Vishal Gayhee

I could not write anything last week as I was babysitting during the weekend. My son’s maid had taken a break and summu found a suitable alternative in me. I must admit I had a fabulous time playing with my little one, answering every inquisitive question of his and watching his favorite cartoon CD’s with him. I also found out that my son has a lot in common with me. He loves books, listens to Hindi songs only, is besotted by kareena kapoor (in Jab we met) and likes dressing up in good clothes. Smita anyways can derive solace from the fact that he will certainly grow up to be extrovert and outspoken, much like her. These are important qualities to be a successful salesman and will stand him in good stead, if he decides to tread the same line as his mom…

Talking of commonalities, there are/were few friends with whom I shared a lot in common. One guy who comes to my mind instantly is “Vishal” who was my colleague for 11 years in Silicon & Locuz. We liked good food, Hindi music, our jobs, clothes and BigB. I still remember those frequent visits with him to “Sangeet Sagar” for picking up every foot tapping Hindi album. We used to go to this place after office to buy our stuff religiously for making it a part of our music library. Eventually, this became a part of our weekly chore for 5 long years.

He was a wonderful colleague and a great friend. We joined silicon in the same year and he immediately created an impact by achieving his qtr’s target in his first month of joining. This feat made him very popular in the orgn and became a benchmark for all new hires. I was intimidated by his performance initially and tried every possible trick to emulate his winning ways

Uttam and I had a lot of fun at his expense but that never affected our relationship with Vishal. He was a real sport and took everything in his stride. The real Vishal is known to people who have been close and knew him for a lot of years. He was a person with a tough exterior and ultra soft interior. An extremely selfless guy always willing to offer a helping hand to people around him. He always stood up for the cause of others without bothering about his own reputation. For Uttam and me he was just a phone call away.

He was extravagant in his approach and lived life king size. His penchant for branded clothes, ray ban sunglasses, dining at 5 stars restaurants and insatiable hunger for prawns stands testimony to that. He had this intrinsic trait of getting into an argument with every possible restaurant waiter and that over a period of time got extended to OEM’s as well. He used the choicest hyderabadi expletives boldly in front of waiters and behind the backs of u know who....

His passion for Locuz was inspiring. He helped in developing a culture of high performance in hyd and was instrumental in winning a lot of significant deals for Locuz. During the initial years of Locuz when other branches were not contributing as expected, hyd plugged those gaps with the help of VG’s spirited performance. Infact, once of the largest deal in Bangalore edu was also the handiwork of Vishal.


2 years back on 16th May, 2006 a cruel accident snatched him away from all of us. It is difficult to believe that he is not amidst us. Locuz lost one of its most passionate team members and me a dear friend. His memories still loom in the company and he has left behind a legacy that will be remembered and followed by all of us.

I WILL ALWAYS MISS YOU GAYHEE (still have all your mails in my inbox and your number in my phone book….)

……..Of Modi, Bhajji & Tashan…..

Till a few weeks back if u had asked somebody who “Lalit Modi” was, he would have probably shrugged his shoulders or would have said Narendra Modi’s unknown relative. That was before the launch of IPL, but not anymore. His popularity today rivals that of the other Modi bcoz IPLT20 is a blockbuster and his brainchild has helped BCCI pocket a cool 7000Crs. The other day I saw him on TV shaking hands with Bhajji after the match between Mumbai & Mohali.

Talking of Bhajji, this edition of IPL will also be remembered for the ugly spat (or rather slap) between him and (cry baby) Sreesanth. I was hugely disappointed with his on-field behavior. Infact, he has let the entire nation down who backed him to the hilt when he faced rough weather in Australia. Now, CA and the Aussie media are sure to have the last laugh.

I always thought Bhajji is a mediocre spinner who always made news for his on field antics instead of his cricketing abilities. I think it was a wrong decision on Mumbai’s part to have made him the captain in the absence of Tendulkar. He does not have the maturity nor the cricketing brain to lead a side and surprisingly he was considered over players like Shaun Pollock, Jayasurya etc, who have successfully lead their countries in the past (without any slapping business).

So Mr.Bhajji, please stop throwing tantrums and focus on improving your game otherwise you will quickly fade into oblivion. Your “Hummer” dream will never turn into reality. This edition of the IPL has introduced us to quality domestic talent who can easily give you a run for your money.

