I strongly believe that to improve something, the first step is to analyze it. And what is the easier than analyzing numbers, through finance and economics? It might have come from my mom, a Commerce prof herself. But I think numbers tell a magic story, for those that are ready to hear it. I don't claim to hear all of what numbers say, but sometimes try to listen to swatches of it every now and then. The following video does a comparison of middle class in US, then and now. And the facts are quite scary! Not that we can do much about it but we can try to do our best - for if not for that, what else is life?
P.S.: I'd love to see some similar studies on classes in India. Do we have any?
Showing posts with label forwards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forwards. Show all posts
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
What does being an Indian mean?
A friend of mine sent this message through mail. Reading it, I could easily identify myself and my family with that of the author. I'm sure every Indian can relate to parts of this speech. Read on...
A friend remarked to me that what defines America is its veneration of entrepreneurship. The French, he added, most admired style and elegance. What defines India? That was the challenge my American friend posed.
Before I could speak a word, he admonished me, “Don’t give me the clichéd answer that anything one says about India is true and the opposite is equally true, that India is too complex and heterogeneous for a simple answer.”
It was obvious to me that like any self respecting American, and a Harvard MBA to boot, he wanted a concrete answer. I told him that like any self respecting Indian I needed time to formulate my concrete views — a few weeks I told him. Unusual for an American, he agreed to meet me later on this point. As luck would have it I received an invitation to speak to a diverse audience in Washington DC, as part of the many farewell parties in my honour as I was packing my bags to return to India for good. I spoke on the topic: What Does It Mean To Be An Indian?
Here’s the gist of my speech.
It is always a difficult task to distil from the collective experience of a humungous civilization that single defining aspect of life that constitutes the character of India. I can only try ever so humbly. In trying to piece together my several thoughts on this subject, I was helped by a few incidents of a more recent vintage. These incidents perhaps highlight what it means to be an Indian.
When I saw Ms Susan Boyle winning the hearts of the world with her talent and simple upbringing in the show Britain’s Got Talent, I asked myself whether a similar show in the Indian context might reveal to me what was perhaps hidden in the multiple images that India conjures in any mind. Sure enough I happened to receive an email forward by someone named Mary that stunned me. Here was a group of labourers performing a sensational dance relating to Lord Krishna in the wildly popular show India’s Got Talent. They called themselves The Prince Dance Group and had a physically challenged guy too. The amazing choreography, the use of traditional mythology, the perfect sense of timing and above all, the self confidence to perform before an urban audience — it was truly breathtaking.
The judges were among the best known talents in India: film director Shekhar Kapoor, actress Kiron Kher, and actress Sonali Bendre. As the act came to a close I could see tears in the eyes of the judges. Though there were not many close-ups of the audience I suspect there was hardly a dry eye in the crowd. Even as the dance came to a close I could hear shouts of “BHARATR MATA KI JAI!”
As the dance came to an end Kapoor actually wept and declared, “I have seen performers in the US,UK and Russia but believe me I have never seen anything like this . I am really proud to be an Indian.”The other judges just about managed to control their tears. Kher was ecstatic –“Fantastic, Fantastic!” she shouted .
I really cried for more than one reason.. Not only did I find the talent stunning, I had found the answer to the question I had been asked to answer — What Does It Mean To Be An Indian?
Here was a bunch of Oriya labourers — I have spent a decade in Orissa and am more than familiar with the extensive and degrading poverty there. These labourers live under inhuman conditions and as far as we urbanites can see they may have no hope of ever living a civilized life, even generations from now. Yet these guys had shown that one defining Indian characteristic ….Endurance… a quality that makes us not just put up with great odds but strive with the confidence that one day we will win — that every night is followed by the dawn, that all is never lost, that no matter how the international community jeers at our corruption, our idiotic politicians, our inept bureaucracy, our moribund education system, our abysmal health system, our crumbling infrastructure, our humungous population, we will come up triumphant.
Of course we realize that these are lofty sentiments and unless they are translated into concrete action we will remain as a nation thriving on pious platitudes. Believe me, young India has clearly told the older, fading generation, “We have seen and tasted progress. We will go ahead no matter what. Not all our vile politicians or bumbling bureaucrats or corrupt policeman or judges can hold us down. We will rise despite you guys.” Indians have endured much over thousands of years but have now decided that if you can’t beat them just dexterously move around them.
The evidence of a young India on the move is now seen in the far corners of the country as youngsters from small towns and remote villages display uncanny talent and ambition. I recall seeing a TV journalist asking a young boy in a remote village in Bihar about his role model. “Bill Gates” was the answer coming from a smiling cherubic face, even though it seemed to me that he had not eaten a fulsome meal all his life! He had endured hunger for years and his family had endured hunger for maybe generations but that did not prevent this youngster from aspiring to be the world’s richest man sometime in the future. The extraordinary confidence in that boy’s body language told me that he was aiming for the stars and at worst he may make it to the moon.
