Things that matter ....

Unexpected Motivation

2011-12-03T11:43:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, you gain motivation from where you least expect it.

Just came back from a group cycling session at the gym. The workout comprised of a variety of (imaginary) flat terrains and hill climbs coupled with some anaerobic intervals driven by music (some typical hit songs that can be heard in any gym). Heard the instructor utter some sentences that I translated into some important life lessons..

"Music is going to slow down. Maintain your rythm. Test your limits; don't be fooled by the music."
--> There will be a time in your life wherein everything would seem to have slowed down (read "stability"). This isn't the time to relax. It's the time to work harder.

"This is for you, Guys! I hope we remain friends at the end of this session"
--> In life, you'll meet people who would appear to have come in your life to hurt you. Actually, they come in your life for some reason. It's for your own good.

"Don't stop if the music stops. The songs will end, but the steep slope of the imaginary hill you're riding your bike on, wouldn't suddenly disappear. Keep going !.."
--> Need I say more? :)

The Road Ahead or The Road Behind

2011-10-07T11:38:00.000-04:00

The Road Ahead or The Road Behind
by George Joseph Moriarty

Sometimes I think the Fates must
Grin as we denounce and insist
The only reason we can’t win
Is the Fates themselves that miss

Yet there lives on an ancient claim
We win or lose within ourselves
The shining trophies on our shelves
Can never win tomorrow’s game
You and I know deeper down
There’s always a chance to win the crown

But when we fail to give our best
We simply haven’t met the test
Of giving all, and saving none
Until the game is really won

Of showing what is meant by grit
Of fighting on when others quit
Of playing through, not letting up
It’s bearing down that wins the cup
Of taking it and taking more
Until we gain the winning score

Of dreaming there’s a goal ahead
Of hoping when our dreams are dead
Of praying when our hopes have fled
Yet losing, not afraid to fall
If bravely, we have given all

For who can ask more of a man
Than giving all within his span
Giving all, it seems to me
Is not so far from victory

And so the Fates are seldom wrong
No matter how they twist and wind
It is you and I who make our fates
We open up or close the gates
On the road ahead or the road behind.

Source: The Road Ahead or The Road Behind
Erik Proulx's Blog

Life

2011-09-30T02:23:00.000-04:00

Photo Credits: Google Images.

Deadline for personal goals

2011-09-11T12:58:00.000-04:00

Back in 2004, Dad bought a new home and we decided to have some custom furniture built on-site for it. The work completed a little late, and the carpenters gave us a bill, which was well above the market quotes we had received. In India, it is very common to haggle on prices of almost all the commodities and services a consumer may use. Dad, having lived in a metropolitan city for more than 25 years, was very well aware of the fair price to pay for the work done by the carpenters. He made a payment, and the carpenters accepted it after negotiating for a bit.

Here's where the story starts...

Source: Google Images

At ~ 10pm, we received a call from one of the carpenters. The person on the other side of the call was quite (obviously) drunk, and sounded very dejected. All I could hear was that he was sad because he had not met his goal. When I think of that incident, I phase out in a completely different level of thoughts.

The carpenter had a family in his village with 4 kids, whom he visited once every 6-8 months. He worked hard in the city, saved some money, and went back to his village with all the wealth he had amassed, including gifts for the wife and kids. A couple days spent with family, and he is back to business.

The part I want to highlight here is -- He had set a goal with a deadline. The goal of saving some amount of money and buying gifts.. all within 6 months. Unfortunately, this time around, he couldn't make it. This had led to disappointment.

I tried comparing his situation with the case of more than 90% people having jobs in this modern world. There are far too many similarities in the set-up than you can imagine. The only thing that is different in the two cases, is the "deadline" for personal goals and ambitions.

Forget the aspect of money for a while. Lets talk about goals.

Can the carpenter afford to not return to his village after 6 months? Could he `take it easy' for a couple months? Can he afford to loose track of his goal even for a single day? Will he be happy living in the city without honoring his responsibilities towards his family in the village? I keep going back to Chetan Bhagat's speech, where he said :

"Life is one of those races in nursery school. Where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble.."

More info. here.

In some ways, although the carpenter's race was long, he was lucky. He had a deadline to meet; Every 6 months! In the case of most people working from 9-5 daily, however, there are no strict deadlines (not for daily tasks, but for personal goals). "Stable income" is what people coin the term as.

Are people fooled to believe that they have ample time to do what they want to do? Do we, at some point along the way, forget what we are here for and loose track of our goals? Do we let the comforts of day-to-day life in the modern world lure us into believing that we have all the time in the world to realize our personal goals?

Finding motivation ...

2011-07-24T12:37:00.003-04:00

I've been in this mode several times in the past. This article, however, has made me re-think what to do if I land in that mode again in the future. Some of the views expressed in this article are contradictory to what most people (including me) believe in.

Start small. Really small. If you are having a hard time getting started, it may be because you’re thinking too big.

If you find inspiration and want to do a goal, don’t start right away. Many of us will get excited and want to start today. That’s a mistake. Set a date in the future — a week or two, or even a month — and make that your Start Date. Mark it on the calendar. Get excited about that date. Make it the most important date in your life. In the meantime, start writing out a plan. And do some of the steps below. Because by delaying your start, you are building anticipation, and increasing your focus and energy for your goal.

It’s probably the most common mistake that people make: they try to take on too much, try to accomplish too many goals at once. You cannot maintain energy and focus (the two most important things in accomplishing a goal) if you are trying to do two or more goals at once. It’s not possible — I’ve tried it many times. You have to choose one goal, for now, and focus on it completely. I know, that’s hard. Still, I speak from experience. You can always do your other goals when you’ve accomplished your One Goal.

Commit publicly: Now, you don’t have to commit to your goal in your daily newspaper, but you can do it with friends and family and co-workers, and you can do it on your blog if you have one. And hold yourself accountable — don’t just commit once, but commit to giving progress updates to everyone every week or so.

Get support. It’s hard to accomplish something alone.

Sounds interesting? Read it here.

The day you realize...

2011-03-25T20:57:00.005-04:00

...that you treat others better than yourself, is a very good day in your life. Firstly, it indicates that you are on the right track, and that you respect others. Secondly, this realization fosters better understanding of one's self and the way you live.

We need to respect ourselves just as we respect others. Respect -- here means understanding the limits of your capabilities, taking rest when needed, eating good food, doing regular exercise, and so on.

Sounds like a rant, doesn't it? As a matter of fact, it is one!

All I wanted to say to whoever reads this is:

"As you run the race in this increasingly competitive world, don't forget to take care of yourself." :)

(As you may have guessed by now -- this is kind'a "Note-To-Self" ;)

The Least You Could Do..

2011-03-04T17:48:00.008-05:00

Birthdays are always special. All the more so when a family member has one. On one such recent occasion, I decided to send some gifts back home (thanks floraindia.com). I was then talking on the phone and heard the following ..."Gifts are very good, but hey, you didn't come! (?)".

It was a perfectly valid comment. It really got me thinking. I had a realization about how all things we do are relative. In other words, the definition of "the least you could do" changes based on many external factors. People wish their loved ones by personally visiting them on their birthday. It is probably the least, one can hope, you can do for them. Today, however, I am thousands of miles away from my loved ones. The expectation of the "least I can do" to have a smile on their face -- has changed. What's bad is that instead of rising, expectations generally go down over time. Not meeting your family on such special occasions has become the norm of the 21st century.

I've always heard the funny jokes about how NRIs regularly send gifts/flowers, but come home just once an year, in the best case. It is only now that I realize what this means. It takes time for such things to sink in. And when they do sink in, you start questioning yourself; Why are you doing this?; About the career goals you have, versus the things you have been, and will be missing out on. All you can say at that moment is "Never mind" and move on, with the hope that one day you'll know the answers to all these questions.

