The shutter should not come down. And it won't..

I wrote the post below on last Sunday. Then for some reason decided against posting it. But then.. I think I SHOULD post it. After all, its a really special one for me. I know most of you will have no idea what I am talking about here.. This one is only for ME and no one else. We are allowed to be a little selfish isn't it? :)

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This post is a special one. My roomie is snoring. He is sleepin like a baby. People who sleep tight are THE most LUCKY fellows in the world. Its a state when you are at peace with the universe. Your subconscious mind tells itself that there's nothing to worry about.. u can take a break for sometime.

I wish I had a sub-conscious mind who was like that. I remember waking up at 7:32 am tomorrow. Dressed up and got ready within a timespan of well.. give or take NINE HUNDRED SECONDS, and got into the office cab at 5 to 8.

I came back to home at 5 am this morning. Was feeling a lil hungry so had a breakfast of cookies and a lil chocolate.. the only other option I had was kellog's cornflakes but then I was not fancying the idea of heating the milk. I was not feeling sleepy.

I was feeling a little alarmed. Not that I was thinkin a lot about it in the last 24 hours or so.. but now I was home after working for twenty hours in office and it was 5 am n the morning and I was not feeling like going to bed. I kinda panicked a lil. I rushed to bed.

Sleep was not very deep as well. Well you cant sleep deep if every hour people drop in at the flat.. from newspaper guy to work-maid to land lady. Anyways.. I was sleeping till 2 o clock. Felt hungry. Very hungry. Last meal was on friday noon. Went out to a chinese restaurant beside BTM Layout fly over. Galloped a plateful of chinese chopsuey and a sweet lime soda. Came back to room, watched 4 movies till 2 am again. Going out to get a couple of Cranberry juice bottles and a quarter of Vodka punctuated the proceedings.

So there you have it.. It was not so bad a day after all. Just goes to show that people can not take your respect out of your system. If my inner conscience is not sorry or ashamed or guilty, you were not wrong. I did what I had to. I did it the best way possible. I gave it my best shot towards maintaining a friendship. Sadly, in the end.. it perhaps got too much complicated.. too much idealistic.. to be able to be accepted by people of this cynical world. Thats okkay.. I know I do not belong to this world. I knew I had to keep a veil on myself.. not reveal the REAL me to the world. Because if I do.. people will ridicule it, hurt it, ridicule it.

So what do I do now? Keep the veil down? Some part of me is advising against that. I am not bleeding like the 1st time after all. In fact I am quite proud of my efforts. I knew I cared. So what the other person did not understand it.. So what people could not keep the trust on. Thats their problem, not mine. I will continue to be the best person I can be. I will not pull the shutters down this time.

I have faith on you Lord. Your ways of giving pain has a inner teaching to it. After all, some lessons are best learnt through PAIN. All through these 6 months, I learnt one awesome lesson - I am a GOOD person. No matter what people say, even if that person was the one most valuable to you.

Keep your chin yup Shaan. And dont you pull the shutter down again. Live live in the best way you can. Be the best person for the people around you.

Why God?

Things change so much in this freak show called life. Ideals, beliefs, trusts, friendship.. does any one of these words hold any true meaning in the context of today? Why do religious books ask you to always speak truth? Why do parents teach their children to be honest? Why do the teachers in school tell u that come what may, never loose faith on God, treat people gently, care for them, value your friendship. Does any one in this world care even a hoot for any one? Do they really care for any one? Or is it just some chemical reaction that goes inside in your brain that is triggered when you feel attracted, excited to meet a person - some thing that dies away along with the excitation. What are we humans living for God? And why did you unearth the emotional side of me, after almost a decade.. only to insult it, hurt it and ridicule it again. Why does it keep on happening to me, again and again, again and again, again and again. What bloody wrong did I do in my last birth.. whose price I just keep on paying through out this sad, sick life of mine. Why did you make me born? And why can't you just end it? I wish I was in Taj or Oberoi this weekend. Am too coward to take my own life.. An external intervention was all that I needed.

