I : The Person

I wish I could :

1. Tell my family how much I love and miss them.
2. Go back to some people upset with me and say sorry.
3. Go back to school for one day as a student.
4. Play gully cricket again.
5. Get into one of the IITs, the only thing I have not achieved after working for it.

I know I will :

1. Gift Ma a new SUV and drive her around in Jim Corbett National Park.
2. Plan a meeting of all my college friends the next time I get back to India.
3. Not search for lady love in my life, it just comes to you.
4. Try and leave my job sometime in life and get into social service or teaching.
5. Remain an emotional fool who will give preference to relationships rather than opportunistic dealings.

I can :

1. Strike an emotional cord with most of the people I meet.
2. Write poems occasionaly and whistle as means of flushing my feelings.
3. Change for good somethings in life; if I want to.
4. Dream beyond till where my vision goes.
5. Cook good food.

I can't :

1. Pretend.
2. Not retaliate if I have the opportunity to do so.
3. Dance in rhythm, sing, draw.
4. Code all my life.
5. Be far from India.

I sometimes :

1. Drink too much.
2. Am very annoying.
3. Feel low and thats when I mostly write.
4. Act as though today is the last day of life.
5. Think too much about occurances in my life. "Every act you do is because a wish originated in the soul of the Universe, you merely execute it" : The Alchemist.

I recall :

1. Chotu ke samose, holi ki gujiyas, Ram Singh ke gol gappe, my judo classes; my first intensive character training program (Thanks Nagrath Sir).
2. Friends I have not met for years ; Mohit, Himanshu, Nishant.
3. The power cuts in Shahdara, the gully cricket, Shyam Lal College, the barber near Gupta's, I ji, Bittu chacha, Poonam chachi, Tinkal bhaiya, Montu, Sangeeta didi, Goel aunty, the old mochi, Jain sahab, jumping walls to get into Shyam Lal College grounds, hanging from rods to gain height, Pundit uncle for if it was not for him I would not have got what I did in my boards.
4. Nanaji's sentence to Nani when she was really sick,"You cant die now. You have to see Ujjwal's marriage". He expired within days of saying that and Nani has survived two heart attacks, one pace maker surgery and a lot more. Nani, I dont want to marry.
5. Baba's sentence when I met him for the first time in hospital after his triple heart attack, " Ujjwal, how were your exams? Study hard and always be honest in life". Love you Dad.

If not an engineer, I would have been a :

1. Nature Photographer for National Geographic.
2. Philosopher.
3. Lawyer dealing majorly in PILs (public interest litigations) to improve our country/IAS officer/ HC judge to punish the guilty and root out corruption.
4. A small shop owner.
5. High school teacher, that is when you can influence the thought process of the youth of the country.