? How?" I explained to her. She did not appear to be very convinced. Meanwhile I added Bablu on my messenger and hoped and waited he would come online. After an hour he did come and then called me. At 1 am, me, Bablu and Lalitha had a telephonic conference. Oh...it was just unbelievable. Bablu couldn't believe it and neither could we. Meena Mami could finally talk to Bablu. Bablu had tried hard to trace Mami, but sadly was
unsuccessful. He had not tried searching for us...hehe! He admits that he did not think about that :-) But we did the needful and here we are...all back in touch again :D This is such a filmy story....This is my Yaadon ki Baarat!!! Ismein drama hain, emotions hain, bacche bichadte hain....phir 20 saal baad milte hain... too much :D When we finally did meet Bablu, we found him married with a kid. Bablu promptly called Meena Mami the next day. For Mami, this was a shock and such a pleasant shock at that :-) When I spoke to her later, she couldn't believe how quickly everything happened. Bablu gave her contact details to his parents and even they got in touch with her. My parents and Lalitha's parents still can't believe that we found Bablu. It is tough for them to realise that world is indeed such a small place for people of our generation :-)
Come to think of it, if only I had asked the correct question of Bablu's father's name few years before, the reunion would have happened long time ago. But it's all good now. Better late than never :-) Many people ask me in wonderment how I can remember incidents when I was so young? Well, even though I don't remember everything, I do have vivid memories of certain things. Besides I was showered with lots of love that I have a good feeling whenever I think of those days (despite memories being hazy)
Currently, the reunion has still not happened in its entiriety. We are all waiting for Bablu's visit to India so that we all could go and meet Meena Mami together :-) Now that'll be one filmy pic :-) YAYY!!!
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