Deep Inside The Rabbit Hole

Winning the Lottery

2009-03-16T11:51:00.002+05:30

The Upcoming Indian Elections made me think about how I’ve won the lottery. Not in the sense of this election actually, but in how lucky I am to be born at this time. The fact is that I’m incredibly lucky to be born into a country that has been and probably (I say probably) will always enjoy long stretches of peace. I imagine that this current generation is the luckiest generation of Indians to come along in the last 150 - 200 years.

Being born in this era means you've enjoyed virtually no major wars and the country is both independent and tolerant (for the most part). While a lot of people look at the situation and say - there's communal violence, there are bad roads, bad politicians, bad infrastructure, corruption and deceit and the list goes on and on, you cannot ignore the rewards of this society

When I look at myself, I feel lucky to be born here. I've been privileged to get the very best education here. More importantly, I've been lucky enough to live in a time of relative peace and have been able to pursue my own interests. India at this time continues to be the world’s second fastest growing economy. I've been born at a time when the country has been moving up the global ladder, has reaped the benefits of opening up the economy to the world and will continue to enjoy strong domestic consumption. Having my upbringing almost entirely in Pune has allowed me to witness the rapid growth of the economy. Where once you had only maruti 800's you now don’t give a second look to Audi’s and BMW's running amok around the city. In effect I’ve luckily been at the right place to witness how a growing economy can rapidly lift the standard of living of its citizens.

India, despite its problems, allows people here to achieve riches and create value and contribute without the fear of retribution. It still is secular and more than anything continues to allow anyone who achieves greatness in their fields to achieve recognition, regardless of colour or religion. That IS the good news

Slumdog Millionaire is not a spectacular film to Indians. While it is no doubt a fantastic film, Indians are used to seeing everything it portrays. The film correctly displays to opposite side of the effects of uneven capitalism. That's the bad news. The system as it currently stands is akin to loaded dice. If you're born here, into a decent middle class family, have a decent education and work relatively hard, it actually very hard for you to end up poor in the current scenario. India's growth will carry all those "lucky" enough to have won the ovarian lottery to greater riches and a relatively stable, (economically speaking) life. (Unless of course, there’s a world war or a massive war with Pakistan). But, and this is a big but, if you're NOT born on the right side of the fence, you have to overcome massive odds to enjoy the benefits. In most cases, you will continue to stay in an economically disadvantaged position. The classic case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer will remain.

The luck that we have had in being born into the right situation is what must be acknowledged by this generation. Whether you now live in America, Australia, Britain or anywhere else, you must acknowledge that you have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to use your god-given talents to contribute and basically follow your dreams to fulfill your destiny, whatever that might be. You have a duty to the country you live in because it gives you the opportunity to be rich. We cannot escape the responsibility that privilege has given us. You cannot say that as a believer in free markets that you don’t have to worry about anything else other than your own self interest. Society has given you all the tools to enjoy yourself and you must return that favour.

Consider this situation - A man has been working in a shoe mill for 40 years of his life. He works hard and does his job diligently. Unfortunately the Chinese have jus reduced the cost of production by 90%. His company has no option but to relocate all the plants abroad. IN this situation he has no transferrable skills. He's not going to learn java and xml and change careers. Society must, in some form provide a safety net. If all this "creative destruction" (i.e. the fittest, most innovative companies winning and the others going bankrupt) benefits society, then its side effects - the displacement of workers and the associated stress- must be picked by society as well. Society must pick up the tab, if it’s going to receive the benefits.

It's not just the government that must do that, but rather individuals. If you acknowledge that you've won the lottery then you must do what you can to benefit the ones who didn’t win.

That’s creative capitalism. It's like a volcano. Those at the top who enjoy the explosion of profits and money must use it to enhance the ones who don’t get the benefit.

By all means, play to win. Follow your passion and turn it into millions if you can Make as much money as you can but remember to give it away so that you can close the gap between the haves and have not's

Remember,

"The Man who dies rich, dies disgraced." - Andrew Carnegie.

Houdini's great vanishing act

2009-01-13T13:40:00.008+05:30

It's ironic that satyam, which means truth in Sanskrit, is the scene of what is one of India’s biggest corporate scandals. While there have been many scandals before, these pale in comparison with that of satyam's.

Emerging market risks include a whole list of factors but fraud on a scale such as this is beyond these "normal”, actually expected risks. India's problem was that the private sector was smart, dynamic and most importantly honest. The government was the problem. Now we have another one. The magnitude and duration of the fraud is both stunning and deeply disturbing.

Infosys has an impeccably honest and straightforward leadership but so did satyam it seemed. The shock comes from not only the scale of the fraud (close to 7000 Cr) but from the fact that it comes out of the industry which put India on the global business map. The IT industry, while being criticized for doing back office and BPO work, has no doubt brought prosperity and opportunity to an emerging, ambitious young generation of Indians.

The fact that the industry touted it's adherence to global standards, be it in terms of governance or facilities provided to employees makes it worse. That image is now tarnished.

While I agree that it does not represent the majority of the industry (satyam's employees are hard working, honest people), the fact remains that a lot of people had to be complicit in the fraud for it to have gone on so long and been at this scale.

A few questions,

1. What was PWC doing exactly?

There is absolutely no way that they could not have known. This is further borne out by the fact that after the botched attempt to buy maytas, Merrill lynch, which was asked to look at merger opportunities cut ties with satyam after just ten days citing "irregularities in accounting". They took ten days to find out what PWC didn’t find in 7 years?

2. How can no one else inside the company know?

I can understand that some independent directors may not have known. They may not verify the balance sheet statements simply because I don't think anyone does that but raju couldn’t have these figures on hand unless someone accounted for him. It means there are many more from top management who would know. There's no way that 7000 crores can be fabricated without someone knowing.

3. Was the margin really 3 percent?

This is really difficult to believe. What's easier to believe is that he used the profit to either a) pay down existing debt which he owed to his personal creditors or b) Use it to fund other purchases like land, or some such personal reasons. It's impossible to have such low margins in the IT industry. It may happen in the future but as business is now, there’s no way it can happen. What it means is that they money that was earned by the hard work and late nights of employees was sucked dry by raju.

4. Which banks are now in on this scandal?

The scandal will spread. NO doubt about it. The money is kept in banks. If there is no money, as raju claims, the banks should know it. This isn’t a small amount. The fact is that there definitely is some cover-up at the banks themselves. Even if forged statements were shown and the banks didn’t know this, wouldn't they have seen the quarterly statements and realized it was a big lie.

The bad news

Before we say anything about the image of the IT industry being tarnished and India Inc suffering a global PR nightmare, let's focus on those affected most - the employees of satyam. Working for an IT company I can testify that most people work pretty hard and are honest in their dealings. When you work hard and you see the company expanding at a good rate and maintaining margins, you do feel proud. They will feel duped. They’re hard worked has paid off. They have impressed customers and improved service. The customers have paid the money they deserved BUT their leader has sucked it dry. They've filled the bank and raju, along with his conspirators have drained it. That must really hurt.

The worse news.

Job cuts are imminent. It's difficult for the company to burn cash now at the rate they were before because they have no money in the bank. Innocent, hard working employees will face the brunt of the impact. Even senior managers who've spent more than a decade with the company will find that they have worked and worked and have been duped. I hope that there are no job cuts but it’s difficult to imagine such a scenario.

The crazy part.

Satyam won a corporate governance award a few months ago. Wonder what that stands for now.It seems unlikely that the awards panel looks into the authenticity of the company’s statements because that's not their job, it's the auditor's. In any case, what we've come to see is that awards may mean something, but it isn’t much. Performance in the market and the bottom line is quite clearly, THE bottom line.

The good news.

I have noticed on many message boards that satyam's employees are defiant and ready. It’s incredible to see a satyamite say - “We will script the biggest comeback in Indian business history". They realize that they're company is honest, just not the leaders. Can the turnaround happen? Probably. The company makes money. It's not a loss making business. Once the dust settles and the company starts smaller it can still come back. The short term need for cash and more importantly a strong vision is the main concern. A merger may also be an option but it looks unlikely.

Where do we go from here?

First things first. Find out what happened. No matter how long it takes. Make a big public spectacle of it. Let it ring loud and clear that there are massive consequences for trying to defraud the system. There have to be changes made to how authenticity of accounts and balance sheets are maintained. I admit this is pretty difficult, Business, no matter what anyone tells you, still runs on trust. We bill our customer by the hour. But the customer doesn’t verify whether every resource that billed on a particular day came to work or not. They can't. It's impossible. They have to trust us. We have to regard it as sacred and never attempt to breach that trust.

A little hope.

Warren buffett says - 'it's only when the tide goes out that you see who's been swimming naked'. Well the global financial crisis has taken its toll. Wall Street has been exposed for what it is and now companies that cashed in when the going was good, now face the consequences of all their bets going bad at the same time. A perfect storm if you will.

What we're now seeing is a cleansing of the global business digestive system. A detoxification. Capitalism has brought benefits, but like the saying goes - "anything worth working hard for is worth stealing". People will steal. Eventually though the tide reverses.

In the end, the tortoise does beat the rabbit. SAFE and steady wins the race.

And so they failed Capitalism

2008-10-29T00:14:00.007+05:30

The recent financial turmoil that has caught the world's attention has brought with it a big debate about the death of capitalism. With the U.S and U.K taking major equity stakes in a majority of banks many have questioned whether this signals the end of laissez-faire capitalism. The reluctance of Henry paulson and George Bush to nationalise the banks was because they believed in the idea of "free markets" as it were. It is generally accepted that the government cannot regulate markets any better than the market participants (acting in their own self interest). Alan Greenspan, who is a big believer in free markets (having spent time with Ayn Rand) admitted that he had misjudged the potentially disastrous situation that would occur if the markets were left unregulated.

While I've read Ayn rand's books and certainly subscribe to part of her philosophy, i feel that the no holds barred laissez faire capitalism that she has supported would never really work.Working in your own self interest may certainly be the best thing for everybody but it leaves out one thing. Integrity. Self interest is totally skewed when integrity is taken out of it. When you're self interest is to make money no matter how much somebody else may lose then its not in everybody's self interest. It's also known by another word.Greed. Unfortunately that's what became of wall street at the end of 2007.

If i put a revolver containing only one bullet to your head and say ," If you pull the trigger I'll give you a million dollars" would you do it? While 80% of the time you'll get 1 million dollars you know that when you get it wrong, you'll get a funeral. Unfortunately it's not that easy in the real world. When a bank is leveraged 30 to 1, its pretty easy to see the bullet in the chamber but there are many reasons that could be given as to why this may be your lucky day. The biggest one being record company profits, which is what the banks were making. It's pretty hard to argue against record corporate profits. But eventually they got the silver bullet.

One more reason i believe that markets without regulation wouldn't work is perception. Greed is not the only reason for the fiasco. Usually humans first perceive a problem , then decide best course and then finally take action. I believe that there definitely is now a problem of perception. You may not act in your own "best" interests because you may not be able to perceive the risks. Most of the industry couldn't perceive the risk and so we chartered into incredibly risky waters. We couldn't see the storm so we couldn't take action. Credit default swaps(CDS) are supposed to insure you against the risk of default by a company. INSURE. Sound's safe doesnt it?Unfortunately it isn't. You may not be able to perceive the risk that comes with a $62 trillion UNSUPERVISED market. Too many counterparties chasing the same thing. Sometimes we need to be protected from ourselves and i suppose that's what we'll see now.

So does it mean the end of capitalism as in the old days? Yes. But risk tasking is a requisite for progress.Just because countries go to war does not mean democracy has failed. In the financial markets, getting 7% return instead of 6% is not worth it if getting that 7% could also mean biting the bullet.I suspect we haven't seen the end of it but a much more risk averse culture will rise from these ashes and capitalism will continue to create fantastic progress. That is, if we don't manage to break the banks in the process.

Growth in adversity and Angels in disguise

2008-08-08T23:12:00.005+05:30

It's hard to change. Yeah i know there are lots and lots of books you could read that tell you how to change. But it takes an adverse circumstance to make you change. In my case it was both adverse and blissful, or to put it more succinctly, adverse and blissful by turns. And,Oh yeah, God does bless you. When i talk about blessings, i talk about people. They come into your life and change it forever. They love you so much they force you to change. They'll scream and shout and love so loud only because they're fully invested. I realize that now.

I realize i need someone to tell me where i'm missing out. We all need someone who loves unconditionally but doesn't mince words when giving suggestions. We all need that someone special. Over the course of the last year have learned about so many of my shortcomings. People can be who they are forever, but they don't realize that they're missing out.They don't realize that they need that someone to force them to grow and live life in a higher plane. I've needed that for so long and now there is someone who helps me with that.

Over the last one year, I've learned that there is an alternative way to view things, and that this way can bring more happiness. I've learned that yeah, people do differ and that maybe i can learn from someone special. I've learned that there always is a way to do things if you're interested enough. I've learned that compassion is a requisite of a good character. I've learned that "logic" is not always the best way. Logic is sometimes convenient. "Illogical" sometimes means a more happiness. I've learned that going out of your way to do things IS the way to do things.I've seen how happy it makes someone, and how happy it makes me to make a difference, even if it's for a second.

When it comes to solving a math problem, the straight way is the right way. When it comes to life's problems, that way is convenient but it does not get you the most happiness.There is a better, more satisfying way to do things.It takes someone special to show you this. I've been blessed to have been in heated arguments that finally left me realizing that i was not all i thought i was cracked up to be. That there are flaws. That i need to fix them. It takes someone who really cares about you to make that effort. I believe now more than ever that an easy life is not the way. That in an life's exam we need to get 85. I've been shown that we have to expect it. There is no other way.

So i want to dedicate this to that special person in my life who's shown me this.Forced me to change and bettered me. Dedicated to Someone special

Brilliant!

2008-08-03T02:01:00.003+05:30

It's been so long since i wrote a proper post. A lot has happened since then. I've given a major exam and done well in it. Given myself a chance for something good.There have been few things to write about over the past few months but recently i watched a movie which made me want to write again.

First a disclaimer. I love Batman. I always have and i always will. Throughout it's 80 year history it has been one superb comic book franchise. Ever since I've read it as a kid I've loved it. Though i haven't really read all the episodes i hope that someday I'll cover them all. When i first watched memento i really loved it. When i came to know that the director of memento, Christopher Nolan would helm the effort to reboot the batman franchise i was thrilled. I saw Batman Begins and i was truly satisfied. It was dark and realistic and focused solely on the basics that make the batman comic series so gritty and enjoyable. I've waited 3 years for the dark knight to release and have followed the brilliant viral marketing campaign since it came out. So when i read the reviews for the movie my expectations became sky high.Overwhelmingly positive reviews have fuelled my expectations. And then i saw it.