With a lot of hope I started this blog, some times last year. After long years of struggle with the mind, long years of chasing the dreams, long years of hard work I was reaching a state of mind where I was finally ready to face the world with a big heart and make friends - some thing that I always ran away from since childhood. In fact I even made a great friend in college. It was as if You who was telling me - come child, your punishment is finally over, you can start living a normal life from now on. And I was so happy! For the first time I felt that with the advent of a new year, I will start life afresh, meet new people, make friends and live a happy normal life.. full of friends who I care about and who do care for me. Never had the love and warmth of a Grandpa, never knew how it feels to be loved by uncles and aunties, had no siblings either.. Thankfully I had a loving and caring parents around.. and that was about it.. it was all I had. As a child a human being needs all these to grow up normally.. u almost gave me one.. but then took her away right away in school.. Why God?

Why this complete void of love, care, trust and belief you want to create around me God? I seldom complain to you about anything. I last complained to you when I was going through the intense pain in Barasat. My parents were not happy. I was reeling in the intense pain that started on my eyes and kept on piercing my skull. Why do I have to go through all these? Why me? Why only my family? I never ask for symathy from any one accept you.. Are you too busy to ever hear a single cry from my side? If my life was programmed to be so lonely, so much without any love and care and happiness, you could have atleast kept me a heartless human being. You really did not have to unleash all the punishment in a single life you know.. it hurts.. am tired of going through all this pain. Did I not do any good deeds in my entire life?

Or was all the good deeds I did accountable for only the five months of happiness I went through since june?? Dont I deserve any happiness God? Am I that bad a person? Never cursed a single line to the person who broke a green heart of mine in teenage days.. never conspired against any one.. and I really do not remember that that I had intentionally hurt any person just for the sake of it.. So why God? Why cant I deserve a little faith? A little trust? Why do you teach us to speak our hearts, accept our mistakes? The world does not trust any one God.. Its full of so many bad people that they just wont believe anyone. Amidst the bad people, the ones that really want to good are misunderstood, and assaulted, and humiliated and punished. You should come here sometimes God.. I think you will feel that there is a need to edit your preaching.

Why me? Why again? What wrong did I do to deserve this? I never did hide any thing from my friend, whatever I felt in my heart, good or bad, I always disclosed to my friend. I trusted my fiend's faith on me. I never wanted to lie to her. Friendship can not be based on any lies. I always tried my best to abide by it. Still why God? Why did my friend not believe me. Why did you bring out my emotional side and let it get humiliated, beaten and battered to death. Where do I again gather the strengths to rise up again? What joy do you get to make me go through all of this? If I deserve so much of pain.. better end this lowly life.. That would be a just mercy.

Stop, stare, wonder why you are here but not there..

The wonder-break is over. My little vacation with my folks is finally coming an end tonight. As I sit in the middle of the night and write this blog, all of a sudden I realise that Come tomorrow, Shaan will be back in Bangalore. Away from the wide roads with no traffic, away from the sweet smell of flowers in my garden, away from the peace ful greenary all around Kalyani, away from the compassion of my parents, away from sweet sweet buddies, back to the cold cold professional life of a software engineer. There I have my dreams to live, here I have the people I care for. Ohh how I wish both could co-exist :) First couple of days are the worst in Bangalore. It takes some time to get adjusted with the feeling of loneliness. Work slowly takes over and well.. slowly you get a grip back on your life. Who wants grips though? :)

Its been a good vacation. I take back with me a lot of sweet memories. Being a lil sick during the pujas was something I would have liked to correct if I was allowed a encore, but thats okay :) Missed a couple of buddies.. both went to vacation with their families during the pujas. Never understood why people want to go for a vacation right during the Pujas. This is the time of the year for us bengalis after all! Anyways, I caught up with one yesterday, finally. Really miss this guy in Bangalore. We shared so much in the last six years, took each others advice (mostly craps :P) so many times, put each other into trouble so many times in all these times :P, that it just feels a little odd not to have him around in Bangalore. There are some things that you would not even share with your parents, but you will share with him. Just talking with buddies like him makes life so much more comfortable. Things all of a sudden does not feel so bad. Iguess thats why they are called best friends :) 