The iconic players of this tournament (u know who) have put up a disappointing show. With the idiotic clause of the icon player automatically getting 15% more money than the maximum bid attracted by any player in the icon's team, the icons have raked in incomes that they might or might not deserve. Their team owners must be fuming at them as they have not yet justified the huge sum they received for coming under the icon category. Alas,their perf will not really matter from here on as Bangalore; Kolkata & Hyd have no hope in hell of getting into the knock out stage.

So Mr.Dravid, Ganguly & Laxman it’s time for you to step down (without cribbing) and make way for younger player’s atleast in the shorter format of the game. Also, take a lesson or two from Dhoni & Warne on how to lead and inspire a bunch of budding cricketers.

Nowadays, it’s either IPL or movies that keep me busy during weekends apart from my playful Aaryan and Smita’s shopping trips….

This weekend I had the opportunity of watching Tashan. I would consider myself lucky for not having to spend a single penny as I got to watch it on cable. I had a lot of expectations from this movie as it boasted a good starcast and was from the dependable Yashraj banner. Akshay Kumar impressed as always, Kareena has nothing to show except her zero figure, Saif is completely wasted and anil kapoor irritates with his badly written dialogues. The only thing worth seeing is the 10 sec bikini shot of kareena kapoor ;-) and some comic scenes involving Akshay otherwise the MOVIE IS A COMPLETE DUD…

So guys knock this off from your much watch list, but if you sat through “jhoom barabar jhoom” then go ahead and test your patience with “Tashan”...

This is my first attempt at blogging. I don’t think i am passionate about it but i simply want to give it a shot as it is certainly the current fad. If i am able to pen my thoughts and opinions in a manner deemed fit in the era of web2.0 , then I would certainly continue else, would switch to something else which goes well with my interest and liking.

Talking about passion, one thing that has inflamed my passion is bollywood cinema. I have been a movie freak since childhood and have developed a fondness for Hindi cinema of every genre. If cricket and films are considered religion in this country then i would certainly fall in the category of die hard fanatic’s…

One actor who got me hooked to Hindi cinema is BigB. I am among those millions of Indians who have grown up watching his movies and would continue to watch for many more years to come. I still remember the day my father whacked me for putting up posters of BigB in my room bcoz I put them up few days after my exam results were announced. Needless to mention why my father was annoyed with pictures of my matinee idol in the room (Good exam scores & movies don’t go hand in hand atleast in my case :-( ...)

BigB simply marveled in all the roles essayed by him. Whether it was humour, action ,comedy or offbeat (remember main azaad hoon) cinema, AB played everything to perfection. Amitabh in Hindi means “the light that would never go off” and even to this day he is shining bright. Lot of his contempories of 70’s & 80’s have faded into oblivion, but at 60+ he is a bigger icon than he ever was and continues to tower over actors of this generation.

His first movie was “Saat Hindustani” which also won him his first national film award for best new comer. Then followed “Anand” which was AB’s initial successes (commercially) and also won him a lot of critical acclaim. AB was pitted against Rajesh Khanna (superstar of that era) who was playing the protagonist and had a role that one could give an arm and leg for. While Rajesh Khanna gave a performance of his lifetime, Amitabh held his own despite playing second fiddle and eventually won a Film fare award for best supporting role that year. Anand ranks among my all time favourites and hat’s off to hrishikesh mukherjee for extracting the best from the reigning superstar and the star in waiting…(This reel life story evidently is inspired by the relationship Hrishida shared with Raj Kapoor in real life..)

The 70’s & 80’s catapulted him to super stardom. Movies like Deewar, Sholay, Trishul, Don, Shakti etc epitomized the angry young man image. I simply fail to understand why he did not win the best actor award for “Deewar” which eventually went to Rishi Kapoor for “Laila Majnu” that year. Awards or no awards, Amitabh continues to be liked by fan’s the world over for being a super actor and also for possessing the ability to reinvent himself in the face of adversity...

His all time best dialogue according to me is “Mere jeb mein paanch phuti kaudi nahin hain aur main paanch lakh ka sauda karne aaya hoon” from the movie Trishul…..no other actor could have shown the intensity displayed by AB in this particular scene…

I guess Uttam, Vishal & me did not share too many common interests. The only thing that was common between us was cricket, Locuz and a great sense of admiration for BigB…Apparently; Vishal with his deep baritone voice, 6 feet height and the angry young man look came closest to resembling BigB between the 3 of us…

I can go on & on but my son is miffed coz he is not getting any attention from me. So time to log off as i plan to go for a long drive with Aaryan…

Take Care!!!!