Fall Colors

2010-11-21T12:02:00.004-05:00

For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad. ~Edwin Way Teale

Being Social..

2010-11-21T11:26:00.007-05:00

The interesting part is the message at the bottom-right corner of the pic. -- "Happiness is... being up to date".

I'm sure the message has several interpretations. But in the context of this tech-savvy world, Facebook/Twitter/Blogs have striven to help people experience it.

People (some of them still consider such things as utter nonsense/waste of time) spend more than 10% of their time on such social engagements in the cyber world. Considering an average of 85 years (minus ~10-12 years of childhood and ~10 years of old-age) that's ~6 years of our Lives!

Now, that's some food for thought.

Learning += Fun;

2010-08-26T22:20:00.004-04:00

I like the humor here ..

... if we want to hear the sound of a dog without getting emotionally attached, we can create (instantiate) an ephemeral, temporary dog, and coax a little noise out of it before it disappears.

prompt> (Dog.new).speak # or more commonly, Dog.new.speak
Bow Wow

"Wait," you say, "what's all this about the poor fellow disappearing afterwards?" It's true: if we don't bother to give it a name (as we did for pochi), automatic garbage collection decides it is an unwanted stray dog, and mercilessly disposes of it. Really it's okay, you know, because we can make all the dogs we want.

Seriously, I'd love to have dogs if the aforementioned operations were true in the real world.

Jai Hind !!

2010-08-14T13:48:00.003-04:00

Jana Gana Mana - YouTube Link
A tribute to the Indian Army - YouTube Link

Build yourself a great story

2010-08-03T22:58:00.003-04:00

Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO) explains the power of choice over gifts at the Princeton University Youtube Link

Must See!!

2010-05-22T19:53:00.002-04:00

Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen! Youtube Link

Very inspiring..

2010-03-20T12:32:00.002-04:00

Oprah Winfrey's 2008 Stanford Commencement Address Youtube Link

A Sea Change

2009-12-30T09:06:00.006-05:00

"A Sea Change"...that's probably the best way to describe my life in 2009. As we all bid adieu to this wonderful year, there are a couple of things to be noted.

Some important things I have learned/experienced/heard/read over the course of 8-10 months (which btw, is the essence of my blog "Things that matter"). These things are important to formulate thoughts and build solid foundations for 2010.

NOTE: I do not claim to be an expert on these things, nor do I believe I have learned them. I do, however, would like to learn these things asap.

* Appreciate the good things that happen to you, however small they are. There are people who don't even get food to eat and a place to sleep. You are way too lucky to be dissatisfied.

* More good things will happen, but only if you appreciate the ones that have already happened. It's all about understanding the value - the value of the gift called life.

* Be humble about your achievements. Not just because it's a good quality to have. But because there are people who fail, and when you brag, they are the ones who feel the most. It's just a matter of time before they work hard and win. So, stop bragging and be humble about your achievements. You are just another person in the universe doing something for your own good. There's no big deal in it.

* Never forget the people who have helped you. Go an extra mile to express your feelings towards them, never hesitate to thank them enough.

* Be polite in your dealings. You will meet several kinds of people in your life. Some people will point out your mistakes even after 8-9 months. That's Ok. You were wrong, that will never change. If you are wrong, accept it and move on.

* Be social. Loneliness is a killer. If you are not a party animal, there are hundreds of people like you everywhere ;). Get in touch with them. Your time is too precious to be spent in loneliness.

* Some people will be jealous of your achievements. That's ok. That can hurt you only if you are not sure why you have been successful (if at all). If you know, it doesn't matter.

* Living miles away from your family and friends does have its toll on your life. Life's full of compromises. It's all about making choices. There is no guarantee that your choices will always be right.

Okay, enough of the serious stuff/ramblings. Time to make the most of what I've got, and make a sincere effort to achieve things that I haven't. At the same time, it's time to realize that life isn't just about achievements. There's something more to it. It's time to explore "that" dimension of life.

It's time to work harder.

Cheers for 2010.

Dooriyaan.. (Nice song)

2009-10-16T22:47:00.003-04:00

Dooriyan song - Love Aaj Kal Youtube Link

Computing @ Margins

2009-05-08T00:22:00.004-04:00

How often do you get a chance to shake hands with the IT, tourism, technology minister of a country? Luckily, I just did. The Margins Symposium was a gathering of intellectuals for tackling some of the complex questions that the world faces today. You build cool iphones. Nice mash-up APIs, Cool Desktop Gadgets... and so on. Can these solve the problems of a less privileged sector of the society? The answer is an obvious - "No".
The question is.... how much of the technology that we churn out every single day is really relevant at the grass-roots level. How much of this can be applied and be useful in the far ends of the world where sustainable technology and business models are the need of the hour?
The Conference was really a gathering of people with vested interests in solving the problems of the Margins...or to put in politically correct words.."solving the problems of the people who are marginalised (due to circumstances)"
Some beautiful insights were made during the Q & A sessions....and i will "(TRY)" to quote one .."While attending a lecture as a student in a University, we scribble things in our notebooks. Sometimes, we hear about something important and write something in the Margins of the notebook. Whatever we write in the Margins emphasises/clarifies/reinforces the main content written on that page."
I was wondering about how can someone even think of such an amazing analogy between the "margins of a notebook page" and "THE Margins"- referring to people or a strata of society.
What's implied is that... when you build solutions for solving the problems of the poor/developing nations, the technology that you use is put to test. If it succeeds there too, it's definitely sustainable. That reinforces its strength. However, if it fails, one needs to re-think its use even in more advanced set-ups.

Another interesting point was made regarding the "contextualisation". I think that contextualisation is a universal concept and must be applied in several scenarios. We cannot imagine any business to succeed without adapting to the local trends and demands. As an illustration, there's a running joke ...a funny e-mail actually... about how a soft-drink company failed miserably in some Arabian country. The reason was that they had put on advertisement which when read from left to right sounded perfect. But it had a completely opposite meaning when it was read the other way round (Like Urdu is printed and supposed to be read right-to-left). This is a perfect example of what contextualisation means. Indeed the failure to contextualise can have major impact on most businesses.

Some more (nice) points:
"If you don't have enough clarity or cannot understand the complete problem, make an effort. But be flexible."
"Just because a solution does not scale-up well, does not mean its a complete waste. Who says that systems must always be huge, centralised and uniform. Sometimes 10 small and different solutions solve a complex problem more effectively."
"People who have problems do not want someone else to design a complete solution. After-all, who can design a better solution than the ones who know the problem. The important thing to do is to empower people to solve their own problems. Technology plays a vital role in this empowerment."

Yes, you can..

2009-04-20T18:06:00.008-04:00

When things were on your side and everything was just working your way, you did not change. You were calm and normal as ever. Your feet never lost contact with the ground.
Now, If things aren't quite working your way; you need to live by the same terms. And wait till the times change; or be a catalyst for the change.
Yes, you can.

Nice Quote..

2009-04-18T23:38:00.002-04:00

"Above all, don't fear difficult moments,the best comes from them." - Rita Levi Montalcini.

u know u need some "change" in life when....

2009-04-12T09:46:00.005-04:00

u dream of writing a script to take care of your daily tasks....
gimme a break!

Random Thoughts

2009-04-11T20:17:00.003-04:00

In Life you meet a few funny people. They expect you to behave in a certain way or adjust, without any reason. It's important to remember that you cannot just expect the whole world to be "good" to you unless you be the same. And yeah...you can "expect", but never "assume".