I must admit, looking vack into my life I dont see tons of happiness, tons of sweet sweet moments. But this vacation I had my share with a few. I meet a person for the first time this Puja, with whom I have shared my passions, life, ambitions for last 4 months. Sounds crazzy right? :) 

We dreamt out loud together, we put smiles onto each others face, sometimes we even faught :) but we meet for the first time this Pujas. Yaah sounds crazzy alright :) Gosh is crazzy so good? Why the heck then people try to be so normal then? :) 

Sometimes in life you meet people who change the way you look into your life. I have meet a few in my student life, in professional life. After a long time I met such a person as my friend. In today's self centered world, a world where people only care about their own good, own desires, it was a real eye opener to meet some one who gives so much of importance to the desires, dreams of people who she cares about. The extent to which she does it irks me sometimes though, but then you have to admire what is good and rare, Thanks a lot for being here, mam :) To some extent you make me want to believe in people again. It was a real eye opener to see the genuinity in you. The passion with which you care for people around you was really something to be moved. I only wish you cared a little more about yourself (I dont mean your dress collections and pimples, I know you do care for them a lots!), your right to be happy.. really HAPPY. I am sure you will be having all that you deserve in life. Knowing you was a pleasure, Our hang outs rocked! I lived my dream in these few days I guess. Thanks so much for the memories, for the sweet cards, for that ppt, for that memento.. thanks for everything :) Lookin forward to meeting you again, soon! May God always put a smile on your face.

Hmmmmm so what do I have waiting for me in Bangalore? Tricky question. I dearly wish I have a peaceful roomies. It really hurts to see people fighting around. I am looking forward to moving out on my own. But then, thats at least 6 months away. I really look forward to my joining in Kyocera. Really charged up to start working in LTE. Then there is a small desire to join Teach India, They have opened a club in Jayanagar. Pretty close to my place. Am sure I will able to give back something to the society. I was not good enough to lead India, may be I can do my bits in teaching India. Then there is a plan to join the gym at koramangala. I am not playin much cricket these days.. so better get busy with this. Ohh yes, I almost forgot.. I need a haircut! :P Got a lot of rebukes from all lately with the current locks (some people will never understand a fashion statement).. Hehe :P

So this is it then folks! Next blog will be from Bangalore.

So many things to say 

so many words to spell

the way you make me feel

I want my heart to tell

No place to run and hide

don't you know....

That I've been strong enough for loneliness

I'm holding back the best 

Love will never lie

even when your gone

I will be right here 

waiting ‘till we belong

Love will never lie

I stole your rights to cry

I will be right here

waiting ‘till we belong

It's good to know

the words to say

without losing faith

I know that it's coming thru

maybe it's a break for you 

Love will never lie

I stole your rights to cry

I will be right here

waiting ‘till we belong

Dial H for H.O.M.E

Well folks, this post is from the cool and comfortable ambience of my home at Kalyani. A nice get away from the recent troubles in Blore. The continuous awkwardness of coming to a cube which will not be mine come Oct 22nd, the sick feeling of not willing to contributing to new assignments, the lack of  "kick-at-work", and to add to that, the quarrels at the flat amongst other rommies was getting a little to much to handle. So when Oct 1st arrived, I was thrilled to bits, literally.

This was the first time I was boarding the plane from BIAL airport. Apparently it was around 40 odd kms away from my office at ITPL. Ouch.. it takes one and half hours to cover 26 km from my home to ITPL. I need at least two and half hours here - I told myself. The plane was at 8pm. I left my office at around 2:30. BMTC has introduced these cool Volvo shuttles from all over the town to BIAL. The nearest boarding stop from ITPL was Kadugodi bus stop. I had decided to catch the 3 pm shuttle. Come to think of it, I leave my home around three and half hour prior to the departure time in Bengal. Here, I was leaving five hours before! Crazzy :)

Anyways, the journey was quite nice from ITPL to BIAL. It was a two hour journey. Spent a good one hour of it chirping with Pri.She Kept pulling my leg and eating my head :-P 

I reached BIAL at around 5:20 in the afternoon. The last 20 odd km was through what one would say a classic example of Great India Highways. I have always had a great fascination for them. There is a great adrenalin rush when you speed through a six-lane highway at nearly 100kmph. Should have taken some snaps. But I guess I was too enthralled by the experience.