It is brilliant. I don't want to go into a state of hyperbole but the movie really is awesome. Having taken care of the origins of batman, Nolan dives straight into the plot from the start. The movie is relentless in that there's way too much going on the figure it all out in one sitting. The actions scenes are great with you really feeling it's intensity. The plot is good and the pacing is spot on. Even at two and a half hours long you feel like they've actually left something out just to fit the movie into that much time. Christian Bale is the definitive batman. He plays it with an intensity that the caped crusader has not had before.

The movie undoubtedly belongs to one man. The Joker. The iconic clown prince of crime could not have got a better on screen portrayal than the one the late heath ledger has given him. He's scary, insane and brilliant.The movie starts with batman getting the upper hand over criminals but from the second the joker shows up you really feel like things are out of control. For the first time in a long time I've felt like the villain could win. That even he loses he gonna cause so much damage going down that the hero never wins. The joker is incredibly dark but not brooding. With some incredible lines. "Wanna see a magic trick?" , he really forces you to pay attention. The performance is riveting.
Harvey Dent's character is the emotional meat of the story. The joker doesn't give an emotional arc to the film. Harvey dent and his tragic story arc tie together the emotional backbone of the movie.

The end is awesome. Almost all the batman comics end with the hero in a worse place than when he started. The movie stays true to that.
All in all, its an unforgettable movie.

Don't worry about a thing my friend.
Why so serious?
Let's put a smile on that face :)

Viva La Vida

2008-06-21T23:53:00.001+05:30

Personally i like this album, quite a bit. Coldplay, while changing their signature style, have maintained some of the stadium rock that has made them famous, and enjoyable to listen to.

Champions Of europe!!!!

2008-06-21T23:47:00.000+05:30

2008-04-14T12:49:00.003+05:30

There are times when you do someone wrong and you make it worse. Recently i did something in that vein to a person i profoundly respect.As a rule i never really blog about incidents in my personal life i feel this event on my part was big enough to warrant me to discard that rule. Something happened which was in my control and yet i let it happen and for that i apologise. Something i did hurt someone when it should never have happened. So today i want to say that i've changed because of it. And i wanna say that i'll never do that mistake again. So i'm sorry.

Life is calling. Where are you?

2008-02-03T18:29:00.000+05:30

Recently i was sitting with a close friend of mine and we were wondering at how funny and ironic it was that we were 800 km away from home and we're sitting and doing the same thing we usually do when we're home. We realised that we were enjoying ourselves much the same as we do when we're home

I don't know who said it but it's true - "Human beings can adapt to almost any situation that presents itself'. Looking at me and my friend enjoying ourselves and pondering on the current paths most of my friends are taking i realized that it's totally true. We used to wonder how we'll ever survive out there once we got out of college but the fact is that once you get into a position you just find a way to make it work.With all my friends it's all the same. Getting out of college we've all been put into situations where we've gone away from home and challenged our beliefs, accepted new cultures and types of people and watched each other adapt to it all.There's no other way.

Until we got out of college your basic goal was to score as high as you can in the next exam and try to do it with as little studying as you could but once we've gotten outta college we've all been put into different places and worked with people different to us. A friend once told me that she was really worried about staying away from home as she had never done it before. I told her not to worry, that whatever challenges she faced she would find a way to survive. She asked me how i knew that for sure and i said that when you HAVE to find a way, you will find one and she has and is having fun chasing her dream.

Human beings adapt, or they shrivel and die. Thats the fact and most people really don't appreciate what an enormous power that is. People tend to tell me that this is who they are and that can't do something . And i wonder why they worry so much because if you absolutely had to do that then ofcourse you would. On the other end of the spectrum there are people who say that they can't sit still in a room and always have to be out and about. I feel like telling them to keep going and drawing lines and boundaries on their character so that they'll never venture beyond those silly assumptions.Sad.

Companies already inherently understand that they better adapt. If they keep running based on their assumptions of what they are then they end up taking those assumptions to the grave. Adapt or die simply means that either shatter your assumptions of yourself jump off the cliff and soar or simply wait to get pushed off and plummet.

So many of my friends have gone abroad and adapted to life there, accepted the cultures and way of living and found a way to handle it. They have no prior experience of living abroad and i'm sure it must have been a bit daunting to consider but the fact is that when you have to , you will.
Some people go through traumatic and heart wrenching breakups, a time when you wonder why everything goes to hell so easily and whether it's all worth it.The fact is that life has changed and has shattered and most people inherently adapt and spit fire and cry blood but they find a way to get back on their feet and dust off the dirt and start again.
I hope most people (me included) check their assumptions of themselves once in a while and consider really whether any of those matter so much. What i found is that if you have a purpose about you and a something your chasing then what life throws at you and where it puts you and what it asks of you isn't so difficult to handle .

Year in Review and Looking forward

2008-01-01T11:01:00.000+05:30

Happy new Year everyone!!

2007 is over and it's been a really eventful year.

Overall I've been very happy with what has transpired this past year.

It wasn't a great year but one event overshadowed all the rest and made it a really good one

A new year gives us all the opportunity to make a new start and more importantly to give us a chance to undo the past.

This year more than other is a year of focus and silent determination for me.Last year even though i faltered in most aspects of what i wanted to achieve i had the massive good fortune of sorting out my personal life.

So this year i have only one resolution

1. Don't repeat the mistakes of the past.

I know all the mistakes I've made in the past and how much it has cost me in terms of the future. At present there is no loss from those mistakes but I've realised that real loss lies in terms of the losses in the potential future that lies before you.

Don't do the same things again this year. If i can manage that, i know that i may not achieve what my final goals are but I'll definitely be on the right road and that, more now so than ever, is what matters

Here's Wishing you all a purposeful 2008

God Bless

Rohan

2007-11-04T11:07:00.000+05:30

Love isn't Blind, it just needs glasses.
The ups and downs, the rights and wrongs,
The Gut wrenching lows followed by the euphoric highs,
Love is Love for all it's reasons
The One thats really makes it stick,
Is that end, after all that's said and done
It's all worth it.

Crawl.Walk.Run.Fly.Crash.

2007-09-17T23:58:00.000+05:30

Are you tired? Stressed and stretched ? I didn't realise that everyone has managed to catch this very same boat. Fatigue is simply the no 1 reason why people feel so damn pissed with life.24 Hours are just not enough anymore are they? You have to be superhuman, and basically in six places at the same time. Better give it everything at work so that you don't get a reputation of a slacker. Just remember to get off work early enough so that you can go and meet your friends for dinner before you go off to party with some OTHER friends. Just remember to be everything to everyone. Just remember to forget about what you really want.

One of the reasons we're so tired is that we absolutely HAVE to have an opinion about everyone. I'm starting to realise how much of a strain this ends up being. Try to recognise a situation when you sit at the food court. You see many of the same faces everyday. Every time you see someone you make a thousand perceptions? Is he/she better looking. is he/she a good dresser, is he/she noticing me, and if so am i happy about that?. Now think of the strain when you do it for 200 people EVERYDAY.

Competition is something that really tires you out. Everyone knows that. The problem of competition isn't as simple as it seems but it has an underlying Genesis in the generation of "will". This generation has been taught you can achieve anything if you try hard enough. "Will" has replaced "faith" which was the buzzword of the last generation. The whole problem with "will" is that it makes a mockery of your intelligence and your emotions. Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't try hard enough but the problem is that when your told you can achieve anything you want like this your likely to try so hard that you can never rest peacefully.You work harder and harder and harder because your "will" will win in the end. It's something like this. Take your axe. Spend every second of your life sharpening the hell out of it and then keep chopping off trees.
At the end of all the hacking and chopping you'll realise that your in the WRONG forest. So what's happening is that you have all this super-intensive daily routines which are meant to achieve all your goals. Ill give you a perfect example of this super intensiveness : Work hard, Party harder. The know-it all , do-it all generation. Competition creates a sense of urgency , a feeling that makes you tense every second of the day when your not working. Your muscles are tense and your Will is so strong that your trying to achieve it all at whatever the cost. Fortunately our bodies and minds are not meant to function that way. That's why you can't keep to so many time tables. Eventually you fall off the competition bandwagon. The problem is that people start feeling worse because EVERYONE else is WINNING. So your losing. Win or Lose.This produces frayed nerves, intense will , broken dreams and shattered happiness. This is the religion of success that everyone follows now.Basically this religion demands that half way down the birth canal you better put on your Nike shoes and your Ipod and get ready to RUN.As fast you can, even if you don't know where your going.
So it's time to change the religion.
Use your head. Do what makes you happy and don't escape reality.

2007-08-31T23:31:00.000+05:30

Life is Beautiful. God Bless.

Breaking Point

2007-08-20T17:34:00.000+05:30

Crossroads and Certainty. That's what we all wish for. When you come to a point where a major decision you wish you had the certainty so that what you need to do is so clear that's it's not really even a choice.We've all come to these points quite a few times in the recent past. In college the cushion of security allows us to not worry about ourselves and just enjoy ourselves. In the real world, and i mean the real world is not in college, your out in the open,There are no visible rules, there is very little fairness and the non-linearity is absolute. In the past year i have had major breaking points.

The beauty of a breaking point is that it's always unexpected, a point where a decision made or NOT made can have massive consequences. If you believe there are no second chances at these points, then the weight of these decisions becomes apparent to you.I find that in life, you cant go back and do things again to make them right. I wish i had realised this in college. I guess it's called experience.

Recently i watched roger federer playing in the wimbledon finals going for a record equalling 5th title.Rafael nadal was actually playing better than him and i thought he was going to beat him.I realised that for federer it was maybe the biggest breaking point so far. At the end of the 4th set, nadal had all the momentum and all the pace.If it continued then federer would lose and with it would go the chance of equalling the record and more importantly having the chance to surpass.The only man in history.This is a breaking point. If you don't do the right thing here, there's no second chance.EVER.He came through.Wrote his place in history.With the speed of life we run at, every second counts.

Unfortunately for the last one year i have seen that the significance of these points are lost to some. If you use the same thought process for these decisions as the one you use to choose your toothpaste, you'll wonder why "fate" has smacked you in the face.Quantum levels jumps in your life occur only sometimes, but when they do, there's no going back.Do u stay in a job or quit. Do u continue in a relationship despite the hurt just holding on to your faith. Do you get into one hoping it all works out?.Where do you go from here?Inside. That's where we go for help.The internal compass.That's the guide that's unique to each one of us.I think somewhere deep down each one of us realises that only we can make decisions for ourselves. We've started to realise that if you're not sure of of where to go, you're truly lost and time is running at an awesome pace and there's almost no way to go back.I'm now averse to taking advice from people because i realise that only i know truly what i want.We go inside. Breaking point to quantum leap.

The age of talk

2007-08-07T17:35:00.000+05:30

Who are the real producers in the world? Who are the ones who drive the world? Who are the individuals who are pulling all of us forward? Answer : -The one’s who work and don’t talk to much. However they’re not in ‘ fashion’ today. Oh no they aren’t what WE want anymore.
These days how you say it and who you say it to are really more important than What you’re saying. So what we have now is an age where you have a few pulling many. The age where there are more pretenders than producers.

Recently I sat in on a soft skills session at work. Soft skills are the skills that you develop so that you can communicate more EFFECTIVELY. Ironically I found that many, no, most of the people there already knew all the ‘flash’ words that you’re supposed to know. ‘Active listening’, assertiveness and all that jazz. However the real change I saw in people at the end of that session was practically zero. In what was one really funny scene, a guy who has no patience and never listens to anyone and is so hard headed and set in his ways went on to talk about active listening. After listening to the hypocrisy I observed that he promptly went on boss over everyone else and did absolutely zero ‘active listening’ and proceeded to ruin the whole exercise.

This is the feature of times we live in. We know all the words. Be open, be positive, think out of the box, I think therefore I am. Those are just a few of the lines that spew from the mouths from just everyone. In the age of Internet and non-existent information borders everyone knows everything. It’s so sad to observe that all they are are words now. Nothing else. Maybe that’s why I almost cant watch anything on TV anymore. I prefer to watch all the fiction programming than the shows which are interviews with your film and sports stars. Take the case with music. I mean at some point you have to get bored with all those rappers who think they’re the best thing since sliced bread. You have money and you have 15 girls and huge mansions. We get it. But every song is about their ‘Bling’. You DON’T have class. I like rap but I don’t like most of those rappers. Even modern rock is all about rock bands crying about how they didn’t get love from their parents and how their girlfriends cheated on them and how their god’s greatest gift to us. That’s why you gotta love the old bands like Floyd and dire straits.

Marketing is absolutely the best example of all this. All flash and cash. Marketing is so far away from reality that it can get you to dream that you can become someone who looks like brad Pitt and think like Einstein. Every ad ends with the guy using the product and getting not one , but usually two girls to like him. Fantastic. Focus on everything that will not make you good at what you do.
When you go to a mall, do you ever get the feeling that everybody looks the same now? I mean we all wear the same clothes. Because everyone is wearing what’s ‘in’ this season, ironically they ALL look the same.

Even when i read blogs you notice people using poetic language to describe some very plain vanilla incidence. So a simple post turns into some sort of Shakespearean sonnet describing everything about the weather, the stars , the trees, birds and pollution levels of the place where the incident happened. It's all so wordy.

In the past, you were known by what you did not what you said. Then of course people got bored of it because there was no flash, no panache, no hype marketing behind it. It was not good to ‘look’ at. So now everyone is great at the presentation, the face.
But look under the surface and you’ll notice that the principles have not changed. The ones who produce, the ones who do, the ones who are working away not talking are the ones driving us forward. These are the ones I have to respect the most. Ironically these are the people who get paid the most. And most people wonder why. This is why the roger federers, sachin tendulkars and steven speilbergs of the world earn astronomical amounts.

I must admit that I belong to wrong side of this equation. For the longest time I used to love the people who could talk well and talk a lot. So I was like that too. All fart and no shit :P. But now I find an increasing affinity to the ones that don’t talk so much, the ones that don’t crib so much (everyone cribs a little, that’s OK ) but just are focused. These are the Go-to people. The ones who you talk to when you need to get something done. Always busy, they just have no time to waste. Especially at work I notice that in a team of 20 there will be 3 or 4 people who are relied upon all the time while the rest are just managing to get by. I like the technical people now, because they run things, they don’t talk. They actually walk the talk.

This is the age where how well you talk and how well you present yourself is of utmost importance. How you say it is now more important than what you say. The age of presentation. The age of Talk.

Friction

2007-07-30T23:15:00.000+05:30

Today was a frustrating day. You get these days where everything seems like a struggle. The sort of days where doing anything seems to take all your energy from you. I started to realise that this sort of friction is something that we just don't expect to have in our lives. You're basically hard wired to function so that what you really expect is that things will go to plan. This ofcourse is a fallacy, one i think most everyone including me struggles to accept in their lives. I mean this really is how we progress.