Buckhead Church & a Brazilian brunch ! :)

2009-04-05T12:36:00.016-04:00

What an awesome start to a Sunday! Thanks to Adria and Shafi, we visited a Church in the morning to attend a (Palm Sunday) Service. It was amazing. Buckhead Church is not quite like a traditional church. No idols at all. The architecture of the building is more like a Software Company. It has a huge auditorium with 6k+ seating capacity, pool tables, kids' games, discussion rooms and separate auditoriums according to age groups.
I was amazed to find out that they have adapted so well to the 21st century culture. It's more about giving knowledge in a way that can be easily understood and assimilated by the current generation.
If you look at it in a more elaborate manner, there is a great deal of unconventional effort to be extremely flexible about how one can share the message of God. After all, the Message is important! ...regardless of the way it's been delivered. I liked that !
So, we had a "rock band" opening the Service. It was hilarious. A perfect way to energise everybody.
I had never seen something like that in my life! I had the perception of a church as being a peaceful, sacred place of worship. But today, that has changed. It's modern, but its just beautiful. Not just the Music.. but the lyrics played an important part, too.
Some of the lines from the (kinda rock) song are...and i quote >>
"show your light. let the whole world see." and so on ... it was great !
..
..
some pics: does it look like a Church ? :-P
..

..

.......pic : @The Band at the Church
..

Later, we went to a Brazilian Cafeteria to have breakfast. I loved the cheese balls and the Brazilian Coffee. We couldn't have asked for a better place. It was just too good :-D

:)

The other end of the line

2009-04-02T21:57:00.010-04:00

Jesse Metcalfe & Shriya Saran create magic.
Anupam Kher at his "patent" best.... What a performance! Kudos!
A great movie. Romantic, exciting, funny ,........Just too good. :-)
Does anybody have soundtracks of the movie?
Update
I could just find one..
Pretty Woman

First snow!

2009-04-02T17:54:00.007-04:00

Okay, this happened about 2-3 weeks ago. I admit that i m too late in posting this. However, I need to capture this moment on my blog... even though it's late to do so!

..

..

..

..

happy for [them] :-)

2009-03-29T14:08:00.002-04:00

gonna miss [them] though.

but the happiness out-weighs anything else :) :D

[]==Personal. no questions, please.

I have started Tweeting

2009-03-10T21:07:00.002-04:00

here's the link to my Twitter Homepage

Jim Rogers on Global Markets

2009-02-24T20:30:00.003-05:00

extremely frank... truly universal view on the current market scenario...
definitely worth sharing ...

Oscar for Rahman

2009-02-22T23:07:00.002-05:00

A very proud moment for India :-)

Jai Ho ! :-D

Something different...

2009-02-20T21:15:00.011-05:00

I recently had an opportunity to attend a Humanitarian Logistics Conference, here in the US.
Just as I had envisaged, it was an amazing experience. With more than 10 presentations by biggies like Red Cross, US-AID, C.A.R.E., W.F.P.(World Food Programme), Waffles....it had to be great !

It was good to see so many people gathered at one place for a "good" reason ... surprisingly, not just for themselves... but for the entire world. For the needy. For the poor. For the victims of disasters. For improving preparedness towards disasters. For a better future.

It was great to hear people talk about the global factors...right from the developed countries to the far ends of Zambia, Ethiopia and the Asian subcontinent.
For me the most eye-opening quote from the conference was.... And I quote,
"Every 5 seconds that we spend here.... a child is loosing its life somewhere in this world due to hunger. Whats frustrating is that there's enough food in this world. But its not reaching the right place at the right time. Thats why we should work ....work harder ...and be quick!"
....this was said by someone from the W.F.P..

Some Interesting Videos:

1) A Time for Action?

2) Another very good take-away from the Conference was this splendid video (again from the W.F.P.)

3) Info about the W.F.P

V-Day special (b'lated)

2009-02-15T01:21:00.006-05:00

its Feb 15th...just a lill' bit late to post this .... however, for singles like me ....how does it really matter? ;-) hehe...

wonderful message in an awesome photo!

Photo Courtesy: Xpressions (http://www.kkonline.org -- mailing list)

Breakdowns happen.....

2009-02-15T01:16:00.002-05:00

........the question is, how can we change them into a Breakthrough....

All good things.......

2009-01-03T23:13:00.002-05:00

........come to an end. n so do Vacations. Can't help. :-|

....because I think it's funny ;-)

2008-12-31T18:01:00.005-05:00

int rand(void);

2008-12-26T12:19:00.005-05:00

Watched a random set of movies in the December break and I am trying to write a Random post to list this random set of movies so that random people can read it randomly :-P

basss.... faar pakaav joke hota...

List of movies:

Rock-on -- yeah i know, m quite late in watching this one

Flavors -- its about life in the US, esp. from the POV of parents

The Terminal -- The movie with the mysterious "Republic of Krakozhia"

Cast Away -- too good (i know .... u wont believe that i'd not seen that yet)

Transporter Part I -- got to watch the next parts .... dunno when i 'll do that

Seven Pounds -- My first movie in a US Theatre

Ghajini -- Nice, typical bollywood style Masala movie. Aamir deserves to act in much better movies though. My second movie in a US Theatre.

// Added on 30th Dec.

A Beautiful Mind -- Awesome movie! mind-blowing

Slumdog Millionaire -- A R Rehman Rocks! gr8 music.. nice story-line....its a bit weird to watch Mumbai (as it's shown in the movie)...but its a fact we can't refute.

// END: Added on 30th Dec.

Just to make the post truly random>>
I hate people at the Theatre who do not wait till the Movie ends. How can u watch a movie for 3 hours and just get up and get out when theres just 2 min. of reel left ?
People tend to loose interest once they know how that particular movie would end. Same happened in the case of the movie - Ghajini; at a Theatre in the US (so called sophisticated Desi public in the US). There is a song at the very end of the movie. People just got up and went out of the theater. I consider that synonymous to -- going for a wedding, eating lots of food; and then not meeting the newly wed couple to offer good wishes... its that bad! Now one might argue that skipping the "obvious" end-part is to avoid the rush at the Exit of the Cinema Hall. But guys ! ...if you are so busy ...don't watch a movie !!

Free Time has never been more precious

2008-12-23T01:35:00.002-05:00

This is precisely what I feel right now.

don't be serious, be sincere

2008-11-28T21:31:00.002-05:00

something i must learn and assimilate ! ASAP!

I just read about Chetan Bhagats' Speech at Symbi on one of my favorite blogs/groups - Protocols.
I must say... I have learned a lot from that post.
Some of the very important points from that speech >>
"Life is one of those races in nursery school. Where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with life, where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die."

"About nurturing the spark - don't take life seriously. One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student asked him if these jokes would take away something from the yoga practice. The teacher said - don't be serious, be sincere."

"Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices."

"three things - reasonable goals, balance and not taking it too seriously that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in life that will threaten to completely put out the flame. These must be guarded against. These are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and loneliness of purpose."

Thanksgiving break

2008-11-28T20:14:00.002-05:00

Gosh!
i 've been so used to the fast-paced life here @gatech...
I have a 4-day thanksgiving holiday... and i absolutely dont know what to do!

seriously ...this happens when u r always pressed for deadlines... be it projects, homework, ur own work ... that if at all u get some free time... u dont know what to do with it! and then>> u waste all the free time being lazy or watching www.ndtv.com Live... for more than 3 hours at a stretch.

with so much to do in the future...its one of those weird situations ...where u have free-time...u can enjoy ... but u are not able to ! just cause of the pending work that u ought to do after the break...and the sheer magnitude of the same.... haunts u ...all da time.
when m i gonna get over this?

My Blog = Links + YouTube??

2008-11-25T19:12:00.004-05:00

yeah ... those might be ur feelings when u see most of my posts off late...
they are all about some cool links or some YouTube videos...and NOT about what I feel about something...and NOT about me .... which should be the case - ideally; for someones blog!
hmmmm....
point noted...
but i want my blog to not only work as a reflection of what i feel; but also as a storehouse of all the good things I have come across in my life.
and therefore.... i cannot avoid putting in some more "COOL" links...
hehe ... its just too tempting to post it here...can't help. ;-)

The Story of Stuff

... its really worth the time(its a 20 min video)

Antaragni .... too good ....