I was very sceptical about the fact that Blore airport was shifting from HAL to BIAL. Okkay we need a higher capacity, more efficient Airport, but for God's sake, 50kms away from main city is insane!. But my first experience was quite pleasant actually. If BMTC can maintain this high standard of Volvo Shuttles, then the distance is worth it. The entire Airport complex was really impressive. HUUUUUUUUUUGE structure, ample breathing space (no more suffocating feeling one would associate with HAL or DumDum Airport, clean toilets, nice workers. Food was costly though. Also, apparently one can use the airport wify facilty free for one hour, we could not. One had to send a txt message to get a passcode. The txt message was sent, but no reply came :). Good old Tata Indicaomm VData card had to be used.

Jet Lite flight took off at 8:30 pm. It reached Kolkata before the scheduled time though. I was looking for my baggage at 10:50 pm. 

The first few hours is always a little uneasy for me at kolkata. The same thing happens of course when I reach Blore. You need to get used to the high humidity levels. You are suddenly amongst the two most important persons in your life - your parents. You get that over-the-moon feeling, next moment you get reminded that this is merely going to last for a couple of weeks. And then you tell yourself, what the heck, lets LIVE these couple of weeks at least :)

I was sleeping for most of the next day. Sometimes I would wake up, only to see it was raining.. no wait it was POURING..!! :) Goshhh, I miss these thunderstormy rains in Blore. There is no thunderstorm out there! The garden in front of my house looked so beautiful.. :) Boy! Do I love Green :)

Google Phone Unveiled

Alright folks, finally HTC's GPhone photos have been leaked into the internet. Yesterday T-Mobile unveiled G1 at New York. Dont expect the jaws to drop off by the looks. HTC was never known to make people lick lips with the appearance or form factor. G1 is not an exception. It resembles a lot with T-Mobile's Sidekick. Especially when you take into consideration the how it slides and the jogball.

The QWERTY keyboard looks pretty nice. The processor for this device is provided by Qualcomm - the rumor has it that its a 528 MHz processor. Add to it 128 mb of internal RAM and 256MB Internal ROM, I think we are talking about quite a powerful toy here..!! The camera apparently does not have any flash though. Also, the device comes up with only 1 GB of internal memory - tough to digest this.

The Google contribution to this phone (apart from the Android OS, of course) are some nifty apps. I google maps with street view, "shopsavvy" (allows you to to use the camera as a price tag scanner) is pretty cool. The touch screen(3 inches wide) is getting good feedbacks on the blogosphere. 

T-Mobile will release the G1 in the U.K. in early November and other European markets in the first quarter next year.

Difference between Boys and Girls..

                                                       

I can here some one reading this and going GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR  :))

A beautiful write up by Vir Sanghvi (Editorial Director of Hindustan Times) On Durga Puja`

What 'Pujo' means to a Bengali

Most modern Indian cities strive to rise above ethnicity. Tell anybody who lives in Bombay that he lives in a Maharashtrian city and (unless of course, you are speaking to Bal Thackeray) he will take immediate offence. We are cosmopolitan, he will say indigenously.

Tell a Delhiwalla that his is a Punjabi city (which, in many ways, it

is) and

he will respond with much self-righteous nonsense about being the nation's capital, about the international composition of the city's elite etc.

And tell a Bangalorean that he lives in a Kannadiga city and you'll get lots of techno-gaff about the internet revolution and about how Bangalore is even more cosmopolitan than Bombay.

But, the only way to understand what Calcutta is about is recognize that the city is essentially Bengali. What's more, no Bengali minds you saying that.