Nothing really goes to plan. You're always making adjustments to your plans. As someone once said "Planning is invaluable, but plans are useless". I agree with that statement. I don't know why but for us, the struggle with which we get things done is the norm of life, not the exception. Yet we continue all our lives to expect that things will pan out smoothly

Planning an evening with friends is an experience in frustration .So is getting all the paperwork in order for any sorta admission. It's like everything takes work. But we are forever struggling with inertia. The inertia that forms a dull thud in the back of your mind, saying that dont work so damn hard, sleep for ten minutes more, there is time before you need to leave.

I find it really funny that we seem to be continously fighting the urge to just rest, to sit and relax. Now everytime your mind says to chill, you have to fight it and say no!. This i hope doesnt continue for the rest of my life because maybe that's what self mastery is all about.

Life is an obstacle race. There are absolutely no straight, paved roads. It's filled with u-turns and potholes. Come to think of it, all human progress is like that. Two steps forward, one step back. You get a nelson mandela, and you get a world war too. Our progress is written in blood, over and over again. We cant follow the brain, we actually follow our hearts. We acknowledge this but never admit to the extent of it's truth. This is ironically part of the source of progress and the friction inhibiting it.

Life isn't perfect. NOT.EVER. This is just how it is. There's never enough time in a day, you never really feel comfortable with your body, you don't like the your level of competence. There's always a better job, always a way to earn more money, someone who looks better than you better clothes, bigger car, a better life.
STOP.

Mortality

2007-07-27T17:12:00.000+05:30

It's happened again. Just like that i've lost someone. You were here and now your gone. You will be missed my friend. Rest in Peace :((

Global Culture

2007-07-20T18:01:00.000+05:30

We truly are the luckiest generation of Indians so far. I mean there are no boundaries and no limits to what we can do now. The geographies have all faded. The world truly is flat ( and no I'm not saying it because it's the slogan at my workplace)

The other day i happened to eavesdrop on a very lovely conversation on the way the changes in the world have now impacted the Indian culture. The guy basically was saying that Indian culture has now been degraded because of the influence of the effects of globalization.

I don't completely disagree with that statement, but i think a bigger issue now presents itself. Global culture. This word i think captures it now. We no longer live in a time where our cultures are distinct.
That may have been ten or fifteen years ago but not anymore.
The cultures are now blurred and a little indistinct. That's not to say that they have lost their originality, because that's the selling point isn't it? That's what's attracts the people from other cultures to us and us to them

Global culture really means that we now have a culture that's cannot just be defined just as pure Indian culture. It's a bit more than that.We're listening to global music.
The same music that debuts around the world is what we listen to. The fashion industry here is in tune with the rest of the world.We're listening to our ipod's, wearing our Nike's and listening to Greenday. This by the way is not american culture.
It's global. What happens in England, brazil or russia influences us just as much now.
We're implementing various Japanese technologies, using things like KAIZEN in our companies. My sister is learning Japanese and i know many people who already know Japanese.
Culture is spread very effectively through language and so we're imbibing all this culture from all around.

The Indian influence is now being felt everywhere. Hindi is everywhere. Bollywood is in the mainstream news all the time and expanding more and more. Yoga is in every country and every organisation now. And our culture spreads through these mediums to all the globe.

The cultures are now diffused. That's sounds good to me. Things like having faith in god, understanding and respecting people are now being mixed with the west's innovation driving, risk- tasking, easy going, partying culture. Add to it the far east's continuous improvement, zen culture and the like.
I haven't even mentioned the cultures from England and from south America and the middle east.

I am who i am. Global Citizen.

Strength and Dignity

2007-07-04T18:18:00.001+05:30

Captain (Dr.) Rajshree Gupta, Army Medical Corps (AMC), salutes the tricolour-draped coffin of her husband, Major Vivek Gupta of the 2nd Rajputana Rifles, who died fighting the enemies at kargil.

Thats how to handle what life throws at you with strength and dignity

What i've learnt in one year

2007-07-03T17:40:00.000+05:30

1. Figure out where your wanna go in life. Fast.Dont wait.
Frustration will grow if the actions you take are not coherent with the dreams you hold on to

2. People are different.
While that seems like a self-evident truth the impact of it is not visible until you actually live away from from home. Even though i'm not far away from home i now realise that not everyone is like me. There are fundamental differences in the way people think, act and in the things they believe. People from pune are not similar to people from other cities. Same goes for people from chennai and bangalore. This causes you to ironically be aware of what you like and what you want.I imagine this effect must be magnified for those not living in India now.

3. Life gets complicated after college.
Things arent simple any more. Why that is i'm not sure, but i'm sure it is so

4. Don't Trust people with everything you have until you've actually seen them go through a hard time or have been through one with them
I used to trust completely before, but unfortunately now i reserve my complete trust for only a select few. When the tough times come, people wilt, strong relationships shatter, and people choose to walk away rather than grit their teeth and get through it. Everyone really does seem to be in it only for themselves

5. Life isn't fair at all
What you deserve really is not too much bother to anyone else. Simply because they're busy wanting what they want. So you have to ask for what you want, and you have to grab for it.

6. The only exams you have to give are the ones you CHOOSE to give
While that should have been the norm from the start, now you only go the way you want to go. Nobody is forcing you to do anything with your life. Ironically it forces you to ask what you want and then go for it. I imagine thats how the system should have been designed in the first place.

7. Life is difficult but rewarding because your standing on the shoulders of giants.
Will explain when i write the next post.

8. Just because the coffee is free doesnt mean you have to drink tons of it. :-)

9. A vehicle is an absloute must!

10.The bed that you sleep on must be comfortable. Absolutely.

11. You CAN make extremely good friends even if you dont share common interests.

12. Many People in IT companies really have nothing to do except crib. And forward mails :P

13. When things fall apart they do so spectacularly.Life goes on. Run with it. Roll with the puches. Tomorrow is another day.

What the Heck

2007-06-28T18:45:00.000+05:30

I recieved this mail recently... It's been circulating around all the IT companies for a while now.
Have a read

I would like to express my transition from real freedom to assumed freedom. I am here talking about my transition from my college to the booming IT industry. I would like to pour my one year experience of the so called glamorous and fun filled IT industry.
We used to wander those spacious heat filled open grounds and dirty class rooms with just 50Rs. in pocket and plan the whole week with that budget. But now we wander along the well cleaned, fully air-conditioned corridors with about five to six credit cards in our pocket planning where to swipe the cards. Credit cards eagerly waiting to eat next month's salary. I can't believe that it was just one year before that the 50Rs. seemed to be lacks now, lacks seems to be nothing.
College canteen, Tea shops were the favorite hot spots where we spent hours together, having a hearty chat with our buddies forgetting the whole world. But now Cafe Day, Quickies, Baristas have taken those places. What a coffee cost 2.5Rs last year has now gone up to 50Rs a cup.
Those precious days where we used to laugh for nothing, while chatting or while playing or even when you fail in your paper because you have got 30 marks for a empty paper. But now you rarely smile except the smile for the forward you just received or the smile to your PM to impress him.
Hate ness and Ego were the words you haven't heard in those days. You smash or hit your friend for some reason and the next moment you walk along him with hands on his shoulders. But now you doesn't like the guy sitting beside you because he's getting a salary 10k greater that you or he's always being appreciated by your PM. True friends are hard to find here
In college if some one is talking badly about your college you can find your blood boiling inside even though you don't like your principal. But here loyalty is the lost word, whenever someone is talking badly about your company you join them to criticize your company. You join the company with the resignation day in the mind, is this loyalty. Don't mind I have also planned my resignation date.
You have seen the late nights only on the eve of the exam, where you rely on your friend to wake him/ her at night 1 or 2. And how can we forget those last minute tensions in exam, you remember that only just before entering the exam you find that you have forgotten to revise a important question that your friend suggested that it will surely appear on this exam. You rush back and flip those Xeroxed pages with tension. But today you work at least 2 days a week till 1 or 2 in the night to deliver something to your unknown client who is at US or UK. You are aimlessly typing at the useless word document that your PM asked you to finish with his tailor made smile. Loads of tension with calls from home, with your eye lids eager to kiss each other and you promise them to allow it a little later, cursing Bill Gates for inventing MSWord.
Writing all these to celebrate my first anniversary at this field. It seems I have been in my own desert where I have realized that I am moving from the warmth ness of the Oasis to chase a mirage. A mirage that promises a lot of thing, but still its just a mirage. When I turn back I can find thousands chasing that mirage with a ID card around their neck. I wish all the best for them.

I feel really sick reading these sorta mails. This is my response to that

1. You used to roam around with 50 bucks and you were happy. Now you have six credit cards and your not. Your blaming your job for that. It's called growing up. Get over it. And i dont have six credit cards. I dont even have one. No one asked you to get a credit card and if you got one, the try purchasing the brains to use it as well.

2. You had tea for 2.5 rs but it costs 50 at barista? So what . Go eat where you want. Nobody told you to go to barista just because you work in IT. It's called consumer choice.

3. You smiled once. You don't now. Awww.. your life is sad. If your job makes you so sad then quit. Everyone loved getting through exams by studying at the last minute. Unfortunately it works ONLY in college. So get over it.

4. Company gossip.... jesus.

5. You loved doing work only for one night in a semester. Now because you have to work more than once in a week you're complaining. In the real world people have to give it everything everyday to succeed, because if you dont then someone else WILL.
BALLS i hate this crap. Blame everyone else for your life..... culture

Accurate and thankfully not Realistic

2007-06-20T11:18:00.000+05:30

Don't let your enthusiasm wane, a virtue as valuable as it is necessary; work, have aspirations, and shoot always for the moon... there where only the CHAMPIONS tread.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

The winds that shaped my life

2007-05-30T17:08:00.000+05:30

This list by no means complete or exhaustive but for now these are few things i can remember.I think ill add to it as time rolls on

* The Death of two loved ones(2 years apart)

In death, life becomes clear. The sudden death of a loved one (twice) has shaken me beyond belief. The fragility of life has dawned upon me. It makes me cling to the ones i love with all i have now.It truly has changed my life.

* Love and pain

The first relationship is always a roller coaster. It sure was with me. Simultaneously being the most beautiful thing to happen to me and one of the most painful, it was an exquisite mix of emotions for 18 months.I have never learnt more than through the terrible pain and incredible joy of those days.

*Unrequited Love

The Second time.Mature Love this time. Unrequited. wow it hurt.

*Google

Knowledge is power. Google is power. At your fingertips.

*My Splendor (Technically my friend's bike)

Ill never forget that motorcycle. The freedom. The feeling. I love it . Eternally indebted to my best friend.

*Running

My heart pounding and thoughts overflowing. Rhythmic motion and Motionless at the same time. May be the best thing about myself I've discovered.

*The matrix

My favourite movie of all time. Smart filmmaking. I'm a fanatic.

*Books.

No not the stuff i learnt in school.The books i read out of self interest. Any page can change your thoughts for ever. Happens to me every second book i read.

*Coldplay

Favourite Band. Just awesome. The music that fixes my mood whenever i need to. That's powerful music.

*The Beepers.

Most people have 1 best friend . I have a whole gang. I consider myself lucky. Really lucky.Also included are my 2 best friends in Melbourne

*Getting 55 p.c marks in 6th semester.

Life will teach you the same lesson over and over again until you learn it. You can't move on to the next lesson until you've mastered the one you're presently taking.It taught me to get rid of the excuses.

*Manchester United and Real Madrid

My teams. i can see why guys would rather watch this than hang around with chicks sometimes. :-). No ..wait a tick.... even the chicks enjoy it now :)...!!

*Orkut and Yahoo messenger.

All my friendships have strengthened through these portals. One special friendship has started through orkut. I'm grateful.Whether my friends are in Pune, Australia or in the USA, they re never far away.

*My family.

Funny to say that my family has changed my life. It's the same for everybody i guess, but even so....a totally cool and relaxed family is a rarity nowadays.

*Living away from parents.

It's a lot of fun. It also gives you a new sense of respect for your parents. You realise what a pain the a** you can be to them sometimes. They don't even say anything.:). But seriously living with 3 other guys is just fun.

*Computer Games
Maybe the most time consuming activity in my life, I've gotten countless hours of enjoyment from games like Diablo2, starcraft, warcraft, Quake 3 (DM17!!), Unreal, half-life, Grand theft auto, Deus Ex, Splinter Cell, NFS and Half- life. Consider me a Gamer 4 life .

We've Got OUR TITLE BACK!

2007-05-22T12:59:00.000+05:30

9 TIMES BABY!!!!

Necessity Sabki Maa Hoti Hai.

2007-05-21T17:13:00.000+05:30

My post bachelorism received a good response. So i thought I'd try and write a few more instances which showcase the apathy with which bachelors live sometimes .The perfect day was this last Saturday.It all started on Friday night when me and my roommate decided to go watch spider man-3 once and for all. We hadn't gotten tickets for the last two weeks and decided to be "Proactive" and do something about it. So we decided that come hell or high water we would watch the web-slinger on the big screen.So we go to sleep on Friday pretty proud of ourselves because of the fact that we actually made a decision.We would leave the house at 12 noon( in Chennai heat no less) and catch a 2.30 show hopefully.

Well Saturday morning came and we got up at 9.30 cos it got too hot to sleep. Now for the first time since we moved to Chennai me and my roommate decided that we'd go for a haircut just after we got up. We've NEVER ( i mean that) taken a decision that fast. We get up and realise that there is NO electricity. The heat has already started to irritate us now and having no fan is making me sweat like i was working at a blast furnace.Undeterred by the bad start to the day, me and friend go off and get a haircut . We're back home at 11 now and 1 hour to go.We decide to have a bath. There's only one problem. There's no water in the overhead tank!. Oh crap. Even so, all we have to do is switch on the motor which pumps water to the tank. But there's no God damn ELECTRICITY!!... so now we've both had a haircut and we're getting that feeling which you get just after you get a haircut and before having a bath. YUCK.Plus we're sweating in the heat... Now I'm really ticked off not to mention itchy.. it's 11.30.

I'm hungry too. So we decide to have something to eat so that if we're stuffing our faces we won't be cribbing so much. There's no milk, no bread and no damn BUTTER. i mean Come on! really. All the planets have really aligned today. We're really lazy i know but do we deserve such a magnitude of punishment?? :P. Damn you Murphy and damn your laws too.It's 12 now.

We decide to have lunch. We use a 20 litre can of water that we buy for 25 bucks for drinking purposes. We realise that today there's almost no water left.(of course there's no water TODAY) So we ask the guy who helps us to get another one. He says there are NO cans left. This pushes my mental state from "Ticked off" to " Really Pissed off". In case you can't keep up with all the tragedies till now, here's a recap :- we're itchy cos of the haircut, sweaty because apparently the Electricity board wants to show us what the stone ages were like, we're hungry because we're lazy and we have no water to either EAT OR BATHE. The best part is that if we hadn't had a haircut I'd have just gone for the movie without having a damn bath. But now i can't do that. So much for being PROACTIVE :P

My room mate decides that he'll make some Dal. But in keeping with the theme for the day we don't have enough water to actually make the Dal or any rice. We're almost going mental at this point. Suddenly a light bulb glows above my head and i realise we have 3 eggs in the fridge. Oh yeah. My roommate proceeds to make the omlette look like a masala dosa but who gives a crap. We eat like cavemen eating for the first time. We don't even have enough water to wash our hands properly.Then like the light at the end of the tunnel our helper guy shows up with a Can of Water!! oh yeah i almost decide to give him another 10 bucks. Yeah well almost. So now we have water to drink so we drink a lot just in case we wont' get any later. You never know ...the way this day is going.