2008-11-17T15:39:00.001-05:00

Aadhantari

2008-11-15T18:19:00.003-05:00

A wonderful composition.... a soothing backdrop of music and a true to the heart voice!
A must-see video; especially for all Indian students in the US.
Hats off to the composer and the narrator! great job..
>>

100 days in the US

2008-11-08T18:28:00.007-05:00

So, what did we (me n my roomies) do to celebrate this occasion?. Well, we cooked some Pav Bhaji. As if that wasn't enough, we followed that up with ice-cream.

Its a fact that Life teaches u lessons. Indeed, Very important ones!
What I found interesting is... the observation that it can teach you *many* of them together; that too, in a very small amount of time. This is precisely what has happened with me in the first hundred days here. There have been some wonderful experiences as well as some harsh ones. But going through all that was.. and still is, surely worthwhile!
I have noticed one thing. We all live in some sort of a cocoon. That's where we set up our own world. That's where we feel safe and protected. That's where we think what we are! may-be good.. may-be bad. Many of our skills, our abilities, our behavior are determined by and confined to this cocoon. The real test is whether you are able to be "yourself" outside this cocoon.
Its a matter of time which will really tell you whether you were successful in being "yourself"; but for that.. you need to step out of your world - your self-created, and virtual (non-existent in reality) cocoon. This is really the essence of what I feel being here, as a student. Now whether I succeed being "myself" here or I don't - is a different story. But in just 100 days, I know myself better. Both in terms of my strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, I feel that taking this test is surely one of the best decisions I have made in life.

A nice view on the global economic crisis from Wharton

2008-10-28T19:36:00.003-04:00

"There are always three speeches, for every one u actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish u gave"-Dale Carnegie

2008-10-04T19:10:00.004-04:00

Such a wonderful quote, I must say !
Time n again... i hv realized that speaking in front of a large group of people...and making presentations(technical/general)... giving a speech ...have never been easy.
Personally, I have seen myself evolve a lot in all the aforementioned categories.
As students or "just-in" professionals, we hardly get any opportunity to "speak-up" at places where ur voice matters. But out of the little opportunities I have had, I have miserably lost almost all of 'em. But there's a lot of change.
I have certainly realized that the fear of facing the world and making a speech in front of people emanates from the fact that you are not confident enough.
The confidence required is built over time. Its a long process. It requires in-depth knowledge about what you are trying to speak about OR the confidence that whatever little knowledge u have about the topic u are speaking about; is more than sufficient.
I vaguely remember, the last time I had such an opportunity was when I was explaining a group of under-grad students; the importance of the under-grad final year project. I completely messed up. I used some catchy-words toooo many times. To the point that the 2 minute talk sounded boring even to me.
The idea was good. Intent was pure. Approach was correct. But the means were wrong.
There was another instance when I was asked to introduce myself in front of a LOT of "good/great" people. I don't say I was that bad. I introduced myself properly. My voice was just a bit shaky though. But when it comes to communication, I would want to see myself to scale-up to perfection. Cause without effective communication, I don't think one can survive in this competitive world.
Now talking about the evolution: Last month I has a presentation in class. I had decided not to use those "catchy words" again. Keep it simple!
And... it went really well. I was satisfied that I had put forth my idea in an effective manner.
These little things give a lot of satisfaction. I have realized that I like technical presentations. I like to see people express their ideas and I like to do the same.
I wonder when I will get to speak next about something interesting in front of a large audience.
But what da heck.... m ready! & if I falter - I 'll try again. Bring it on.
:)

y should u Blog(v)?

2008-09-27T17:22:00.004-04:00

One of my friends has put up a nice post Evolution of a Blogger about the different phases through which a typical blogger goes and how he/she evolves into - what i call a "full-time" blogger.
What I liked most about that post was a reference to Stevey's Home Page. Its just too good. and this might also help you to put off people who keep on asking u "Why do u blog?" kinda questions time and again to discourage you from doing so.

something i was not gonna post..

2008-09-25T23:12:00.007-04:00

I had written this post from my own experience just before departing from India.
At that time, I found this post a bit too senti-types. In a conscious effort to keep senti / boring posts out of my blog, I somehow decided not to post it. Luckily it was saved as a draft in my Gmail. After reading it, I could relate with most of the things that I had written at that time and the fact that I felt ...and still feel exactly the same, makes this post quite special.

>>>>Jun 30 2008
Life's never gonna be the same again !

So.... how does a typical Indian student feel before going abroad for studies?
Its a weird feeling.I must say.
A feeling wherein you know that every single effort, every little penny that goes in after this stage is gonna be for good; but the very fact that life's gonna change forever... is really difficult to understand and express.
Your people, your belongings.. for that matter everything around you .. looks so important. You understand their value and the role they play in your everyday life.
Something within ...stops you from going away from all this .... but then you feel you have indeed come a long way after a lot of hard work ...and that you ought to move ...move ahead.. on the path of life.
You understand how much people have helped you .... you decide that you must reciprocate ...but then ...you have to move ...you have to move ahead ...there isn't much time left.

You decide to take the challenge...battle it out...win ... and come back One Day...
and in silence you pray, hope and eagerly wait.. for that ...Golden Day!
>>>>

A very touching Marathi article...

2008-09-11T14:29:00.003-04:00

Click on the image to enlarge...

things that matter....and most of them are now ..far ..far away ...

2008-08-04T19:12:00.008-04:00

so here i am ... in the US of A...
just wanted to note down a few things out of the million ones i miss a lot...
this is not the senti types blog where i note down all my friends and family members names....and ..all the "things that matter" ...etc etc ...oh pls.... come on... its obvious that i miss all of them sooo much ...

what i want to note down here ....are a few interesting things that i never thought played such a important role in my day to day life...
car/bike : its just been a couple of days here ... i ve been walking a lot. sometimes i get a feeling... y cant i just take the keys and ride off to the nearest bus stop or grocery or pizza place.
food : its soo damn expensive here ...
i never really cared while ordering a cuppa coffee in CCD/barista back in India ...
but here ... one automatically becomes so conscious even b4 entering a Starbucks. To avoid temptation, we decided not to enter one ;-)
so ...heres what i miss... Vaishali Rupali Amrapali Relax Ambrosia CCD Barista Sujata-Mastani ZKs Mc Donalds CPK Food Court Big Bazzaar Live kitchen and last but not the least Kalyan Bhel ;-) obviously ...how can i forget that ? :-P
some other things : my Guitar ... yeah ...i know that i hardly used to play my guitar when in India ... but just the realization that it was there ...right in my room ....was just great !
my bed...my PC... etc etc ...the list goes on and on ...
now before this post becomes one (of the many) boring post(s) ...(or has it become one already ? :p ) i guess i should post it right away and stop adding things to it.

Now ... Thats Shopping!! ;-)

2008-07-20T00:27:00.012-04:00

:-P
trust me ...
I m very bad at shopping ...
I bargain for the things I really dont want to buy. Effectively, I end up getting a good bargain and then decide against buying it! hehehe...
On the other hand ... if I like something...i just jump on it...! buy it without even thinking of asking for a better price ;-)
well.. thats me ! and thats y I need someone to accompany me while shopping...always... :-S
infact... thats y i hardly ever go shopping... ;-)
but this time around it was quite different. I "just had to" shop. It was inevitable. Moreover, a friend agreed to accompany me.
Thanks to the end of season sale happenin' everywhere, I got a fair price on almost everything. (30% to 50% off everywhere...now u know what a "fair price" according to me is!)
Some things were quite amusing. I m ignorant of so many things. I had to buy a suit and could not try out a Tie :-(
I came home and then did a bit of google(damn! i m succha typical software guy :-S ) and found this How to tie a Tie ..quite useful! The website has very detailed diagrams of how to tie a Tie in different styles. I could not actually try it ...cause I forgot to buy the Tie that day :-P ...but thats another story ..hehe ;-)

Yesterday was indeed a very touching day ....