Rather, he is proud of the fact.

Calcutta's strengths and weaknesses mirror those of the Bengali character.

It has the drawbacks: the sudden passions, the cheerful chaos, the utter contempt for mere commerce, the fiery response to the smallest provocation. And it has the strengths (actually, I think of the drawbacks as strengths in their own way). Calcutta embodies the Bengali love of culture; the triumph of intellectualism over greed; the complete transparency of all emotions, the disdain with which hypocrisy and insincerity are treated; the warmth of genuine humanity; and the supremacy of emotion over all other aspects of human existence.

That's why Calcutta is not for everyone.

You want your cities clean and green; stick to Delhi. You want your cities, rich and impersonal; go to Bombay. You want them high-tech and full of draught beer; Bangalore's your place. But if you want a city with a soul: come to Calcutta.

When I look back on the years I've spent in Calcutta - and I come back so many times each year that I often feel I've never been away - I don't remember the things that people remember about cities.

When I think of London, I think of the vast open spaces of Hyde Park.

When I think of NewYork, I think of the frenzy of Times Square.

   When I think of Tokyo, I think of the bright lights of Shinjiku.

   And when I think of Paris, I think of the Champs Elysee.

But when I think of Calcutta, I never think of any one place. I don't focus on the greenery of the maidan, the beauty of the Victoria Memorial, the bustle of Burra Bazar or the splendour of the new Howrah Bridge.

I think of people. Because, finally, a city is more than bricks and mortars, street lights and tarred roads. A city is the sum of its people. And who can ever forget or replicate - the people of Calcutta?

When I first came to live here, I was told that the city would grow on me. What nobody told me was that the city would change my life. It was in Calcutta that I learnt about true warmth; about simple human decency; about love and friendship; about emotions and caring; about truth and honesty. I learnt other things too. Coming from Bombay as I did, it was a revelation to live in a city where people judged each other on the things that really mattered; where they recognized that being rich did not make you a better person - in fact, it might have the opposite effect. I learnt also that if life is about more than just money, it is about the things that other cities ignore; about culture, about ideas, about art, and about passion.

In Bombay, a man with a relatively low income will salt some of it away for the day when he gets a stock market tip. In Calcutta, a man with exactly the same income will not know the difference between a debenture and a dividend.

But he

will spend his money on the things that matter. Each morning, he will read at least two newspapers and develop sharply etched views on the state of the world.

Each evening, there will be fresh (ideally, fresh-water or river) fish on his table. His children will be encouraged to learn to dance or sing. His family will appreciate the power of poetry And for him, religion and culture will be in inextricably bound together.

Ah religion! Tell outsiders about the importance of Puja in Calcutta and they'll scoff. Don't be silly, they'll say. Puja is a religious festival. And Bengal has voted for the CPM since 1977. How can godless Bengal be so hung up on a religions festival? I never know how to explain them that to a Bengali, religion consists of much more than shouting Jai Shri Ram or pulling down somebody's mosque. It has little to do with meaningless ritual or sinister political activity.

The essence of Puja is that all the passions of Bengal converge:

emotion,

culture, the love of life, the warmth of being together, the joy of celebration, the pride in artistic expression and yes, the cult of the goddess. It may be about religion. But is about much more than just worship. In which other part of India would small, not particularly well-off localities, vie with each other to produce the best pandals? Where else could puja pandals go beyond religion to draw inspiration from everything else? In the years I lived in Calcutta, the pandals featured Amitabh Bachchan, Princess Diana and even Saddam Hussain! Where else would children cry with the sheer emotional power of Dashami, upset that the Goddess had left their homes? Where else would the whole city gooseflesh when the dhakis first begin to beat their drums? Which other Indian festival - in any part of the country - is so much about food, about going from one roadside stall to another, following your nose as it trails the smells of cooking?

To understand Puja, you must understand Calcutta. And to understand Calcutta, you must understand the Bengali. It's not easy. Certainly, you can't do it till you come and live here, till you let Calcutta suffuse your being, invade your bloodstream and steal your soul. But once you have, you'll love Calcutta forever.