When the options run out, everyone comes up with solutions. That's what happened. Now we've at least taken care of our food and drinking water situation partially. But we cant get to the movie till we have a damn bath. It's 2 now. We can still catch the show at 4 if we leave now. For the first time in my life i haven't had a bath even FOUR hours after a haircut.So i come up with a solution Einstein would be proud of (hehe). We buy ANOTHER CAN OF WATER FOR 25 BUCKS SO WE CAN BATHE WITH THE WATER!! How creative is that??? I swear we couldn't believe we're paying 25 bucks for a bath. But NECESSITY SABKI MAA HOTI HAI.So we did. I take the sanitized, triple purified( or whatever) water and fill one "balti" full so i can have a bath. I've never had a bath with such "pavitra pani" but now i feel as fresh as i can ever feel.I Check on my roommate and he's taken our creativity one step further. I had commented in the morning that freezer had so much ice formed that we couldn't put any bottles in it.So he decided CHIP OFF ALL THE ICE AND PUT IN THE BUCKET SO HE CAN HAVE A COLD WATER BATH.!!!That way even the freezer is clear or ice!. Damn. That really was something to see.So we were ecstatic. We went to see the movie. I didn't like it at all.. The review is maybe the next post.

Anyways that was really the day... i don't really know how to even end this.

The Lack of Discipline

2007-05-14T00:59:00.000+05:30

Over the last 2 years i have managed (somehow) to lose about 12 kgs of weight doing regular exercise..I have also managed to keep it off for the last six months not having exercised at all. While I'm not close to my ideal weight and still plump I'm pretty fit. A few friends have asked how i lost weight. They commented saying that "You have a lot of discipline".

The word discipline has got me thinking a lot. Over the years the word discipline has been battered into our brains by every adult figure that we know. The word suggests that you become adept at doing all those things (on time) that you actually don't want to do. I think of myself as lazy and indisciplined to the core. This is why when friends tell me that i have "discipline" i laugh straight back at them. I feel discipline (as it is perceived now) is an ugly word. Achievement has precious little to do with discipline and a lot to do with enthusiasm. I never go running or to the gym because i want to but because i LIKE to. That's it. That's all. That's the only reason. I don't get up and force myself to go. I look forward to it. Some people call that discipline. I call it following your heart. I'm not going trekking everyday to lose weight because i don't enjoy it as much as i do running.

This extends to all the areas of life i guess. The ones who study a lot may seem to have discipline but really they are doing what they WANT to do. It's not that they don't want to party away their lives, but that they want to do something and achieve something MORE than they want to party all the time. Ironically the only place u have to force yourself to do something is at school or college where your forced to learn some irrelevant subjects :-)

The thing is when some friends ask me what sort of exercise they should do to lose weight i tell them to do something they like. Play badminton or basketball or something. Sounds simple and it is. If someone doesn't like the gym why do they persist in going? You only end up quitting and feeling worse. I'm not really an achiever but I'm blessed to have some very ambitious and hard working friends. As i look at them i realise that they re good at those things which NATURALLY appeal to them. That's it. They all have off days but what gets them back doing it is just the fact that if they don't do it they can't live with themselves.
So i guess if u don't LIKE it, don't do it.

Bachelorism

2007-05-05T13:33:00.000+05:30

Ahh yes i feared that someday my present living conditions would reach the those shambolic levels of laziness that i would find it really funny to write about it. I live with three other bachelors. Maybe that's enough information for anyone. In case you don't read the rest of this post you can be comforted in the knowledge that all the cliches about bachelors that you've heard are all absolutely true. All those who are intent on wasting their life's moments can read on.

Hmmm where does one start. I think ill start with the fact that the house in a 2BHK row house with a multiple level terrace. The terrace allows for very relaxing beer drinking sessions on Saturday evenings. Usually these nights entail four bachelors venting their frustrations at generally everything that goes on in their life. That's the good news. Now comes the bad news. Well we can't start the bad news without a special mention to the ants and the dead cockroaches that inhabit our home. They live amongst us and enjoy a very nice comfortable stay while we pay their rent. The water we drink very often has ants (and their families) taking a nice swim
to save themselves from the heat. Dead cockroach wings can be found in many places since we kill the cockroaches and the ants eat everything leaving the wings. In essence we have a symbiotic relationship with them.

On every window and door we find that cobwebs have found a comfortable home, one they know will never be disturbed. Even the bedsheets that now serve as curtains have learnt to live with the cobwebs. Dust and dirt are everywhere, most notably changing the colour of the fan to what maybe now an indescribable colour. I'm not sure what the fan colour was originally.

The TV lies on the floor in a pocket of dust which of course will never be cleaned because we only clean dirt which is directly in line of sight. The washing machine has a unique position right next to the kitchen sink. So the same water that we use to wash our 'bartans' is the same that washes our clothes. The water after washing proceeds to directly flood our veranda. This has had a unique effect that plants i.e. weeds have started to grow right in the middle of the veranda thanks to the detergent rich output from the washing machine.

The switchboard for one the bedrooms lies out of it's socket exposing wires to anyone who doesn't like his life anymore ( i just sweeped of four ants off the computer table..). I've failed to mention that clothes lie everywhere since that is the only way we can keep track of where they are. So now my pants lie right next to my books for easy access. All the shaving equipment lies right on top of the fridge. I did buy a bulb (in January) because my bathroom light was out. I haven't fixed it yet...so i just have a bath in the dark at night. Next to my bed lies a bottle of water which was filled the last time when my old roommate moved out in November. I'm still not lazy enough to drink that water though.One of the bathrooms is dirty as hell. Thank god i use the one that's pretty clean.

Beer bottles lie in most areas of the house particularly on the roof. The only thing outnumbering it are the number of milk bottles. No wait the plastic bags and associated kachra outnumbers that too... We try to shove the all of it under the stairs...unsuccessfully of course...
Well that's as much that can really be said about home sweet home. Thank god nobody visits.

Soul

2007-04-29T06:29:00.000+05:30

I can't believe that your gone.... i can't believe that life can end just like that. With no warning and no goodbyes. I'm stunned and frustrated. Life is so fragile. I remember the road to your house and how i played there. I remember all the good times you gave me. The Influence that you are to me. How much you meant to so many ...Thanks for being the person that you were. You will be missed. Forever. Rest in Peace :-(

Achievement Vs Experience

2007-03-29T23:15:00.000+05:30

Reading a book opens your mind. Since each book is a reflection of the thoughts of the author each book represents a window into the mind of a great person.

I'm working at my first job and and on the bad days you start to wonder why you're doing it. This is where the conflict between experience and achievement comes in.
As students we all want to achieve great things. We hold the belief that the ideas we are having are the ones that will change the world. Having read about great thinkers and visionaries reinforces that belief. When you get to working you start to realise that the time you spend away from work is very important i.e the your personal life.

This usually is the precursor to the thoughts that are the reason for this post. In the age of hyper achievement how much do you want to achieve and how much do you want to experience in life. Now in no way am i saying you can't have both at the same time but these two are usually at least semi-exclusive. I realise that judging by achievement makes the world a not so happy place. We love the Bill gates and the Micheal Jordans but we also adore those that spend their life travelling and seeing the world. You love it when you win on your own strength but you also love it when you just sit on the sidelines and shout yourself to a sore throat supporting your favourite team.

Living away from home and away from friends and family allows for a "sunlight through a lens" type focus towards your work but doesn't allow you to experience life the way you might otherwise. These of course are thoughts that are fleeting yet each time they leave a small footprint in your head. These footprints get deeper with each "thought instance" until they have a constant presence of your mind. Of course I'm presenting only the negatives but not the the numerous positives like personal growth, new friends and experiencing a cultural richness that is different from your own

The last paragraph was digressing from the topic i realise but it was a practical example of Achievement V Experience. i guess if i can hazard an answer it would be that you have to know yourself well enough to know what trade off your willing to give. In the end it's all about your happiness. One of my roommates has very little desire to spend his life in high pressure jobs (even if they pay a lot). While some time ago, i would have perceived this lack of ambition as disgusting , now I'm at peace with it. He's happy and maybe that's all that matters. He'd rather experience the bliss of a happy family life with holidays and time spent travelling rather then spend nights awake achieving and earning. And i don't blame him.
So make up your mind as to what brings you happiness because not all of us will change the world.

So you can be smart as hell or just stick your tongue out at the whole seriousness of life

The loss of innocence

2007-03-13T14:39:00.000+05:30

Don't we just wish people were more innocent. Isn't it always running in our heads that everyone seems to have an agenda nowadays

When we were growing up i'm sure we wondered how older people could get so cold and apatheic towards things
I'm starting to realise that maybe it's neccesary.
I know a person that's so pure of heart that in this day and age it's unbeliavable.
The genuineness of that person really made me wonder how hard and apathetic i had become. No malice, no underlying agenda, no fake politeness
Just genuineness through and through. This person really has a heart of gold.
"The physical form of gandhigiri i used to tease" :p

Yet the world insists on teaching terrible lessons to them.
My friend's life was set and happily chugging along till once again life took one hell of a wrong turn
If you can't trust the one you love the most then who's left to trust? Fair weather love is what i'll term it now
When things get tough why do they dissapear? Why? I cannot bear to see people throw away the good things in life just because life starts to get tough
When life gets tough they JUST let go? Fight tooth and nail dammit!

Honestly i've never felt so frustrated in a long time. When a person so genuine and so nice gets dealt cards like this i start to wonder how much innocence you can really have
I believe life will teach you hard lessons over and over again until you get frustrated and do something i.e. Change
But this time i really felt it shouldn't happen. After a major tragedy in the past my friend didn't deserve this.
Why be innocent and naive and nice when even if you are you going to get screwed anyways.
Still my friend remains genuine and nice and caring. Unbelieavable
I get these forwards which say that you oughta love like you've never been hurt. I believe in that honestly because recently i've seen relationships break beacause one person in the relationship gave less than 100% in the fear that they may get hurt.
Less than 100% is not near even close enough. But now i just don't know. My friend gives a 110% and gets hurt so bad that i think even i would find it near impossible to recover.
Maybe we shouldn't be so innocent. Maybe we should look out for ourselves, balls to the everyone else
Maybe.
God knows :-(

Connect The Dots

2007-03-05T08:44:00.000+05:30

Destiny is a funny word.
Long ago i was completely into the concept. Everything is written in stone and there's nothing you can do but act out your role
Sometime ago the idea then started to become repulsive. WTF? Destiny can kiss my lovely behind (:P). My life and my skill and my talent and MY Destiny.
Recently a friend told me a theory of destiny as a way of keeping score.
This seems like the middle ground between the depressing "Your destiny is already written" and the "I live my own life, I'm the supreme being of the universe"
Basically it says where you are right now is what you get when you take your dreams and minus all the effort u've put in...If they're equal then you are living your dream
If you effort is less then some parts of your life fall out of the dream life circle. And if your effort is more than your dreams require them to be then you can't dream enough and that's extremely sad
As of now i believe that destiny is part of your life that you do not have complete control over. What i mean is that you cannot control your life fully. There are certain circumstances that affect your environment or were already part of your environment.
Of course i don't mean this in the depressing thought that some may perceive it
I say this because you can observe that not everybody is meant to be famous or meant to be beautiful or meant to be really smart
You cannot decide that by the end of your life you will have more money than bill gates. For that to happen requires a lot more than just hard work. It requires a bit of luck.
That doesn't mean luck is going to make you famous. You’re not going to get famous sitting on your behind and waiting for luck to smack you in the face.

Every generation has heroes; every generation has those who will be beautiful and those who will be super-rich. A part of that has to be because of the destiny that you can't control
As far as i think destiny writes itself in only a few select moments in your life and the rest are for making the journey happier and easier for you
The saying "When you pick up one end of the stick you also pick up the other" actually describes this closely
When you make a major decision in your life you write your own destiny
When you decide to take up a certain job over others you write your own destiny and then you also have to "pick up the other end of the stick" i.e. the consequences of your decision
Almost everyone has felt this at some point. When you've decided to end a relationship you've known that one decision can affect your life for a lot longer
I think that's why many people will say that you very rarely get second chances. The same situation can never arise again. If you've broken up and got back together things are never the same,(it may be better btw)
When have one shot, you have to take it.

Funnily, we've arrived at the point where we've realized that we shape destiny through our own decisions (and NO other reason) and yet are not completely in control
The story of a journey is analogous to what I’ve said above. When u start a journey you make a decision to go left or right and that decision decides your destiny
You can of course choose which road you want to take, but once you have you can't decide how long the road may be ( more importantly.. you can't foresee the people who'll touch your life)
It’s like connecting dots. In the picture you can see the grand canvas but you have to connect all of the dots exactly to make reality and your dream the same. You're standing on a dot and you can decide which dot to connect to next but you have no control on maybe how long that line will be(or how colourful that line turns out)
Like in sports, some moments shape the rest of the game, so life is shaped in only a few select moments

Destiny is maybe too mysterious a word. I like the quote in the matrix reloaded that goes "Even the wisest cannot see the consequences of their choices". Maybe that's what destiny is. The ripple is created when you make a decision and the full consequences of the ripple can't be seen because you can't see the ocean in totality.
That's what probably makes it so much fun...You never know.
SO there's only one thing we can do. Do what makes you really happy and the consequences of the decisions towards that path are not up to you
We may become famous, or we may not, but all that we can do is that which makes us happy
So the advice that I’ve gotten is that when you find the one you love, hang on tooth and nail, when you find the work that you enjoy, do it.(not for free of course)

On a separate note this post allows me to salute all those people who have become successes without becoming famous. Maybe they didn't connect the dot which would have made them famous but nevertheless they are out there.
The technicians behind the movies, the pit crews in the races, the queer scientists who I’ll never know about, the trainers behind the athletes, the women that form the foundation of men's success(and vice-versa),
The programmers writing all that code that i may be the only one to find useful,
So for all those who work hard but don't get recognition that they may deserve, I salute you

What’s astrology got to do with it

2007-02-15T17:03:00.000+05:30

Astrology: - honored by some, reviled by others and for many (like me) puzzling. Basically I sometimes wonder how much is true of astrology. Generally all the really smart people and those who read a lot and have a lot of inner drive hate the word. They can’t believe that a person can believe in the nonsense of astrology.
To be honest i really don’t know what to make of astrology. Astrology plays no part in my life and it probably will not play a par t in the future, but to me it falls somewhere between superstition and science.