2008-07-04T22:18:00.007-04:00

After working with the company for a significant amount of time and becoming a part of its family, I bid adieu to my colleagues as i decided to move on and go for higher studies.
I met a lot of people. We exchanged greetings and good wishes.

I realized that i 've been very lucky to have known such a lot of good people.
I strongly believe that an organisations biggest asset are the people who work there.
And that is why I also believe that.. come what may, the company will succeed.
I saw & learned a lot of things here, apart from the technical stuff. The indomitable fighting spirit, hard work, use of intellect to tackle some extremely difficult problems, confidence that even though we may be small but we can do wonders and the very important point of not to forget to "have fun" while we take up the challenges that life has to offer.( Lets see how I actually make use and implement what i 've seen and learnt here :-) )
As I physically move out of the company, I will still continue to be a part of its extended family and wish a lot of good things for it.
Thats what i call....a true start-up experience :-) ...and i hope there are many more to come :-)

Worli Sea face

2008-06-22T03:20:00.005-04:00

Probably.... the best thing about visiting the American Consulate @ Worli...
saw atleast 8-10 BMWs ... 3-4 Camrys ...1 Audi ...a real treat to the eyes... :-)
Worli Sea face is one of the hottest beach-front properties in Asia-Pac. ... with real estate rates ranging from 50k to 1 Lac per sq. ft.!!!!
no wonder y celebs like Gavaskar, most politicians, babus , ...Ambanis... have their abode in this area.
its hot, humid, polluted, crowded...but still ....Mumbai rocks ...big-time!

Reason often makes mistakes, but conscience never does !

2008-03-31T08:39:00.003-04:00

So, here we are !
Finally a post after a loonGG lonG time.... (actually it hardly matters , cause nobody reads my blogs :-P)
I had decided not to post new blogs cause i was really busy for the last few days.
But then, I had compelling reasons to post this !

It was a really fine Sunday! I was having a nice drive on the Camp streets. There was hardly any traffic cause most of the shops in Camp are closed on Sundays. Had put on some good "Akon" Music and was having a nice chat with a friend who was accompanying me.
Just as we drove past the East street entrance, BanG!! there was a huge sound and a solid jerk.
When we regained our senses, we realized that a car had rammed into our car from behind.
I was literally shocked to see that there was hardly any traffic around. I could not imagine how bad a driver can be to be so careless and fail to have control over his car in such normal driving conditions!
We got off the car and examined the damage(cause after all this would have been the background/intensity of our reaction).
Luckily, there was a minor dent near the lock and the rear glass was just fine!
I then turned around to see probably the world's most stupid driver.
He was in his 40's and had stuffed in more than 6 kids in his car. He immediately apologized and accepted his mistake. (No big Deal! He had to !)
His reasons >> well...one of the kids misbehaved and he was distracted and did not realize when he lost control.
Quite acceptable. No issues here. Happens.
But what he said later was cheap. He proudly said that he is the owner of a huge "chiwda" brand in the city and revealed that he is a big businessman. And assured that he's ready to pay all the compensation for removing the dent.
Dude....if u are the owner of a "chiwda" brand so whattt ?? If you think money can cover all your misdeeds then you are totally out of your mind!
But who will tell him! why will he listen ! and how would he understand!!
The next , he asked us to show the bill and come to his shop to take the money. I was like ...What the hell....! i said .... u r the one who has made the mistake....you must call me and enquire about the bill ....and U should come to pay the money ....cause U are responsible for this.
I dont think that would be much useful though.
The worst thing that he did according to me is the fact that he said >>
"I am the owner of a big business (in short ...he said "I am rich") and i m ready to compensate for this by giving money" .............in front of his Kids!!
What will his kids learn?.
They just got their lesson >> "their own dad used money to hide/cover his mistakes"....
I wonder why wont they try to do the same when they grow up?

Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.

2008-02-27T11:51:00.004-05:00

We had a small group of close friends while in college and we loved hanging out at some of the famous places in the city ...(needless to say- mostly food joints/restaurants)...
Once, one of us kept a Rs. 5 coin as a tip after having dinner.
One of my friends took the coin back, arguing that it isn't the right time to tip. Its your parents money after all. You should start "tipping" only after u start earning yourself.
Who are you to spend Ur parents hard earned money in the form of a tip ! ?

Ahh.... that made "Absolute" sense.....!

but NOT for long....

yesterday I got this in a forwarded mail from a friend and was certainly touched!
i thank all my friends for forwarding such wonderful mails :-)

" One day, a ten-year-old boy went to an ice cream shop, sat at a table and asked the waitress, "How much is an ice-cream cone?" She said, "seventy-five cents." The boy started counting the coins he had in his hand. Then he asked how much a small cup of ice-cream was. The waitress impatiently replied, "sixty five cents." The boy said, "I will have the small ice-cream cup." He had his ice-cream, paid the bill and left. When the waitress came to pick up the empty plate, she was touched. Underneath were ten one-cent coins as tip. The little boy had consideration for the waitress before he ordered his ice-cream. He showed sensitivity and caring. He thought of others before himself. "

too good :-)
but there are some cases like .. >>these<< ".....where I would like to stick by my friends advice...! :-P

But I have promises to keep And Miles to go before I Sleep!

2008-02-26T06:18:00.003-05:00

One of my friends referred to this poem while we had a little chat....
I searched for it on Google(needless to say that i found it? Its "Google" afterall!)

... and i just loved it ... specially the last para!

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

--Robert Frost

It is easy to forgive others for their "bugs"; it takes more grit to forgive them for having witnessed your own.

2008-02-21T04:00:00.005-05:00

OK ..OK... if u have already figured it out ....the title is copied from :

""It is easy to forgive others for their mistakes; it takes more grit to forgive them for having witnessed your own."" -- Jessamyn West.

but i had to modify it to match what i wanted to put forth....
>>

hehehe ... too good....!!
and very true indeed..... ;-)
@buddy developers/programmers: how many cliche`s(out of the 25 given above) have u used already? :-P
any "original" excuses to add to the list :-p ??

Trip to Walchandnagar..

2008-02-19T12:03:00.014-05:00

Finally a personal post ... had been a li'll busy @work ... but now its time to catch up :)
We had a looonnG drive a couple of days back to Walchandnagar - A small industrial hub in a remotely secluded place about 130km from Pune.
Even though the primary intention was to eat some authentic "Hurda" directly @ the farms, we had a lot of fun along the way ...
A perfect blend of modern industrialization and close proximity to the nature is surely a rare occurence.
Needless to say I enjoyed every bit of the 10 hour trip.
Foll. >>Pics

Mere Desh ki dharti

A Huge "Private" Garden

V-Day special ....

2008-02-14T04:05:00.003-05:00

Aam Zindagi
Hum 1 bhi ladki nahin pata sake,
College ke 4 saal barbaad ho Gaye.

Mentos Zindagi
1 bhi ladki humein nahin pata paayi,
Sabke 4 saal barbaad ho gaye !!!!

Mentos khao mast raho Yaar. J J

Why Me? (Nice Read!)

2008-02-13T01:12:00.006-05:00

I got this in a forwarded e-mail....
i never expected that fwd'ed mails can be so good....infact most of us treat them as junk ...
but this one's surely a jewel ....

ONE PARAGRAPH THAT EXPLAINS LIFE!