Wherever you go, a bit of Calcutta will go with you. I know, because it's happened to me. And every Puja, I am overcome by the magic of Bengal.

It's a feeling that'll never go away.

"Aamar vitor o bahire

ontore, ontore,

Aachho tumi hridoy jure.............................."

A Time to let go.. a time to hold on

Ahh here I am, my first (and going by the looks of it, last too) post of Aug08. Its proving to be quite a month. India is having the time of its life at the Olympics. One Gold, two bronze, phew.. finally the medal count exceeds ONE. Going by the looks of it, we may still fails to make the cut in top 50. However, hopefully this is a start for things to change in forward direction.

Bengal is going in reverse directions btw. As usual. Mistakes of 1980s are getting repeated again. Then we drove off IBM. Now its TATA. I guess some people will never see the bigger picture. Petty politics at its ugliest best. 

Iphone got release in Blore last nite. Airtel reports 300 sales on 1st day.. Vodafone 15. Reality check here. In China and Japan the numbers were in thousands. I guess 31K for iPhone is one the most ridiculous pricing of recent times. In US its just 200$. 

I guess you must be wondering whats on with the heading of this post? No one holding/letting go anything.. :-) I have finally decided to let go of wipro folks. The decision took some time coming. Last three-four months was a kind of eye opener for me. There were things that desperately needed to be changes inside out. But me, being a mere SW Engg was in no position to make that happen. Call from Kyocera came. I did not think twice about grabbing it. Raksheshji told me once.. learn from your failures and never repeat them. Last six months at wipro was more of a failure for me personally. Only lesson I take from this phase is never to make the same mistake as I saw being made, when I am in their position. I could not be more vague isnt it :-) Trust me.. I can not be more specific on this.

Anyways, only thing I am lookin for is to join Kyo asap. LTE beckons there. Cant hardly wait to start the chase again :) I just wish I could have left my first job on a happier note. But then again,  goodbyes are seldom happy.

As for holding on is concerned, today am holding onto something for 2 months :-) Good news is, hands are not yet paining (touch wood). Hopefully the journey continues !!

Aaah.. Shaan is back :)

No posts for the last couple of weeks. The stimuli were there to tell here, but there was no time to react :) And, uh.. there was a little seclusion from my side as well I must admit. 

Last couple of weeks I was in a step-back mode. You know, there are times when whatever you do tends to bizarrely wrong and all. In such situations I usually stop doing stuffs. If you are doing nothing, nothing can go wrong right? :P 

Actually I was in a lot of mess. There were all sort of confusions and doubts in personal life. I guess I have shared some of those stuffs in my last few posts. To get away from them I was putting more efforts in work. Which in turn was getting uglier by day. All it did was to leave a bad taste in the mouth. 

Thankfully like always Life itself took care of its own problems. Loosing friends has always been a toughie for me. It always manages to make me sad. And to add to that, I was feeling scared to loose one more of my sweet friend soon :( Like always.. it made me act like a FOOL. I managed to write one of the sickest mails to her sayin I am dropping this thing. Gosh.. that was soooooooo soooooooo childish. 

Thankfully things dint fall apart big time. Thankfully she understood why I wrote it. Coming to think of it now.. I always keep telling her to keep chasing dreams.. never to shy away from hoping for good blah blah.. and it was I who screwed up :P Hmm anyways.. mistakes should not be repeated. It wont be :)

Got a new roomie. Good ol Den2. Lasting image of him that I have from my hostel days is of him running and screaming like crazzy from College to Hostel after getting selected in IBM :) Another nerd. Another TOTAL SANS_ATTITUDE guy. Veryyyyyyyy talkative. I love talkative folks :) Helps me unwind :) Last night he was giving me lectures on Time Machine. He said it is possible coz of so and so laws which he read in Hawkin's lectures. I managed to piss him off :) He tried to get me interested in Cricket 2007 also. I pissed him off again :) Hey I dont do computer Games! I just dont get hooked to it :P