The thing is that almost everyone you ask will say that they don’t care about astrology, but many conversations have snippets which go similar to the following “he’s an aries so sometimes he can hot-headed” or something. Many people even go as far as saying “I’m moody because I’m scorpio” or ‘u know he’s a Gemini so he’s has a dual personality”. Now forget about what you think about astrology. The fact is that many people DO actually show traits depending on “where the sun was” when they were born. That’s fact. Phrases such as “she’s a typical Taurus” are commonplace.( many very smart people say it). Does it mean that they are stupid in believing all this or are they just speaking about reality as they see it. It’s a combination of both if you ask me.

The fact is that most people born in the same month (ignoring that sun signs change on 21st or whatever) exhibit certain similar characteristics. I once thought that maybe long ago our ancestors realized that people born in the same period of thirty days( say june 21st to july 20th) exhibit the same characteristics. Maybe they noticed that there are twelve types like this and then since in those days the sun and the stars were given as an explanation for most things they decided that in those thirty days the sun was in the “particular part of the sky” and that must be the reason for the similar characteristics. Now we say that BECAUSE the sun is that part of the sky the people born in that time have similar characteristics. So initially a theory was created which explained the reality and now the STORY explains the reality

The best part of the crazy theory above is that it does nothing to change the fact. “Libra” people DO have similar characteristics. Maybe there is truth to some of it.
When you split a molecule you get atoms .When u split an atom you get sub-atomic particles. When you split them you get sub-sub-atomic particles. But recent research seems to say that on further splitting that you don’t get more particles but instead you realize that it’s all just a huge energy field all around and the matter that we see is just extremely concentrated parts of it. We know that humans get Vitamin D (I think its D) from the sun basically meaning that the energy transmitted by the sun into this field has a definite effect on us. Now it MIGHT be that if the sun is in a “particular part of the sky” when you’re born it transmits energy to you that affects the way you are. The problem here of course is that we have no SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE to support the theory and so (rightly) it is regarded with extreme skepticism. You can’t believe every crazy theory that comes up. But it may be possible. This brings up the very funny (and ironic) situation that IF it’s ever proved true that it’ll become scientific fact. The scientists will say that extensive research has proved it while the astrologists will say that they knew it was true for hundreds of years. Both sides are right and are actually on the same side and are still fighting. That would be really fun to see!!! It would be like coming back ten thousand years where scientific research proves what we already know from the start of time. Imagine how differently you’d look at the process of “Kundli-matching” before marriage

Of course I must add that either way nobody can use astrology as they’re main reason for success(or lack thereof).Neither can u say “I’m moody BECAUSE I’m scorpio”So there you have it. Another crazy idea which may just be a waste of web space. Go ahead. Call me Crazy :-)

The oxymoron of making sense

2007-02-11T00:21:00.000+05:30

Life is pretty shitty sometimes, that's clear. Sometimes you just start wonndering what the hell went wrong.Everything falls apart and jus lies there in peices, the broken mirror lies shattered on the floor and and you find yourself staring at thousands of timy images that form in those millions of pieces each one representing a little part of what used to be.
This is a critical moment in life , one where opinions are formed and decisions made that will get very hard to erase. This is the point in life where making sense makes no sense...the time where your head tries to rationalize everything it hears and your heart refuses to see it and also gets pissed off at all the "correct" reasons it sees

It' s happened to me and a couple of friends i know.
When things fall apart you decide once and for all never to be so stupid and trust your heart...From now on your head will rule and your heart will obey. So you become harder and stronger and now more ready to take on the cruel world outside

The problem with making sense here is taking the risk of emotionally alienating yourself from everthing that you face. I've felt and been through it and it's an "emotionally-deaf" time that does not help.The fact is that the head should be a servant to the heart but not a slave..(but a servant none the less)

We learn from our mistakes, but what if you learnt wrong. Youll make a different mistake, a worse one but that's the risk you run.
SO Run the risks, and when you get hurt and life shatters into a million pieces, dust yourself and be determined to make some of the same mistakes again...because what may look like a mistake may be just ONE bad experience...like steve jobs said "stay stupid"...

My theory For Everything and Nothing

2007-01-16T20:51:00.000+05:30

Over the years you start to make conclusions about the world that help you to get better at what you're doing, give you insight on what you're not and generally help you grow up
I share some of my theories.....

My theory for everything and nothing

1. People are more afraid of success than they are of failure

All your life you’ve been told to fit in. Join the clubs…Get the friends…Well that’s all fine…but when it comes to success it’s a hindering quality to have. Success usually means that someone is exceptional and many are average. That’s what most people fear. Not that they’re average but that they’re exceptional.

Q: - “Can u pass that exam?”

Ans:- “Probably not. Most everyone fails it” (why I should I pass it since everyone else is probably like me. Most of the time I’ve been like everyone else)

2. Independent thinking is very rare

No one takes the effort to think anymore do they? WHY? WHY? That question is what we should be asking rather than looking for the answers. The thinking prevalent is that since everyone is doing it, it probably makes sense and I shouldn’t waste my time thinking about it. When you start to ask why?..... most of the walls break down and you begin to see that many existing systems are totally inefficient..

Like Einsein said:- “Every new achievement requires a break from the existing system of thought”( I think that’s what he said)

The biggest impact may be in business…Everyone thought that 9 to 5 was the best timing to work…now the fact is that flexible timings are the most productive….so someone mustn’t have accepted his 9 to 5 timing blindly

3. The School System is half complete

So u know how electrons work, how the human body works, how the universe and god knows what else works…The premise is that it’ll help u to get a better job and earn more money. They taught you how to earn your money…but they never taught you how to keep it…there's very little taught about how to save your money and how to invest…I finished 16 years of education not knowing what inflation is? When I saw that ad in which it says that a world tour costs 1 lac now but will cost 20 lacs in 20 years(partly because of inflation ) I realized why financial planning is so difficult….. it can be argued that commerce students learn all this….But even arts and science students earn money and grapple with all these issues…let’s face it….money is usually the biggest issue of anyone’s life….unless you’re a royal family heir you’re gonna have money issues. So teach me how to keep my money. It’s as important as how to make it.

All women are beautiful.

The Saree is the most beautiful dress a lady can wear. The salwar kameez comes second

The Human race is trying to unlearn most of what it’s learnt throughout it’s history

This is more true now…

The human body is super efficient . We knew this centuries ago. The human body is naturally thin…People have it the other way round.They think all food is meant to nourish the body the right way. That’s because everyone has it so it must be logical correct. So now we need diets and professionals to tell us what our body and mind already knows…when you too much or too little your body sends you signals. We’re naturally thin….You have to treat your body ABnormally to make it go the other way round
Almost all the buzz words now are ironically the wisdom which we had years ago which we destroyed but not thinking for ourselves. “Think differently” and “Think outside the box” are ironically telling you to think for yourself like you were meant to IN THE FIRST PLACE. “Break the rules” is another one which tells you not to follow those rules which don’t seem logically correct to your intellect. So now we use the “Catch Phrases” which are old wisdom…We’re trying to go backwards. ”Break free”, “Unbelong” , “Let go” are all like this

Some other things I’ve noticed that are really petty

a.It’s never a question of I.Q in most situations…it’s usually a problem of not spending enough TIME trying to understand the problem

b.No matter how you put your earphones in ur bag or pocket when u finish listening the next time you pull them out they’ll be a twisted tangled mess…(is there a murphy’s law for this!!?? )

So there you have it...My two cents...The two or three people who read this blog :-) can post a comment i hope....

One sided

2006-12-02T14:14:00.000+05:30

I realized while I was reading something that it is virtually impossible to get into the mind of another. How many times have you heard the line ‘Look at it from their side’.

Well, I realized recently that this may be one of the most difficult things a mind can achieve.
‘Looking at the other side’ doesn’t mean wondering why one guy likes strawberry ice cream and you like another flavour. It refers to some things that we hold as absolute beliefs, the unshakeable concretes that have formed in our minds, those which many would not have consciously defined, but ALL use to guide their life for better or worse.

We are in the free world, terrorists are the enemy, and we are right. Would anyone care to see the other side? (btw I am on our side…before my friends start to wonder what has happened)

My point here is that it’s not a good thing to always ‘look at the other side’. Everyone can think and feel, but our actions are definite and they define us. Looking at every side sometimes puts too much doubt in your head to take any decision, any action.

When someone comes late to a meeting, looking at the other side is a good idea because you may get a logical reason for it’s occurrence but the prevalent ‘accept everything and everyone’ philosophy is counter-productive to your progress.

As long as a choice of another doesn’t physically harm or cause mental torture it’s ok to think about the other side. I love rock music, I didn’t like hindi music(now I do) and I used to run around criticizing those who did.
Well, now I avoid this type of discussion , because what’s ‘Kewl’ and what’s not is everyone’s choice and they have a right to it.

There’s no necessity to see the other side.

Influence

2006-11-30T16:18:00.000+05:30

We all believe that our opinions are our own and that no one really influences them. If i like a particular type of music , art or movie then I’ve asked for no one’s permission to do so and i fiercely defend my right to an opinion. Well that's a really nice thought but i feel a most everyone (me included) have a few "opinions" made for us.

The other day me and my friends sat down to watch a Hindi movie. Now it just so happens that of one of us happens to HATE the lead actor of that movie but decided to watch regardless since the group was watching. As the movie began to tell it's tale he began the usual berating and criticizing which is the norm of every would-be movie critic.

The movie itself really was average fare, nothing much to talk about but the constant cynicism for the lead actor was starting to irritate me. Just as I was about to say something, one of the other friends, who really has no opinion on the lead actor proceeded to proclaim that the actor was crap, the movie in turn was crap and so it was a waste of time.

I wanted to say something but held back the urge and decided to just notice what happened next.

Well as i said the influence started to spread until even those who seemed to be half-enjoying the movie started to proclaim that they hated it

It's curious to notice that if you scream loud enough, stupid people will love to get into the act. I proceeded to say that the movie was OK. I promptly was told that i know "Nothing" of movies or acting.

Scream loud enough and you can influence people .Again and Again.Jeez.......

Loving what happens in life

2006-11-13T16:49:00.000+05:30

Life is cruel lots of times.That isn't a pessimistic view, but a realistic one. The basic presumption is that life is supposed to be full of happiness.What if the basic plan is not that way? What if suffering is as much a part of life as happiness? maybe more? The thing is no one's promised us that....it's taken for granted....I've read somewhere that "life is Suffering" is one of the rules of buddha...not sure of that though....

Actually the thought that life is not all about happiness is quite comforting. Once you accept it , it's easy not to get frustrated, to take the hardhships as challenges, not worry so much.This thought has helped me quite a bit over the past few months, hectic training, washing, clothes and long travelling distances included.
For the big tests, ive not worried as much, only focused on what's ahead. I've learnt to take hardship as a challenge,to not allow yourself to be broken by them, to understand that these things never get harder and that you do.

Once you know, You win.Believe it

Cast off, Jump off

2006-10-28T14:04:00.000+05:30

Ever feel like jumping off, letting go of everything and soaring.I feel it everyday of my waking life. No i'm not some bored dude writing code all day not happy with his life...no i like my work, i accept where i live and the state my life is in. After all, i've made my choices and i dont regret a single one. Once in a while though, i feel like i wanna let go and run.Run till my legs fall off, till i cant breathe.This isn't because i wanna run away from my life, it's because i want it to go faster.Life's too slow sometimes, you get stuck going so slow down life's highway that you wanna tare away all those "rules" and "barriers" and run free.

I'm not sure how many will understand what it is i wanna say but i hope a few will realise that these feelings lie in you. I usually get this feeling whenever i'm standing for a bus or a train and it's jus not coming. I get it when i'm sitting for a lecture which starts to drag.The feeling of wasting your life on the inconsequential is irritating. I mean , as it is life's short, so wasting it doing things that are of no use is irritating. If you analyzed it , there'd be so many things you'd discard doing because it's inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

I don't know how many have felt it, but whenever i'm going in the train and it's really fast , i feel like jumping off. NO ,not because im suicidal but because i'd love the adrenaline rush, the feeling of flying,. soaring freely for even jus a sec.
It's the reason why i will ,even if it's only once, go skydiving.The feeling of no ground beneath and nly sky above would be spectacular...

Run for just one minute, it's better than walking all your life.
Fly for just one second, it's better than running all your life.
Cast off, Jump off..

The imporatance of being wrong

2006-08-22T16:39:00.000+05:30

Going through life you often wonder how much experience teaches you...We make the same mistakes over and over again in our lives and blame on more than a few things.Well what happens when a recent experience cancells out a previous one.What i mean is that our notions are fixed by our experiences but what happens when experiences conflict with our notions.
Recently the same happened to me.What i learnt about weakness' in people got turned on its head.Sadly i have to admit that sometimes i find people weak.It's a terrible judgement to pass on some i readily admit but it seems unavoidable.A curious need to appease your own ego causes you to find weakness in others.Even worse to admit this judgement often leaves me with a simoltaneous mix of shame and pride.
Recently this shame visited me again as i started to make new friends here in chennai.Im really not sure if everyone does it but sometimes i compare some of the new friends to my old ones.
My roommates are great....but some of the other people i've met are jus ...... different.Unfortunately adjusting to people from different cultures takes a bit of work and asks you to leave some pre-concieved notions behind.
What really happened was that i judged someone far too quickly as weak and having made that assimption continued to re-affirm it by the conclusions i drew from the actions of the person.However a deep,dark tragedy lay seated behind those eyes i judged to be weak.The shame, when it comes, overwhelmes. It should too....because you wont change unless you hate yourself.
Im glad that it happened and yet feel sad for having so readily accepted the common train of thought that runs through most people everyday.
To that person,who should not have been judged, i ask forgiveness.

Zidane- Thanks for the memories

2006-07-12T10:50:00.000+05:30

Well i guess there'll be pages and pages on the farewell of zidane but here's my personal tribute to the greatest footballer i've seen.

Yes i know what he did in the final was wrong. Yes i know he shouldnt have done it, but i honestly don't care so much. One bad match doesnt change his legacy. He's still given me and millions of others some jaw dropping, "Wow i can't believe that could be done" moments.

The zidane pivot as i call has every kid trying to emulate it. I'll never forget the grace, the power ,the precision of his movement and passing. "Built like a brick layer with the grace of a ballerina" one commentator described him.
Sometimes i swear it seems like he's meditating on the field. The grace with which he moves makes you wonder whether he's running or floating. He may be the most creative footballer(along with ronaldinho).