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983.
From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which
conveyed: "Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?
To this Arthur Ashe replied:
"The world over -- 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD 'Why me?'.
And today in pain I should not be asking GOD 'Why me?' "

"Happiness keeps you Sweet,
Trials keep you Strong,
Sorrow keeps you Human,
Failure keeps you humble and Success keeps you glowing, but only Faith & Attitude Keeps you going...

Too good :-) isn't it?

National "Do Not Disturb/Call" Registry (NDNC)

2008-02-06T09:03:00.000-05:00

"The National Do Not Call Registry (NDNC Registry) is setup to curb the Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC), which is any telecommunications service message, which is transmitted for the purpose of informing about or soliciting or promoting any commercial transaction in relation to goods, investments or services which a subscriber opts not to receive."

Well ... i dont think so !
have u seen those huge trucks on highways proudly displaying a flashy text on the front "National Permit or N.P." ??
well the NDNC is left with nothing more than a similar license! National Calling Permit :-p

i heard a lot of people complaining about disgusting calls even after registering their no.s in the NDNC. If no action is taken against the culprits.....they 'll feel that NDNC is just another defunct government initiative.... and they will start calling more than ever before...

Just 20 days after my cell phone number found its way in the NDNC .... i started getting calls yet again ! and guess from whom? my service provider - Airtel !
(same old ... free ringtones...caller tunes...wallpapers... and What Not!~ )
Actually, the service providers have a moral responsibilty of enforcing the NDNC ....and they are the ones who are making every effort to make it sound nothing more than a "serious" - joke :-p

I decided to raise my voice against this .... and found these details.
As per the details .... i called up 121 - the Airtel customer support centre and explained them the whole problem.
After coming to know that the complaint is against Airtel only ! .... the customer care exec. put my call on hold ...never to answer again ;-)
As anybody would guess.... i called them up again ....this time... the reply was smart....all they said is "you need to register ur no. in the NDNC again ! "
(P.S.: I had received an official SMS from Airtel that my no. was included in the NDNC about a month ago! And i still have the SMS with the Reference No.!)

I wonder what the MTV's sizzling Mia has to say (in her too-much-americanized accent)about her favourite "Airtel" now?

:-P

effects of modern technology

2008-02-03T00:01:00.001-05:00

Found this stuff on rediff.com ....a user had commented bout the effects of modern technology on our lives....

Scene in an office in the year 1950.
Colleagure A wants to pass a message to Colleague B. He goes across to his desk and tells his message.
Scene in 1970 -A sends a Inter Office Memo to B.
Scene in 1980 - A picks up the intercom and speaks to B.
Scene in 1990 -A faxes the message to B.
Scene in 2000 -A emails the message to B.
Scene in 2008 -
A says to B on intercom - Hey B , what is your fax number?
B - My fax is under repair. Can you mail it.
A - My system is down.B - Can you SMS it.
A - Too long. And I forgot your mobile number.
B - Damn I also forgot what my mobile number is.
A - Ok, go back and check your mobile number and SMS me your number. And in return I will SMS you when my system is right again and send through the message. If not you can SMS me when your fax is repaired so that I can fax it. OK?
B - Hey that is a good idea.
The next day B's fax is repaired. He sends SMS and asks A to fax it.Now A has a different problem. He has forgotten what was the message he wanted to convey !!

Hehehee ...hahaha ... very true indeed!!

Gartner's 10 predictions for IT industry for 2008 and beyond

2008-02-02T23:53:00.000-05:00

Leading IT industry analyst firm Gartner Inc has highlighted 10 key predictions of events and developments that will affect IT and business in 2008 and beyond.

1. By 2011, Apple will double its American and western European market share in computers
2. By 2012, 50 per cent of traveling workers will leave their notebooks at home in favour of other devices
3. By 2012, 80 per cent of all commercial software will include elements of open-source technology
4. By 2012, at least one-third of business application software spending will be as service subscription instead of as product license
5. By 2011, early technology adopters will forgo capital expenditures and instead purchase 40 per cent of their IT infrastructure as a service
6. By 2009, more than one-third of IT organisations will have one or more environmental criteria in their top six buying criteria for IT-related goods
7. By 2010, 75 per cent of organisations will use full life cycle energy and CO2 footprint as mandatory PC hardware buying criteria
8. By 2011, suppliers to large global enterprises will need to prove their green credentials via an audited process to retain preferred supplier status
9. By 2010, end-user preferences will decide as much as half of all software, hardware and services acquisitions made by IT
10. Through 2011, the number of 3-D printers in homes and businesses will grow 100-fold over 2006 levels
Source: http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/jan/31infotech.htm

2008-02-01T03:56:00.001-05:00

2008-02-01T03:42:00.001-05:00

Adventure of the Dancing Men

2008-01-31T04:27:00.000-05:00

Found this interesting piece of information while browsing for Cryptography tutorials....>>>>

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Adventure of the Dancing Men", Sherlock Holmes has the pleasure of solving a mono alphabetic substitution cipher in which the cipher text symbols were stick figures of a human in various dancelike poses.

Figure 1: "Dancing Men" - Every dancelike pose represents a letter used in the English language.

For More:

http://www.antilles.k12.vi.us/math/cryptotut/dancing_men.htm

Maggie Mania or Maggie's Maniac

2008-01-29T03:10:00.000-05:00

We see lots of advertisements daily. By far, one of the worst out of 'em is undoubtedly..the Maggie Mania Ad.
remember it ? one guy and the maid throwing/messing up things and shouting about the maggie mania thing... and how its better than the normal rice and stuff...! huh!
u can only hear 'em screaming....and the worst is its translated Marathi Ad.... having the following lines... "Bandu laa mania zala re!" hehehe

what we need is sensible ads. The ones like Hutch (aka Vodafone) - A cute lill' doggie with a soothing backdrop of the whistle.....very pleasing indeed! Kudos!
there are lots of disgusting ads which do not help in increasing the product sales in any way....in fact they irritate u ... to the point that when u see that product in a supermarket ... u remember the irritating ad and the pain u 've been put through ... and i bet u would never buy such a product !
Mania-ad is surely one of them.

(there was no specific reason to post this. Neither am i interested in advertisements nor in Maggie in any way .... its just that i found that ad so irritating...that too ... it pops up every time i wanna watch the idiot box and try to relax wid a cup of tea. Huh! )
i am sure u 'll agree when u see that ad(which is ...very frequently!!).... :-P

maa tujhe salaam :-)

2008-01-26T15:10:00.000-05:00

2008-01-25T13:10:00.000-05:00

The Teacher gave a punishment to the student and asked him to write
"I Will Not Throw Paper Airplanes in the Class" 500 times on the black board. and the student wrote

Born to Be A Software engineer ..................

The X+1 Syndrome

2008-01-25T13:00:00.000-05:00

I got this in a fun mail..... worth reading .... addresses a very common problem ....