Ohh and by the way, I had a hair cut after 6 months and shaved after 2 weeks. Trust me.. I dint recognize myself after I woke up from the nap in saloon. I was a little annoyed at first. I trusted the miserable barber too much and dozed off w/o supervising what he was doing with my hair. He over-cut it :( But then.. it feels a little light upstairs with the little lesser load of hairs. So, I guess its okay :)

Last couple of weeks managed to produce the deliverables on time too. Well one was delayed by one day. But that was not our fault. Freaky terrorists decided to start the bombings again and so we had to leave early. Anyway job was done on Monday. Had ISO audit today. The interviewer was sick :( I always hated these interrogative guys - be it police, inspectors, interviewers and now the Audit guys :( Anyways.. looks like we managed to pull off the show this time around as well.

So there it is.. things have managed to auto correct themselves. Life is almost on the balance again. Touch wood. I hate disturbances. I hate screwing up. Especially when it comes to her and to my work.. 

Till next time..

Apple iPhone is coming in India. 2Buy or !2Buy?

Important facts about the Apple iPhone. Look before you leap folks! Came across these facts recently..

No video calling,

no AD2P on the Bluetooth,

CAN'T share ANY (mp3, images,videos....) files via bluetooth, 

can't use as a wireless modem, (you pay ridiculous data charges to activate Internet on your phone, but cannot connect it to your PC and browse when you are at home) 

no copy and paste,(cannot copy a part of a.... say.... email & send it....have to type it out yourself)

no 3.2 or 5 megapixel camera,(the 2MP camera it carries is worst camera I've ever seen..... photos look like they have come out of a VGA camera) 

no video recording with camera,

no front camera,

no flash.

no JAVA support

No physical keyboard (BELIEVE me! this alone is a deal breaker...touch keyboard as good as it looks...once you use it then only you come to know about the importance of having a hard keypad)

No 3G network yet in India..so why pay for expensive 3G phone if you cant use its 3G services ... so, for India, iPhone 2.0 is no better than its first version

No removable battery. (You cannot change battery. Have to send it to apple outlet.. Come on now!!!!...This is not an iPod. Its a bloody phone. You cannot live without phone for 2-3 days) 

No haptic feedback and

cannot send MMS,

can't use as external storage device (16 GB of utter waste..next time you go to your friend's house & find some interesting songs, movies, etc...sorry you cannot connect your '16 GB' phone and share it!!!! Apple apparently has a solution.. " BUY MUSIC & MOVIES FROM iTUNES STORE "..... Give me a break will you APPLE!!!)

no FM radio,

can't use your mp3 files as ringtones,(This is heights man!!!) 

cannot insert any other SIM card….

completely tied to iTunes... Connect to your friend's iTunes & you risk erasing everything on your phone.

Its good for american market (who have no idea what mobile freedom/choice is) which is in stone age compared to asian/european markets. When they want to buy a phone, they have to go to network operators and buy only those phones that are available on that network. & stick to that company till their contract expires. You want to change carriers? Not before paying damages, & buying another phone on the other network again. 

On the contrary, we in India have so much freedom. We go to handset shops & buy which ever phone we like. Then go to carriers.. checkout the plans & buy SIM.. Dont like the plan or rival carrier came up with a better plan???? EASY .. just remove & replace the SIM. 

Apple are trying to IMPOSE THEIR MODEL ON US riding on the hype iPhone has created in the US (yes it was a flop in Europe ..thats why Apple never talks about its sales in Europe).

Dont fall for the subsidized price of iPhone... CHECKOUT THE DATA PLAN ATTACHED TO ITS SIM ..they will recover the cost through ridiculous data plans. Bill might come to around Rs 2500/month.(ATLEAST AMERICANS PAY THAT MUCH)

Let me clear one thing though.. iphone is the best looking phone (its touch interface is nothing like you have ever seen ), & best browsing experience out there no doubt .... (& others are fast catching up..check out the android demo at Google IO 2008).... BUT AFTER A FEW DAYS IT ALL COMES DOWN TO FUNCTIONALITY...