He's humble and stays away from controversy(well almost eh?). He made a mistake. We forgive you zizou. Thank god we live in the same era as Zizou..
Zidane for ever............<

Someone to lift you off your seat

2006-06-15T21:10:00.000+05:30

As the football season goes into overdrive i start to wonder about how important the superstars of sports(or for that matter any field) are to the popularity of the sport. It takes someone very special to lift you off your seat. These "gods" as they are usually reffered to in their sport lift the sport to incredible heights of popularity. I got hooked of formula1 when i saw micheal schumacher overcome the odds to win.
Micheal jordan lifted basketball to dizzying heights. I remember gettin up at 5.30 am to watch him come closer than any human to flying. I've really never felt like watching basketball as much once he retired.Can anyone really argue against the fact that the best way to popularise cricket to the rest of the world is to show them sachin play(and destroy australia at sharjah).
The biggest example i've found of a superstar lifting a sport is Lance armstrong. When i first saw the toure de france i wondered what the point was to cycle all that way, but when you hear that he came back from cancer and then won what is arguably the most greulling sports event in the world 7 times in a row inspires you. I dont think anyone cared about cycling that much till he showed up.You cant help but sit up in awe when u see his feet beat up and down like pistons on that bike.
"Some have greatness bestowed upon them". Whether they're gifted with natural ability or just worked harder than anyone else doesn't matter. They get your pulse racing, get you off your seat and get you hooked on the game (or field, like einstein and physics) and inspire.
My tribute to those ones meant to bring happiness to our lives
Schumi, lance, jordan, sampras and federer, rooney and jose and rossi..

The beggining after the end....

2006-06-13T22:56:00.000+05:30

As i stand now i have finished my engg, almost really, but for the most part ive come through unscathed and unharmed .As i muse upon the 4 years i realise that a lot of the engg community thinks that engg is some titanic struggle where u have to slog and grovel your way past the four years...i disagree with this notion. Doing nothing for the first three months of a semester and then ten days for journals and 20 for the PL's does not count as a gruelling semester. It speaks of pure laziness,Is anyone suprised that we struggle to pass when we spend practically 8 months in a year doing practically nothing.The only time i stretched myself was when i was spending all day and night thinking about my project..most of all i realize this when i see some of my friends who are in the medical field.All these guys who think engg is tough wouldn't last six months in that line of work.

The Transition

2006-05-17T01:13:00.000+05:30

Well today the "stars" aligned...so to speak and i put a voice to the face and mannerisms to the writing...i must say i never was sckeptical for this encounter and i was pleasantly suprised..Of course i wasnt totally frank just yet...that would have scared my friend away!.But the transition was lovely, the meeting was a lot of fun and i had a new lichi coffee to boot...ok ok must run it off 2mr morning..damn it.
Anways it was really nice that i didnt find it awkward at all...ofcourse i was my goofy stupid self and my friend didnt get up and leave...so that was a good sign...thank god!
The friendship has come full circle now..the connection through the circle of friends complete.
It was great.I loved it.

GEN-X

2006-05-14T13:19:00.000+05:30

Today i got up at about 6.45 in the morning....after marvelling at the feat i had accomplished by gettin up so early i promptly turned on my friends comp(where i was stayin..) and logged onto orkut...there one of my friends was online and i scrapped him for a while and then jus surfed aimlessly...
I'm starting to wonder why im so sedentry in my life style...the thought of getting up and going out at 7 in the morning outside while it's still cool NEVER even entered my mind....instead i sat there and did nothing and felt lazy and went back to sleep..
Though i do a little bit of running i really worry where this lifestyle leads when we reach 45. Yeah we've read the effects and we've seen them too but our future will not be the same as the situation is now...i feel its gonna be worse and so we oughta be aware of this fact and do something...I'm not even working and im having serious trouble keeping a healthy lifestyle...almost all my friends get NO excercise during a 24 hour day...
it's ridiculous.

P.s:- my friend called up pizza hut and asked for the 4 pan pizza's for rs 200 offer..he was told the price is not inclusive of tax...the tax is rs 138.... so the total cost is 338..if u order the stuff individually it costs 440..
Ridiculous..

Security by Anonymity

2006-04-13T02:16:00.000+05:30

What is it about the internet that makes us lose inhibitions and open up to people that we don’t know and may have never met. I ponder this question as i form online relationships (read friends) with people on a more regular basis. The blanket security that the anonymity of the internet provides us to open so much more easily is very intriguing.

I've told things to my online friends that i have never told my other friends in such a short time of knowing them. I think the success of online relationships really lies in one thing:-Words. The fact is people can express much, much more coherently when they write than when they speak. It’s just easier to express what you really feel. I know it’s sounds like a paradox because there’s no tone or inflexion when you write but I feel people always write with more thought than they speak…harsh words come out less... and thoughts come out better than when u speak. It’s funny that because it takes so much time to type you actually think about what you’re gonna say. (Or type)

Somehow with the advent of voice chat and later video chat I think this online openness will diminish. I think that because you cant see or hear the person you basically judge them by what they actually say (type) which in a funny way may be what matters. Online relationships I feel will start with only regular chat and only then move to voice and video.

Although I digressed a lot from the topic at hand back there I feel it really could make a difference to online relationships. But I will never cease to be amazed as how the blanket of anonymity continues to allow people to make friends faster than ever before.
Maybe it’s because most of the time the person your talking to cant really use this information for any good and maybe most importantly they’re there because they only want to do one thing:-Talk. And nothing else. They’re not stuck in traffic; they’re not talking to you while they’re on their way to meet someone else, they’re not eating and talking!!.
To conclude it’s just cool how all the boundaries are gone and how you can make often better friends in cyberspace than in 3 dimensional space

Providence

2006-04-06T01:48:00.000+05:30

Too much coincedence is one thing and little help from fate is another but i heard a story
which truly made me wonder why i(and most people for that matter) are so sckeptical.

The following is a true story about a friend in which the circumstances are all real (although the names have been changed for anynonimity)Ok we start approximately 9 years ago when i was in seventh.My freind Raj is in delhi happy being a brat and raising hell until he ends up failing a few subjects.He's gets better and becomes a much better student.Unfortunately he has to leave for jaipur and so transfers to a school there where he spends the next 2 years getting better grades.Fortunately ( and as fate would have it) he has to return back to delhi and enrolls back into the same school.This is when he comes across the lovely Tina.
Now from here the details are a bit sketchy but they spend the next two years getting to know each other and from what im told he's now in love with said lass and so as every story goes love blossoms in one heart (and im not sure in the other or not...that part was conveniently...ahem.... left out)

So the 11th has come and gone and so has the 12th and apparently the guts have not been musterered to ask lady love out yet.Now with the 12th over major entrance tests loom and those are studied for and given but unfortunately( or is it fortunate) they are dead ends.SO after searching for engg colleges in a lot of cities he decides to come to pune.
They BOTH end up here eventually ,though in different colleges.SO new city, no parents , new experiences.My friend decides to go for broke and asks her out(Finally!!!).Now i dont write depressing articles with sad endings so ofcourse she says yes.

At this point i was quite happy that they both ended up here.They are ofcourse still together and doing well.It was cool to of a love story spanning so many cities and so much time.Sounds like fate a hand to play.

The second best part? He had a hand convincing her to come here.Now good luck or fate can only help so much but somewhere you have to step up and take the plunge and so he did.

The BEST part? When he left school in delhi(to return two years later) he vacated a seat.There was only that seat vacant.
She took THAT seat.

Maybe we oughta be a little bit less cynical and believe a bit more.In the age of messy breakups and rising divorce rates this was refreshing to hear.....

SHIT HAPPENS

2006-04-04T22:29:00.000+05:30

Shit happens
When you just cant seem to get a slice of luck,
When you're stuck in a rut,
When you're riding and someone splashes muck.
When you're starry eyed, but you're dreams get crushed

Shit happens
When you order coffee but the milk is burnt,
When the cop's waiting exactly where you took the wrong turn
When you sit at home and you're bored out of your mind,
When you do someone a favour but they dont repay in kind.

Shit happens
When all you wanna do is sleep but they dont let you,
When you wanna get your point across but they dont get you,
When you leave a restaurant and see that the cops towed your bike,
When you leave the house and realise the petrolwallahs are on strike.

Shit happens
When your watching a movie at home and MSEB cuts the power
When you realise you need the cell phone rates to be lower,
When the PL's come and go and you havent done a thing.
When tommorow's the paper and all those xeroxed notes go missing.

Shit happens
When you realise that you haven't written a single stupid writeup.
When everything seems like it's torn apart....
When you know that you're facing the hardest part.

Shit happens
When you have great expectations from a movie that's so-so,
When find out your internet connection is too slow.
When you leave for a second and find that the toast is burning
But most of all Shit Happens,
Early in the morning!!!!

I'm "it"

2006-03-30T01:25:00.000+05:30

Seems like Ive been tagged. The rules:

1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the person.
3. Tag 8 (or as many as possible) victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been tagged
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.

ok so are you ready? are you scared?

1. it's a she...Duh...

2.Should be smart...someone i can have a intellectual conversation with..

3.Should be ambitious....not just career wise....

4.Should be passionate....about life in general..

5.Should laugh at my jokes...which would make her rare to find...hehe.

6.Should be a little "nuts" or she'll go nuts with me......

7.Should be independent....and level headed...

8.And finally...our values must match...more or less..

P.S. i've written should and not must because i believe if the right person comes along it really wont how many of these she fulfills...but anyways...

ill tag sandnya and gaurav i think....

Windows Vs new doors....

2006-03-27T00:16:00.000+05:30

Microsoft has delayed the launch of vista till next year. Personally I’m pretty disappointed. I was looking forward to getting down and dirty with a new OS. It would have been a lot of fun, but in any case I keep wondering how Microsoft is going to keep pace now ,what with the continuous barrage of software being developed by third parties.

Now I’m no Wall Street business analyst but how many people use IE anymore? it’s not obsolete by any means but it’s still way behind opera and firefox. All the viruses get written for IE so it’s difficult to stay safe. Now I agree I shouldn’t really be bothered with what happens anyways because either way I’m getting the benefit but I really want to see how Microsoft combats this problem. I mean linux is on the rise though it’ll be a long time till it catches up with Xp or vista. The pace of new versions coming out means that Microsoft has to move quickly if it wants to win. Google’s pratically won the search engine race and apple is hot on ms’s heels.

But Bill gates has proven time and again that he knows how to win. And win. And win.
I’m a fan of his to be truthful. It almost truly is Microsoft against the rest but ms wins and wins a lot,though this time things could get tough.

Hey ok, I’ll admit the fate of the world does not rest on this Microsoft Vs the rest software war but it sure is gonna be fun to watch….Oh yeah!!

The "Right" Mix

2006-03-26T12:38:00.000+05:30

Reading a lot has convinced me of one fact:-Work with the right people and you won’t waste half your time fighting internal fires. What that means really is that if you pick your partners properly you'll be much better off and have a good chance of getting things done on time. I came to realize this really when i had to complete my B.E. project in quite a short span of time. Though not completed yet, we have reached the final stages before anyone else and I’m convinced it's because I partnered with the right guys.

My project is quite ambitious and challenging. Really an untested concept but while choosing the right project I really looked at the people with me. So when the right guys invited me to join I jumped at the chance. And when the right project guide offered the project I was convinced though challenging, the project could be done.

So now that I know that the concept works I’m happy I was right. Choosing the right people to work with circumvents a lot of the future obstacles. There have been no accusations of laziness or not pulling weight (for the most part anyway!!!).
One is probably the hardest worker in my class and the other, well, is good at what he does. So we’ve spent all of the time on the project and less on irritating each other. Which is what I notice has happened in many other project groups. Everyone wants to be the leader and everyone thinks they’re right. Even getting the right guide was a huge boost. It would never have gotten done if not for the tenacity of my project guide.

Though B.E. projects have a lot of room for error and time wasting and things can get done even with the wrong people it’s easy to see why the companies pay so much for the top brass. The right environment along with the right people produces fantastic results.
This whole concept can be extended to everything we do. If you want to do something go ask the best people and you’ll save half your troubles. Study with the scholars, play and eat with the athletes, sing with the musicians, (go shopping with women!!!)…

So to quote from a book….
“Before you drive your bus, get the right people on it, the wrong people off it and then figure out where to steer it”

Survivor obsession

2006-03-19T11:50:00.000+05:30

Years ago i was fortunate to see the first season of survivor....the first real reality show...and i fell in love with it...then it went off air and i forgot about it...As luck would have it i got most of the seasons from a great friend of mine(Who im eternally indebted to..).So when i got to see all the episodes i finally got obsessed about survivor.
For those who dont know...survivor is the show that brought reality tv in our living rooms...it changed tv for ever....18 strangers stranded in an island competing with and against each other to win a million dollars....it is a brilliantly conceptualized and finely executed cross between some of the most dirty moments along with some heart tugging ones....it has all the elements to keep you hooked.
Though it has an insane physical aspect, beating everyone else at strategy is the most fascinating part...how do u beat the other competitors while still managin to make them like you...ahh..therein lies the twist and the appeal of survivor...
It's highly recommeneded for everyone to watch..though not everyone seems to like it...
39 days,18 contenstants...in the end only one will remain to claim the million dollar prize
1 sole survivor

P.S.Go rob cesternino!!!

AHHHH....Football...

2006-02-23T10:26:00.001+05:30

Well this time i bring no introspective findings but only to reflect about my favourite game...football....to say that it's less of a sport and more of a religion is an understatement...the entertainment is usually riveting and some of the players do impossible things...but what i like most is...the curses
Somehow if your a football fan you can hurl abuse at anyone you want without any consequences...it's fun to see me when i go nuts and jump up and down in the room showing the finger to all the other team supporters..ahhh....what better way to let go...sat and sundays are now religiously spent watching tv,having coke or somethin,gettin fat and cursing your lungs out....oh yeah...
Go manu and real...

Scared of being Great?

2006-02-17T18:10:00.000+05:30

I usually read a lot of books so my viewpoints are always a little muddled having had so many influences...from osho to bill gates and Gandhi to jack welch i've swung from one side to another so my views almost never gel with many of my freinds....but recently i've started to notice one common thing in many of my friends and even strangers that i meet.....The fear of being great...

Put simply the fear of being great is usually the biggest fear in person...Now you probably think i'm nuts anyways so...why would a person fear being great....well beacause they dont know that they fear is in them....

What's the one thing society tells you to do....Conform.....You should be like everyone else kid....do what they're doing because they know what's right...get the best grades,be the best behaved,dont irritate or criticize,and never stand out the crowd unless your asked to....this i'm starting to realise is the biggest problem we face...from the day you are born you are told and shown how the world works and how your expected to follow "tradition".....

It is said that the fear of public speaking in people is greater than the fear of DEATH....and i've seen it too....people are terrified of going on stage and saying something....Why? because they'll get criticized and teased if they say something the herd doesnt agree too...or they'll get laughed at if they say nothing...
I have no problems with the crowd...i have problems with the people who should go on stage and speak....they wont take that chance because they fear being ridicluled...but they dont see that they could get applauded for what they say...it's the fear of being great...

I'm not good enough for the IIT's or the IIM's....this i hear constantly...It's for the nerds...Being good enough is not the issue...it's the fear of standing out ,of being different that's the issue....we fear being different because the whole world is meant for conformity...
This conformity is also seen in school...apparently the Einsteins and the David beckhams and the Bryan adams of the world are graded on the same system and supposed to do equally well at Physics?????