When an Indian professional becomes a 'Non-Resident Indian' in the United States, he soon starts suffering from a strange disease. The symptoms are a fixture of restlessness, anxiety, hope and nostalgia. The virus is a deep inner need to get back home. Like Shakespeare said, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." The medical world has not coined a word for this malady. Strange as it is, it could go by a stranger name, the "X + 1" syndrome. To understand this disease better, consider the background. Typically middle-class, the would be migrant's sole ambition through school is to secure admission into one of those heavily government subsidized institutions - the IITs. With the full backing of a doting family and a good deal of effort, he achieves his goal. Looking for fresh worlds to conquer, his sights rest on the new world. Like lemmings to the sea, hordes of IIT graduates descend on the four US consulates to seek the holiest of holy grails - the F-1 (student) stamp on the passport. After crossing the visa hurdle and tearful farewell, our hero departs for the Mecca of higher learning, promising himself and his family that he will return some day - soon! The family proudly informs their relatives of each milestone - his G.P.A., his first car (twenty years old), his trip to Niagara Falls (photographs), his first winter (parkas, gloves). The two years roll by and he graduates at the top of his class. Now begins the 'great hunt' for a company that will not only give him a job but also sponsor him for that 3" X 3" grey plastic, otherwise known as the Green Card. A US company sensing a good bargain offers him a job. Naturally, with all the excitement of seeing his first pay check in four digit dollars, thoughts of returning to India are far away. His immediate objective of getting the Green Card is reached within a year. Meanwhile, his family back home worry about the strange American influences (and more particularly, AIDS). Through contacts they line up a list of eligible girls from eligible families and wait for the great one's first trip home. Return he does, at the first available opportunity, with gifts for the family and mouth-watering tales of prosperity beyond imagination. After interviewing the girls, he picks the most likely (lucky) one to be Americanized. Since the major reason for the alliance is his long-term stay abroad, the question of his immediate return does not arise. Any doubts are set aside by the 'backwardness' of working life, long train travel, lack of phones, inadequate opportunities for someone with hi-tech qualifications, and so on. The newly-weds return to America with the groom having to explain the system of arranged marriages to the Americans. Most of them regard it as barbaric and on the same lines as communism. The tongue-tied bride is cajoled into explaining the bindi and saree. Looking for something homely, the couple plunges into the frenetic expatriate week-end social scene compromising dinners, videos of Hindi/regional films, shopping at Indian stores, and bhajans. Initially, the wife misses the warmth of her family, but the presence of washing machines, vacuum cleaners, daytime soap operas and the absence of a domineering mother-in-law helps. Bits of news filtering through from India, mostly from returning Indians, is eagerly lapped up. In discussions with freinds, the topic of returning to India arises frequently but is brushed aside by the lord and master who is now rising in the corporate world and has fast moved into a two garage home - thus fulfilling the great American Dream. The impending arrival of the first born fulfills the great Indian Dream. The mother-in-law arrives in time: after all, no right thinking parent would want their off-spring to be born in India if offered the American alternative. With all material comforts that money can bring, begins the first signs of un- easiness - a feeling that somehow things are not what they should be. The craze for exotic electronic goods, cars and vacations have been satiated. The week-end gatherings are becoming routine. Faced with a mid-life crisis, the upwardly mobile Indian's career graph plateau's out. Younger and more aggressive Americans are promoted. With one of the periodic mini recessions in the economy and the threat of a hostile take-over, the job itself seems far from secure. Unable or unwilling to socialize with the Americans, the Indian retreats into a cocoon. At the home front, the children have grown up and along with American accents have imbibed American habits (cartoons, hamburgers) and values(dating). They respond to their parents' exhortation of leading a clean Indian way of life by asking endless questions. The generation gap combines with the cultural chasm. Not surprisingly, the first serious thoughts of returning to India occur at this stage. Taking advantage of his vacation time, the Indian returns home to 'explore' possibilities. Ignoring the underpaid and beaurocratic government sector, he is bewildered by the 'primitive' state of the private sector. Clearly overqualified even to be a managing director/chairman he stumbles upon the idea of being an entrepreneur. In the seventies, his search for an arena to display his business skills normally ended in poultry farming. In the eighties, electronics is the name of the game. Undaunted by horror stories about government red tape and corruption he is determined to overcome the odds - with one catch. He has a few things to settle in the United States. After all, you can't just throw away a lifetime's work. And there are things like taxation and customs regulations to be taken note of. Pressed for a firm date, he says confidently 'next year' and therein lies our story. The next years come and go but there is no sign of our McCarthian friend. About 40 years later our, by now, a old friend dies of a scheduled heart-attack and it so happens that his last wish was that he be laid to rest in the city he was born in India. So our friend at last returns to India for good. But by now the people who were so looking forward to see him return to his homeland are no more. In other words if 'X' is the current year, then the objective is to return in the 'X + 1' year. Since 'X' is a changing variable, the objective is never reached. Unable to truly melt in the 'Great Melting Pot', chained to his cultural moorings and haunted by an abject fear of giving up an accustomed standard of living, the Non-Resident Indian vacillates and oscillates between two worlds in a twilight zone. Strangely, this malady appears to affect only the Indians - all of our Asian brethren from Japan, Korea and even Pakistan - seem immune to it.

Five all time great Love Stories ... ( 5 )

2008-01-25T09:27:00.000-05:00

************************ STORY 5 **************************
After 21 years of marriage, I discovered a new way of keeping alive the spark of love. A little while ago I had started to go out with another woman. It was really my wife's idea.
"I know that you love her," she said one day, taking me by surprise. "But I love YOU," I protested.
"I know, but you also love her."The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my mother, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. "What's wrong, are you well?" she asked. My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news.
"I thought that it would be pleasant to pass some time with you," I responded.
"Just the two of us."
She thought about it for a moment then said "I would like that very much."
That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous.
When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's.
"I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed," she said, as she got into the car. "They can't wait to hear about our meeting". We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. my mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady.
After we sat down, I had to read the menu to her. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entree, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me.
A nostalgic smile was on her lips. "It was I who used t o have to read the menu when you were small," she said.
"Then it's time for you to relax and let me return the favor," I responded.
During the dinner we had an agreeable conversation, nothing extraordinary - but catching up on recent events of each others lives. We talked so much that we missed the movie.
As we arrived at her house later, she said "I'll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you". I agreed.
"How was your dinner date?" asked my wife when I got home. "Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined," I answered.
A few days later my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn't have a chance to do anything for her.
Some time later I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined.
An attached note said: "I paid this bill in advance. I was almost sure that I couldn't be there but, nevertheless, I paid for two plates - one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant to me. I love you."
At that moment I understood the importance of saying, in time: "I LOVE YOU" and giving our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than God and your family and friends.
Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off til "some other time".
Someone once said "I've learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.
I think this is true with your in-laws, grandchildren, sisters, brothers and your friends. Anyone that means something to you-you should spend time with them and let them know how much they mean to you as often as you can.

Five all time great Love Stories ... ( 4 )

2008-01-25T09:25:00.002-05:00

***************************STORY 4************************
From the very beginning, girl's family objected strongly on her dating this guy, saying that it has got to do with family background, & that the girl will have to suffer for the rest of her life if she were to be with him.
Due to family's pressure, the couple quarrelled very often. Though the girl loved the guy deeply, she always asked him: "How deep is your love for me?" As the guy is not good with his words, this often caused the girl to be very upset. With that & the family's pressure, the girl often vents her anger on him. As for him, he only endured it in silence.
After a couple of years, the guy finally graduated & decided to further his studies overseas. Before leaving, he proposed to the girl:
"I'm not very good with words. But all I know is that I love you. If you allow me, I will take care of you for the rest of my life. As for your family, I'll try my best to talk them round. Will you marry me?" The girl agreed, & with the guy's determination, the family finally gave in & agreed to let them get married. So before he left, they got engaged. The girl went out to the working society, whereas the guy was overseas, continuing his studies. They sent their love through emails & phone calls. Though it was hard, but both never thought of giving up.
One day, while the girl was on her way to work, she was knocked down by a car that lost control. when she woke up, she saw her parents beside her bed. She realized that she was badly injured. Seeing her mum crying, she wanted to comfort her. But she realized that all that could come out of her mouth was just a sigh. she had lost her voice....
The doctor says that the impact on her brain has caused her to lose her voice. Listening to her parents' comfort, but with nothing coming out from her, she broke down. During the stay in hospital, besides silent cry,.. it's still just that silent cry that accompanied her.
Upon reaching home, everything seems to be the same. Except for the ringing tone of the phone. Which pierced into her heart everytime it rang.
She does not wish to let the guy know & not wanting to be a burden to him, she wrote a letter to him saying that she does not wish to wait any longer.
With that, she sent the ring back to him. In return, the guy sent millions & millions of letters, countless phone calls,.. all the girl could do, besides crying, is still crying.... The parents decided to move away, hoping that she could eventually forget everything & be happy.
With a new environment, the girl learns sign language & started a new life. Telling herself everyday that she must forget the guy. One day, her friend came & told her that he's back. She asked her friend not to let him know what happened to her. Since then, there wasn't anymore news of him.
A year has passed & her friend came with an envelope, containing a invitation card for the guy's wedding. The girl was shattered. When she opened the letter, she saw her name in it instead. When she was about to ask her friend what's going on, she saw the guy standing in front of her.
He used sign language to tell her "I've spent a year to learn sign language. Just to let you know that I've not forgotten our promise.
Let me have the chance to be your voice. I Love You." With that, he slipped the ring back into her finger. The girl finally smiled.
Treat every relationship as if it's the last one, then you'll know how to Give. Treat every moment as is it's the last day, then you'll know how to treasure.
Treasure what you have right now, or else you will regret one day...