Unfortunately this fear is most in the spotlight in public speaking.
People often play the game not to lose...play it safe and you'll play another day...most never play to win...

On a lighter note....i see it before a proposal too...well..."dude what if she says no"?...to which i answer:-"Well what if she says yes?"....youre afraid of losin so u wont take the chance to win,the chance to be great....
On an even lighter note...i go on to explain that the chances of a yes are 50-50..those odds are better than any bet at any table at any casino in the world...basically u couldnt have a better chance!!!!...hehehe......

Fortunately for me,i've learned this early and in the hard way...I've been called.....stupid,immature,childish,ugly,fat,crazy,cunning,dark-skinned,short,blind,cute,funny,nice and everythin in between..so i've learned never to take any of it seriously....so ive never feared standing out..which i do anyways...

WE got suspended!!!!

2006-02-17T14:33:00.001+05:30

Wohooo...yeah baby....we finally climaxed our four enggg years with one spectacular incident...we walked out of a lecture which repeatedly tortured us for the last 6 weeks....so we got suspended...it wasnt even planned...i made the decision to leave myself and so did evryone else..it was unity like ive never seen....every single one walked...the scholars...the nerds...the ones who couldnt care less and ones along for the ride...it was cool...
But i have no sympathy for wat happened..it wasnt abt being shameless or having somthin personal...we said we will not sit for lecs which are of absolutely no use..
yeah ill be the first to admit i sit in lecs only for attendance...but this one was tortute...every time i sat...i felt like shooting myself....im not worried abt the consequences...but i feel it was neccesary...like i said before...i dont wanna waste my life no more....maybe i should not have seen rang de basanti...hehe...

I want those 4 hours back!!!

2006-02-04T07:59:00.001+05:30

In case you think this is about the state of the education system in india...it isn't.
Everyday i go to college and i sit for lectures and practicals and come back home having learnt absolutely nothing....Unfortunately i have the attention span of a fly but it's very funny for me to see what happens in class everyday.
The teacher walks in, starts teaching,spends the next hour confusing and boring the students,then asks questions the answers to which no one knows or is bothered to give,gets angry and pissed off calls us circus animals or some similar connotation and then proceeds to leave the class wondering why he bothered....

What i dont understand is why we are still taught in this archaic fashion when it's clear to see that humans just dont learn by listening but by doing....the more i think about it the more i realise that there's one thing they dont let you do:- make mistakes.How do humans learn:-By makin mistakes....by makin mistakes you learn how to walk,how to ride a bike,how to never tell a girl she look fat.(Oh wait...wrong post)
Anways i dont understand these teachers..... they get none, and i mean zero response from the students and still they do the same things. I mean come on... how can you do this for 10 years and still not change when you know that students are different today. It really bugs me because if it was me i'd quit such a unsatisfying job and do something else...but what irritates me the most is that i waste 3 to 4 hours of my life everyday learning nothin and just sitting there because i need 75% attendance...whats the logic behind this rule anyways.....(3 to 4 hours) X (4 years) of engineering is a lot of my life wasted....No wonder so many people drop out... it nonsensical to sit and learn in a system that is designed so that you learn the least...I'm in elex and telecom and im sure i could have learnt every subject the guys doing computers learnt alongside my own if i had those 4 hours back... imagine the possible avenues available to you if you knew twice as much...Job prospects go up,you'd get into a better company and get a higher pay...but that's not the point..i dont wanna waste my life everyday sitting like this....

Have you bought your happiness yet?

2006-01-27T19:09:00.000+05:30

I happened to go to Mcdonald's the other day after a long time...so i decide to have a Mcveggie and was in the dillema of whether to consume 500 hundred calories of a large coke when i saw that i could buy my happiness? You got that right folks! buy it today for just 75 bucks... now that's a deal ain't it.

There's a poster that says "Buy happiness for your entire family".It's a "happy" meal and it costs 75 bucks... i mean "Buy happiness for your entire family"?????....Not just you! your entire family!...... C'mon.

This really isn't anything against Mcdonald's (Though they're burgers are
ridiculously overpriced and small)..it has to do with what advertising does to you..
Consider this... a couple are in a car romancing when she softly kisses his neck... the next day in college she waits with bated breath... when she sees him she moves over and gives him room... but he takes one look.. then looks at the band-aid around his neck and then decides to ignore her.... so what's the moral of the story... all you women out there must have extremely soft lips because your boyfriend (who you spent the night with) WILL ditch you... so go get this lip balm...it'll save your troubles... Brilliant!(This ad airs on most major channels btw)
It's so subtle you have to give them credit... they don't tell you that your inadequate directly...they'll tell your subconcious that your not gonna keep a boyfriend if you dont buy it...This is as much true with men who somehow are supposed to be alpha males who can be bill gates and stallone all at once...

I hate it... i absolutely do... enough women get affected by this sort of shit...
Unfortunately most women think (subconciously) that if your actually ideal weight your fat.... and advertising attacks these most basic fears of inadequacy to sell...

i don't have a problem with the adverts themselves but with how much of this negative advertising is there...it's a complete bombardment to your subconcious every second.... notice how much negative advertsing you take in everyday and you'll begin to realise why teens have such a fear of inadequacy...so the next time you see this just observe the underlying theme and then you'll be immune...

All that bothers me....

2006-01-10T11:46:00.000+05:30

Are you standing in the grey between black or white,
left or right ,standing in the blackness of the night...
Why are we all continually searching for solitude,
When all we want to is to be understood.....

Gnawing within us it asks us to find our way,
True purpose beckons,yet...
Clouded by confusion, we're pushing it away..
A chasm lies now between the haves and the have nots,
Poverty or opulence,life only offers only stops..

I'm here without you,
losing my way...Clinging to memories,
i'm shouting in this vaccum..
Wondering what lies ahead...
I'm here without you,
But your still on my lonely mind
Trying to find, failing to understand..
I'm walking alone...

Life's so good at the moment,
But my dreams don't reveal your face.
The lines have blurred..the features,
Now impossible to trace...

Hope is our greatest strength and our biggest weakness...
If you want to change the world,let love be your energy..
Let it fuel your passion and drive you to your destiny
Let the purest emotion of all fill your heart.
Dont start,just fly and take everyone onboard
Soar through the skies....
Go quench your desires..

The musical chairs of life are funny to behold..
Sometimes warm as soft sunlight,
Sometimes stone cold...
Invincinble and powerless by turn,
Shall we go full speed ahead or
Will a u-turn suffice,think twice..
Every decision you take could be..
Your biggest mistake.

No one told me it would be this hard,
Someone please take me back to the start
When emtions start to fade,
When strength starts to wane,
Then maybe,just maybe,
Like the deserts need the rain,
A poet needs the pain.

Burly brawl

2005-12-31T15:12:00.000+05:30

Ok for those who live in mumbai this is not gonna be new but...
I went to mumbai to celebrate christmas and while returning home i was fortunate to take the mumbai local for an hour...This wasn't my first exp but this one was really good..

Ok so i'm carrying luggage so it's even more pleasant doing all this...i was quite looking forward to shoving people and cursing under my breath at people i'll never meet again so i prepared myself for it.The train comes whizzing by and already i can tell i'll have loads of people to curse..The train stops and i get shoved from
behind and so i return the favour by shoving the dude in front who does the same...

i get in somehow and in the anarchy that ensues i find place to hold myself straight up...only one person abused till now so i was pretty happy..Then the next station and then the next one and yeah here we go the whole planet wants to ride with me to
dadar...so bring it on i say...

There's a scene in LOTR part 2 where the king of rohan says"IS this it , is this all you can conjure Saruman" when at the start the uruk-hai are not having any effect and look like they're gonna lose cheap... and then they blow the wall to hell and i always say ki theoden ka popat ho gaya...

So i said the same under my breath to the mumbai local thinking i'm winning this utterly useless and time pass battle in myhead...And then bandra came.
We hit the motherlode now... the uruk-hai (read locals) came surging in ready to to tell me that i won the battle but not the war..In the movies there's always an arch nemesis to kill so i had one too..It was tall and obese had thinning hair and enough oil in that hair to single handedly run india for a day...I could also tell what it ate for lunch looking at the stained shirt so i hoped this battle wasn't mine..but the biggest heroes need the biggest challenges so i swallowed the red pill and jacked in...it came,shoved and conquered but when it wasn't looking it got shoved straight into me..round 1 and i stood firm... the train took off and the duel continues...i affectionately named it agent smith...

i was holding the thingy on the roof with both hands to prevent falling off with my bag in between my legs.But i fell trying to avoid serious humiliation... we all got squeesed together..i needed both my hands to hold on and was crushed on all four
sides.. however the worst was to come..as we reached another station the train lurched and caused smith to burp...and some of that pan and whatever it had for lunch sprayed straight into my ear.....
It was over and i had tried but spectacularly failed to keep clean...
Yuck...
But i did shove him on the way out...

Soul muting

2005-12-25T02:57:00.000+05:30

Well yello(that's how homer simpson says it) im back and better than ever.V1.1 baby!!..ok ok that's enough gloating..anyways...
MERRY CHRISTMAS To EVERYONE...

Today i went to church as usual for midnight mass and while sittin there i got to thinking about why i go to church... First of all i'm not an atheist..i have a firm belief in the concept of god but this isn't about that...
My head is usually full of crap..i usually think about 5-6 things at the same time so it's difficult to get any coherent thought going...This is why sometimes i like going to church...Once i get there i usually dont pray a lot or anything but i find that the peace and solitude offered there really helps me to think straight..it's sorta permits you to meditate without knowing how to properly focus..it mutes the volume in your head and focuses your thoughts...I never found going to church great until i started to use the time not to pray but to focus on everything in my head..i realised i ignore my thoughts in the daily hustle bustle and that can lead to a feeling of restleness without knowing what i'm restless about..Therapeautic in a sense,sittin there alone allows me to perform a google soul search if you will to help me on my way...i forget about deadlines and money and exams and everything else...i also realise it takes time to get into that frame of mind... people come in and pray for 5 mins without realising it takes more than that to really communicate,not with god, but with yourself... To be honest that's one of the most imp things i've learnt...it leaves me realaxed and focused at the same time... now i seem to understand why the older gen makes such a fuss about religion and also why we dont give it a chance...

Stuff

2005-11-27T00:14:00.000+05:30

this is what i got
The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart.

In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you.

You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

http://www.blogthings.com/keystoyourheartquiz/

Your Personality Is
Rational (NT)

You are both logical and creative. You are full of ideas.
You are so rational that you analyze everything. This drives people a little crazy!

Intelligence is important to you. You always like to be around smart people.
In fact, you're often a little short with people who don't impress you mentally.

You seem distant to some - but it's usually because you're deep in thought.
Those who understand you best are fellow Rationals.

In love, you tend to approach things with logic. You seek a compatible mate - who is also very intelligent.

At work, you tend to gravitate toward idea building careers - like programming, medicine, or academia.

With others, you are very honest and direct. People often can't take your criticism well.

As far as your looks go, you're coasting on what you were born with. You think fashion is silly.

On weekends, you spend most of your time thinking, experimenting with new ideas, or learning new things.

Saying goodbye to a legend---Roy Keane

2005-11-20T19:08:00.000+05:30

18th november 2005... The end of an era...Roy keane decided to quit my club after 12 and a half years of incredible service...i have one thing to say...Thank you... for everything.Never have i seen someone who had a will to win that consumed them so much..That night in turin where he sacrificed himself to get us to the final was something i'll never forget...The heartbeat of the most succesful team in our club's history has finally left after being the talisman to whom everyone turned in times when it all seemed to fall apart... So it came as a shock when i heard the news but but now i hope we can emulate the success we had when he was around. There isn't gonna be anyone to replace him no matter how much we try.
Thanks for the memories...

Disconnected in an increasingly connected world

2005-11-20T18:43:00.000+05:30

Yeah it's been a while,(Quoting staind!!) but i hope to update a lot more often now...anyways....
Do you ever get the feeling that your in touch with people but never really close...i refer to the paradox of technology reducing and creating distances at the same time.
Email and Sms are great ways to keep in touch but lately i get the feeling that i know less about people than when sms wasn't around.I'm in touch with more people than ever before yet sometimes i get the feeling that it's so superfical that that the real essence of communication is lost.You cant catch up with a person with 3 lines in an sms..it doesn't work..people seem to forget that you are not the same person that you were a week ago..So the new you has grown and learnt so much in say 3 months that many parts of your personality(i.e. the deepest levels) have undergone change changing your fundamental outlook..so an sms or an email(Unless it's really long) really doesn't allow you to 'catch up' to the person to really 'know' them.I feel this is why reunions are so popular... people actually stop and take a break from their normal routine to do one thing:- catch up.... Leaving a reunion gives you a distinct feeling of having a good sense of how friends have changed and grown...i know you cant have one all the time but somehow the belief of smsing means staying in touch has a underlying problem...like using a band-aid to heal a fracture...
Btw this isn't a rant against sms..hell no..it's cheap and great when your bored..but when i hear that people propose by Sms it's sort of bugs me...No balls,no glory i feel...but that's a different rant....

BLink!!!!

2005-09-26T19:37:00.000+05:30

Well i'm back and this time i bring new insights from another book i read.

Question:- how much time would you take to evaluate the effectiveness of a teacher.Or maybe a potential employee?2 days? 3 months? well research says it can be done in less than 5 mins.Suprised? Well dont be.

People we're asked to evaluate their close friends on the basis of 5 questions.Things like is he organised,compassionate,driven etc etc....So they all rated their friends.Then complete strangers we're asked to take a look at the rooms of the same people for 15 mins and rate them..Guess how well they did?Just as well as the "Close friends"

What i'm talking about is called the art of thin slicing.
Students in a particular class we're asked to evaluate their teachers in ten different categories.Then strangers we're shown A 3 SECOND VIDEO of the same teachers.They did rated the teachers just as the students did.Stunning? Yes.What's worse is that it goes against all logic.The more information you have the easier it is to make a decision right?Wrong.That maybe true only in some cases.

Consider this.A certain hospital had a problem that they had too many patients checking in for heart attacks.Doctors were swamped.Every one with a chest pain was being admitted.(because they always err on the side of caution.You could get sued if you sent someone having a heart attack home having diagnosed it as an asthma attack)

SO they made a heirarchy of three rooms.Observation,serious and ICU.Well that didnt help.They were still swamped.So what did they do.The head of the hospital implemented an algorithm(Made by someone else).This told the doctors to ask only eight questions and based on the answers they patients were either checked in or sent home(in case they had asthma or somethin minor).The algorithm was 70% better at discerning whether the patient needed to be admitted or not.

When the american army asked a few stockbrokers to come play simulation war games,the brokers did amazingly well.Why?Because just like army men,the brokers have learnt to make their decisions based on very limited information.They "thin slice" information to only what's relevant.That's the real world effect.

So why do i bring this up?It's estimated that by 2011,the world's coded information base(Books,mags,all reading material) will double every 11 HOURS!!!!Can you keep up?If we all want to go into management(and be good at it) we have to learn this art,because without it you'll probably have a nervous breadown by the time your 30.

For more info on this read:- "Blink"-malcolm gladwell.(I have it incase anyone wants it)
Adios
P.S. cheers to you two having gone 3 years and 9 months today.

The way we learn

2005-09-17T19:11:00.000+05:30

I started reading about how we learn a couple of weeks back and it was quite an eyeopener...

Basically we have three systems for learning; Visual, auditory and Kinesthetic(Feeling). Every one of us is more inclined to one of these systems and the stimuli which affect this dominant one have the most impact on us... It's not easy to tell which one of your friends uses which system but it's not that difficult either.

Visual--- usually sort things out visually.Their speech is loaded with phrases like-"It doesn't look right","I just cant seem to see the whole picture" etc.They talk fast and their breathing is shallow.

Auditory:-- Words like" It clicked today","I like the sound of it",It just doesn't
sound right".THey usually have resonant voices,and calm,even breathing.

Kinesthetic:-They usually choose their words carefully i.e slow talkers, have deep breathing and use words like"it just doesn't feel right","I can't get a hold of it","It's beyond my grasp"...

Cool u say but of what purpose...Well the problem comes when education imparted is primarily visual with little auditory input and no kinesthetic.Einstein was kicked out school for not being smart enough...Did you know that he said that one of the main reasons he came up with the relativity concept was because he tried to feel what it would be like to sit at the end of a beam of light...Can u see how it affects us..(I'm visual..You should have guessed...)

Suppose your a salesman trying to sell a car to someone
1.If he's visual you'd stand the best chance if you showed him pics,Brochures,stats etc..Will this work with an auditorily inclined person.Partly.
2.For him you would probably be better off letting him hear how the car soundsetc.
3.For a kinesthetic person It's best if you let him sit in the car,feel the steering wheel,the leather etc.

We can now begin to see how important it can be to make this distinctions so as make communication simple
so if your to be girlfriend is visual, don't propose by texting,Phone or email....!!!
So here's something to do.Next time u have to ask somemone for something, apply this technique and see how things turn out.Try it!!

2005-09-10T12:27:00.001+05:30

Ever since i've started putting little signatures at the bottom of my text messages things taken a cool twist.I don't put anything there that i don't absolutely believe in (unless it's funny ofcourse, in which case anything goes).
Every time i send a message i could get different responses.I could get ridiculed, laughed at, thanked or just ackowledged. All of us need a little inspiration every once in a while.But the fulfilling ones's are when my friends send their own little quotes back

Excerpts from some of the replies

There are three general events which happen to mankind ; birth,life and death.At birth we cannot sense,We suffer when we die and neglect to Live.
--- Sent by Girija Gaur

Love is invincible,There are no categories in it! Believe in miracles but don't depend on them.Better to understand a little than to understand a lot,Don't limit your challenges ,Challenge your limits
--- Sent by Girija Gaur.

You want and you get that's luck,you want and you wait that's time,you want and you compromise that's life, you Want and you wait and you don't compromise that's success
--- Sent by Ummehani

The intangibles of life

2005-08-31T00:39:00.000+05:30

Well, here we are again and this time i have a few questions for what seems to be a very limted Audience. It has to do with some of the intangibles i.e. the things that really don't have a physical presence yet seem to impact our lives a lot.NO i'm not talking about ghosts, or whatsoeveryoumay call them.I'm talking about things like say respect,honour,integrity,honesty etc.
How do we judge these things in a person is ofcourse a very subjective thing but none the less i wonder how much these impact our lives.It's quite a known fact that academic success(or say intelligence) plays only a 20% role in determining success while 80% are intangible's like compassion,understanding,determination,insight,guts etc. So how much do these actually play a part.Are they really that important or is it just that we'd like things to be that way.I believe they are.Ten years ago the argument between bussiness and morals raged but now has been settled with a company's values having utmost significance in it's working.Narayan Murthy once said that his company rarely had a problem making decisions between ethics in business simply because the foundation values were clearly defined and that nipped a lot of problems in the bud.So what do you think.Write in...

WOW!!!

2005-08-23T23:35:00.000+05:30

OK i'm not takin credit for this.This one was penned by Rucha.

I've dreamed of many dreams that never came true,
I've seen them vanish at dawn.
But i've realised enough of my dreams,Thank god,
To make me wanna dream on

I've prayed many prayers,But no answers came,
Though i've waited patient and long,
But answers came to enough of my prayers,
To make me keep praying on

I've sown many seeds that fell by the way,
For the birds to feed upon,
But i've held enough golden sheaves in my hand,
To keep me sowing on

I've drained the cup of dissapointment and pain,
And gone many days without song,
But i've sipped enough nectar from the roses of life,
To make me live on.....

WOW!!!

QUESTIONS???

2005-08-23T22:49:00.000+05:30

So ok im in my philosophical mood again.So i get to thinking.What is the life of dreams.Is it having everything u ever want or is it leaving the world with an indelible mark so you're remembered forever.And who's more succesful,bill gates or albert einstein. What success is to different people is what makes the world so diverse.But is there something,some common denominator which can tell you if a person is living the life of his dreams.
Where do u find the thin line between achieving and balance.Do u give up everything
to achieve your goals or is doing the right thing more important.or is there a third solution where u achieve both.
Am i supposed to think all this.Is ignorance bliss or is knowledge power?if you look around how many people are really happy?and if there are so many unhappy people then what do they all have in common
How do decisions affect the quality of life. And how do people forget what they really want and go off track.is it that easy.?

PRemier league and Mangal pandey

2005-08-14T17:48:00.000+05:30

1. Saw mangal pandey thought it was really good .yeah a bit long but it's storytelling pace is frenetic.and Aamir is good though somehow a maharashtrian actor would be best to play the character i feel.Anyways it was beautifully directed and shot.Rani looks really fiery in it.But it started to make me think.We know that rulers write history so how important is this movie in shaping the character of mangal pandey in history.because as of now all we have is 2 pages on him,not even a proper photo and now this movie.in the future parts of this movie based on folklore, not written history, will be accepted as history.funny how history is written.No history turns into folklore,folklore into myth and myth re written as history.
So how uch do wanna believe personally i like him being projected as a hero even if there is evidence that he did what he did in a drunken state.Projection of a man into a folklore hero mostly helps people to remember the sacrifices made.

2.EPL the season has started and manu must win theres no alternative so i hope to see my team kick Chelsea's sorry A** ..
MANCHESTER UNITED FOR LIFE!!!

The Beginning Of the End

2005-07-31T15:27:00.000+05:30

Ok this one is a little weird but do you get the feeling that the world is heading for a catastrophe?I mean look all around , things seem like the world is going to hell in a handbasket.I know it's sounds crazy but like the dinousaurs and rome every civilization reaches it's height before it collapses.Then we start again apparently having learned lessons but not really.9/11 started it.You have the tsunami, eatrhquakes, oil fires, suicide bombings, iraq,the humanitarian crisis in darfur, and now the floods in mumbai.The heaviest rainfall in a century,950 mm in a day.Seems like the flood to wash away the sinners eh?.It's weird but all around you you cant seem to see anything else.Death,destruction and lives washed away in an instant,Power in the hands of the men who use it to feed their own greedy ambitions.Is this the price that we pay for making the same mistakes as we did previously with ancient civilizations.So fat having had all the luxuries of life we've become blinded to the truth unable to see or even care for the sordid conditions in which others live.Let's face it our biggest motivation is to earn money to live rich,comforatble lives,oblivious to the apathy all around us.We choose to ignore these because it's too painful to face.I mean who in their right mind would give up their car to save their enviornment.But now every six months we try haplessly to control nature's fury.An angry planet,obese kids,drunk parents who get divorced like it means nothing.To borrow a line from the Matrix,Human beings are a virus, Feeding and raping and pillaging until nothing is left.All that's left to happen is a nuclear third world war.So maybe we can find another planet to destroy.Mars anyone.The world is praying out for a Mahatma.one with enough courage and integrity to change the world.but there is still hope.Human's are slowly waking from luxurious slumber to move to a more healthy lifetsyle and cleaner air.The age is wisdom is near im sure.Where when two people compete they look for a third solution,one that elevates the quality of life of both.Thank God India is still hanging on to tradition.Our strength will make sure that we survive.

Qoute-27/7/05

2005-07-29T00:34:00.000+05:30

Pain is temporary.It may last a minute,or an hour,or a day, or a year but eventually it will subside and something else will take it's place.If i quit IT WILL LAST FOREVER.
-Lance Armstrong

P.S. congratulations Lance.AN inspiration for the uninspired.

Tell me if ya like it

2005-07-26T16:29:00.000+05:30

In what direction does this life lead?
Fate or free will, in which do we trust?
Instant decisions , perpetual consequences indeed.
Destiny lies in decision,
Whether we shine , whether we rust.

Do you feel incomplete, does it feel like a jigsaw,
In search of the missing piece,
Shooting in the dark, only blanks we draw.
Blazing night lights, all pervasive hawk eyes,
The Stillness in the eye of the storm answers our cries.

All you ever wanted is love,
But you never looked hard enough.
All you ever wanted to be,
Is to live in perfect symmetry.
Do you see the world in black or white?
X or Y, fight or flight, day or night.
Go free to see the colours, and be all that you can be,
All the risks to take, find your own destiny,
A masterpiece to create, one life for all to see.

Now everything flows from nothing,
The world glistens and you’re flying.
See it in the new sunrise, see it break on your horizon.
No longer part of the system,
Through space your star is streaking.

The tour de france.. and Live 8

2005-07-03T15:48:00.001+05:30

Hey everyone the tour de france is on and im rooting for lance armstrong to win an unprecedented 7th title in a row. what this man has done is absolutely inspiring. You should check out his life story to see how remarkable it is to achieve what he has.

War of the worlds: spielberg has done it again. more than anything it's the scale of the movie that left my jaw on the floor..It was really awesome seein that cathedral shakin..A sappy endin for sure but i loved the suprises along the way(The train scene comes to mind). so go watch it.Next week FANTASTIC FOUR(with Jessica Alba..Yummy).

Live 8:- i think it was the first time concerts were held simultaneously in 8 countries.It was for a good cause too. All and all a great event

signin off:-Go federer..

Yello im back:- batman,coldplay,san andreas and placements

2005-06-27T01:05:00.000+05:30

hey everyone im back and hopefully u people will get off ur ass and post a comment..

1. coldplay, the new album- i havent heard the whole of X&Y but Speed of sound was an awesome song.. u have to listen to it if u havent heard it. long live VH1

2.San andreas.. not everyone plays games i know but this one is so big i keep tryin to figure out how they managed to make everythin a seamless axperience..

3.Batman. finally a movie worth the comic. made by cristopher nolan. the guy who made memento. if u havent seen memento then go see it. it took top honours in many film festivals. the batsuit is awesome. but the batmobile is like a on oversized tank on steroids.(in Black i might add).eight different versions were made of it costing millions. and it's real. no CG. well almost none.When u see it flyin through the watrfall thats a real 5000 pound machine flyin through the air. really cool.enginner's should check out www.howstuffworks.com so see the process of creating the batmobile.Next time... the JOKER. gonna be awesome.Bring on war of the worlds.

4.Placements:-I'm not really eligible having 57% and all but still it's quite a weird and funny experience. i keep gettin the feeling that i can present better than those HR people from the companies. I'm sure im not alone.

Quote for The day-6/8/2004

2004-08-06T23:14:00.000+05:30

Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it. Because the dream is within you, no one can take it away

Cool Story

2004-08-06T22:59:00.000+05:30

There was a hermit who saw a scorpion floundering in the water.He tried to save it by stretching out his palm,but the scorpion stung him.The hermit still tried to get the scorpion out of the water,but the scorpion stung him again.Someone nearby asked him to give up as the scorpion was hurting him.but the sagelyman said,"by nature scorpions sting and to me love comes naturally.Why should i give up my nature?"
Do not give up loving.Do not give up your goodness,even if people around you sting

AMAZING FACTS

2004-08-01T13:59:00.000+05:30

Did you know that the average lead pencil can draw a line that is almost 35 miles long or you can write almost 50,000 words in English with just one pencil? Amazing fact! Now imagine an eraser that could match it !!!

Did you know the first bicycle that was made in 1817 by Baron von Drais didn't have any pedals? People walked it along

A galactic year is 250 million Earth-years. This is the time it takes for our solar system to make one revolution around the Milky Way Galaxy.
A cesium atom in an atomic clock that beats over nine billion times a second.
A jiffy is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. Thus the saying, I will be there in a jiffy.

Back in 1920, the Russian transplant pioneer Serge Voronoff made headlines by grafting monkey testicles onto human males
(personal comment-YUCK!!!)
It takes the Hubble telescope about 97 minutes to complete an orbit of the Earth. On average, the Hubble uses the equivilent amount of energy as 30 household light bulbs to complete an orbit.

Quote for The day-1/8/2004

2004-08-01T13:32:00.000+05:30

HAPPY FREINDSHIP'S DAY EVERYONE

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. -- Albert Einstein

Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. -- Henry Ford

What is Phi??

2004-07-29T06:38:00.000+05:30

Chances are you've heard of pi i.e. 22\7 but have you heard of phi-1.618??It's called god's number.why you ask?Measure the distance from your head to toe .Divide by that from your belly button to your toe.Roughly it should be 1.618.Guess the ratio of the no of female bees to male bees in every beehive in the world.Same.Dist from your shoulder to fingertips divided by distance from elbow to fingertips. 1.618.This number occurs almost everywhere in nature.The distance of venus from the sun divided by the distance from mercury to the sun is 1.618 and this is true for every planet to an accuracy of almost 0.00043.Stunned yet?well i was.So visit
http://www.GoldenNumber.net

Quote for The day-28/7/2004

2004-07-28T01:50:00.000+05:30

Obstacles don't have to stop you.
If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.
Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it
- Michael Jordan

How Stuff works

2004-07-27T23:33:00.000+05:30

Ever wonder how some of the stuff you see around you works.Well i have for a while.For example what do they really mean when they say that FRIENDS was the highest rated show on T.V.what exactly is quicksand?Did you know that the human body as an engine works at effeciency of more than 120km per litre.Put a human on a bicycle at that effeciency can go upto 500 km/litre!!!This is why most people are fat.The human body is way too effecient.To find cool facts like this go to http://www.howstuffworks.com

Hello Everyone WELCOME

2004-07-27T23:17:00.000+05:30

Hey everyone,this is Rohan. This is my first blog.If you don't know what a blog is then think of it as an online journal.Somewhere where i can post stuff i feel is interesting.Whether you find it interesting is.... a different matter.
Anyways i'll be posting here quite regularly.If you want to share anything interesting then you can mail me and i'll put it here.