Five all time great Love Stories ... ( 3 )

2008-01-25T09:25:00.001-05:00

*************************** STORY 3 ************************
The passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive young woman with the white cane made her way carefully up the steps. She paid the driver and, using her hands to feel the location of the seats, walked down the aisle and found the seat he'd told her was empty. Then she's settled in, placed her briefcase on her lap and rested her cane against her leg.
It had been a year since Susan became blind. Due to a medical misdiagnosis she had been rendered sightless, and she was suddenly thrown into a world of darkness, anger, frustration and self-pity.
'How could this have happened to me?' she would plead, her heart knotted with anger. But no matter how much she cried or ranted or prayed, she knew the painful truth, her sight was never going to return. A cloud of depression hung over Susan's once optimistic spirit. All she had to cling to was her husband Mark.
Mark was an Air Force officer and he loved Susan with all his heart. When she first lost her sight, he watched her sink into despair and was determined to help his wife gain the strength she needed to become independent again.
Finally, Susan felt ready to return to her job, but how would she get there? She used to take the bus, but was now too frightened to get around the city by herself. Mark volunteered to drive her to work each day, even though they worked at opposite ends of the city. At first, this comforted Susan and fulfilled Mark's need to protect his sightless wife who was so insecure about performing the slightest task. Soon, however Mark realized that this arrangement wasn't working - it was hectic, and costly.
Susan is going to have to start taking the bus again, he admitted to himself. But just the thought of mentioning it to her made him cringe. She was still so fragile, so angry. How would she react?
Just as Mark predicted, Susan was horrified at the idea of taking the bus again. "I'm blind!" she responded bitterly. "How am I supposed to know where I'm going? I feel like you're abandoning me."
Mark's heart broke but he knew what had to be done. He promised Susan that each day he would ride the bus with her until she got the hang of it.
And that is exactly what happened. For two solid weeks, Mark, military uniform and all, accompanied Susan to and from work each day. He taught her how to rely on her other senses to determine where she was and how to adapt to her new environment. He helped her befriend the bus drivers who could watch out for her, and save her a seat. Each morning they made the journey together, and Mark would take a cab back to his office.
Although this routine was even more costly and exhausting than the previous one, Mark knew it was only a matter of time before Susan would be able to ride the bus on her own. Finally, Susan decided that she was ready to try the trip on her own. Monday morning arrived, and before she left, she threw her arms around Mark, her temporary bus riding companion, her husband, and her best friend.
Her eyes filled with tears of gratitude for his loyalty, his patience, his love. She said good-bye, and for the first time, they went their separate ways. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday....
Each day on her own went perfectly, and Susan had never felt better.
On Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work as usual. As she was paying for her fare to exit the bus, the driver said, "Boy, I sure envy you." Susan wasn't sure if the driver was speaking to her or not. After all, who on earth would ever envy a blind woman who had struggled just to find the courage to live for the past year? "Why do you envy me?"
The driver responded, "It must feel so good to be taken care of and protected like you are." Susan had no idea what the driver was talking about, "What do you mean?" The driver said, "You know, every morning for the past week, a fine looking gentleman in a military uniform has been standing across the corner watching you when you get off the bus. He makes sure you cross the street safely and he watches you until you enter your office building. Then he blows you a kiss, gives you a little salute and walks away. You are one lucky lady."
Tears of happiness poured down Susan's cheeks. For although she couldn't see him, she had always felt Mark's presence. She was blessed, so blessed, for he had given her a gift more powerful than sight, a gift she didn't need to see to believe - the gift of love that can bring light where there had been darkness.
"You don't love a woman because she is beautiful, but she is beautiful because you love her..."

Five all time great Love Stories ... ( 2 )

2008-01-25T09:24:00.001-05:00

*********** STORY 2 ************
Nurse: "It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman, in his 80's, presented to have sutures
(stitches) removed from his thumb.
He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I (nurse) took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him.
I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.
While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation. Asked him if he had a doctor's appointment this morning somewhere else, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.
I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer Disease.
As we talked, and I finished dressing his wound, I asked if she would be worried if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.
I was surprised, and asked him. "And you are still going every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?" He smiled as he patted my hand and said. "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."
True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.
Good friends are like stars...You don't always see them, but you always know they're there

Five all time great Love Stories ... ( 1 )

2008-01-25T09:21:00.000-05:00

********** STORY 1 ************
A girl and a boy were on a motorcycle, speeding through the night.
They loved each other a lot.....
Girl:"slow down a little.. I'm scared.."
Boy: "No, it's so fun.."
Girl: "please..it's so scary.."
Boy: "Then say that you love me.."
Girl: "Fine..I love you..can you slow down now?"
Boy: "Give me a big hug.."
The girl gave him a big hug.
Girl: "Now can you slow down?"
Boy: "Can you take off my helmet and put it on? It's uncomfortable and it's bothering me while i ride."
The next day, there was a story in the newspaper. A motorcycle had crashed into a building because its brakes were broken. There were two people on the motorcycle, of which one died, and the other had survived...The guy knew that the brakes were broken. He didn't want to let the girl know, because he knew that the girl would have gotten scared. Instead, he was told the last time that she loved him,got a hug from her, put his helmet on her so that she can live, and die himself...
Once in a while, Right in the middle of an ordinary life, Love gives us a fairy tale...

Message "Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well"

Some Cool Quotes :-)

2007-10-28T01:24:00.000-04:00

great_quotes:
We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are. Adelle Davis

"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it." William Feather

The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views...which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering.

Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so. Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public. Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879 - 1962)

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. Walter Bagehot (1826 - 1877)

User, n. The word computer professionals use when they mean "idiot." ~Dave Barry
Computers, huh? I've heard it all boils down to just a bunch of ones and zeroes.... I don't know how that enables me to see naked women, but however it works, God bless you guys. ~From the television show King of Queens (may not be exact wording), spoken by the character Doug Heffernan

If you have any trouble sounding condescending, find a Unix user to show you how it's done. ~Scott Adams

Hardware: the parts of a computer that can be kicked. ~Jeff Pesis

I just wish my mouth had a backspace key. ~Author Unknown

There are 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't. ~Author Unknown

Unix is simple. It just takes a genius to understand its simplicity. ~Dennis Ritchie

Home is where you hang your @. ~Author Unknown

Unix never says "please." ~Rob Pike

The Unix philosophy basically involves giving you just enough rope to hang yourself. And then a couple of feet more, just to be sure. ~Author Unknown

Computers must be female. No one but the creator understands their internal logic. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else. The message "Bad command or file name" is about as informative as, "If you don't know why I'm mad at you, then I'm certainly not going to tell you." Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for later retrieval. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it. ~Author Unknown