My own family is a saga in the endurance that characterizes India. My grandfather was a laborer in a harbor in a small town in south India. He and his large family of 5 sons and a daughter endured a marginal existence. My father joined a private sector company during British rule in India. When the world went to war in 1939 my father lost his job. He told me much later that my mother had, at one stage, only one saree, the traditional Indian women’s wear. She would wash this lone saree at night and cover herself with a towel and quickly wear the saree at break of dawn. The family endured near poverty and yet I am an MBA from an ivy league Indian business school, and a modestly successful guy. My niece was ranked among the highest in GMAT scores in the world. She is a Harvard alumnus and works for the most admired consulting firm in the world at Wall Street. Her siblings are all highly qualified professionals, who in their early years endured a humble middle class existence but are now in the topmost income brackets in the USA — a far cry from their laborer great grand father.
At this point of time I look at India as a genie that has come out of the bottle. The British denuded India over 200 years. Thereafter a rapacious polity and a repressive bureaucracy kept the lid tightly closed. But now a long suppressed people have decided to endure such atrocities no more. India’s time has come.
BHARAT MATA KI JAI.’
As I took my seat there were not a few wet eyes in the room. My eyes were wet too. If you believe in what I have said please forward this to your friends.
PS: What does being an Indian mean to you?
A friend remarked to me that what defines America is its veneration of entrepreneurship. The French, he added, most admired style and elegance. What defines India? That was the challenge my American friend posed.
Before I could speak a word, he admonished me, “Don’t give me the clichéd answer that anything one says about India is true and the opposite is equally true, that India is too complex and heterogeneous for a simple answer.”
It was obvious to me that like any self respecting American, and a Harvard MBA to boot, he wanted a concrete answer. I told him that like any self respecting Indian I needed time to formulate my concrete views — a few weeks I told him. Unusual for an American, he agreed to meet me later on this point. As luck would have it I received an invitation to speak to a diverse audience in Washington DC, as part of the many farewell parties in my honour as I was packing my bags to return to India for good. I spoke on the topic: What Does It Mean To Be An Indian?
Here’s the gist of my speech.
It is always a difficult task to distil from the collective experience of a humungous civilization that single defining aspect of life that constitutes the character of India. I can only try ever so humbly. In trying to piece together my several thoughts on this subject, I was helped by a few incidents of a more recent vintage. These incidents perhaps highlight what it means to be an Indian.
When I saw Ms Susan Boyle winning the hearts of the world with her talent and simple upbringing in the show Britain’s Got Talent, I asked myself whether a similar show in the Indian context might reveal to me what was perhaps hidden in the multiple images that India conjures in any mind. Sure enough I happened to receive an email forward by someone named Mary that stunned me. Here was a group of labourers performing a sensational dance relating to Lord Krishna in the wildly popular show India’s Got Talent. They called themselves The Prince Dance Group and had a physically challenged guy too. The amazing choreography, the use of traditional mythology, the perfect sense of timing and above all, the self confidence to perform before an urban audience — it was truly breathtaking.
The judges were among the best known talents in India: film director Shekhar Kapoor, actress Kiron Kher, and actress Sonali Bendre. As the act came to a close I could see tears in the eyes of the judges. Though there were not many close-ups of the audience I suspect there was hardly a dry eye in the crowd. Even as the dance came to a close I could hear shouts of “BHARATR MATA KI JAI!”
As the dance came to an end Kapoor actually wept and declared, “I have seen performers in the US,UK and Russia but believe me I have never seen anything like this . I am really proud to be an Indian.”The other judges just about managed to control their tears. Kher was ecstatic –“Fantastic, Fantastic!” she shouted .
I really cried for more than one reason.. Not only did I find the talent stunning, I had found the answer to the question I had been asked to answer — What Does It Mean To Be An Indian?
Here was a bunch of Oriya labourers — I have spent a decade in Orissa and am more than familiar with the extensive and degrading poverty there. These labourers live under inhuman conditions and as far as we urbanites can see they may have no hope of ever living a civilized life, even generations from now. Yet these guys had shown that one defining Indian characteristic ….Endurance… a quality that makes us not just put up with great odds but strive with the confidence that one day we will win — that every night is followed by the dawn, that all is never lost, that no matter how the international community jeers at our corruption, our idiotic politicians, our inept bureaucracy, our moribund education system, our abysmal health system, our crumbling infrastructure, our humungous population, we will come up triumphant.
Of course we realize that these are lofty sentiments and unless they are translated into concrete action we will remain as a nation thriving on pious platitudes. Believe me, young India has clearly told the older, fading generation, “We have seen and tasted progress. We will go ahead no matter what. Not all our vile politicians or bumbling bureaucrats or corrupt policeman or judges can hold us down. We will rise despite you guys.” Indians have endured much over thousands of years but have now decided that if you can’t beat them just dexterously move around them.
The evidence of a young India on the move is now seen in the far corners of the country as youngsters from small towns and remote villages display uncanny talent and ambition. I recall seeing a TV journalist asking a young boy in a remote village in Bihar about his role model. “Bill Gates” was the answer coming from a smiling cherubic face, even though it seemed to me that he had not eaten a fulsome meal all his life! He had endured hunger for years and his family had endured hunger for maybe generations but that did not prevent this youngster from aspiring to be the world’s richest man sometime in the future. The extraordinary confidence in that boy’s body language told me that he was aiming for the stars and at worst he may make it to the moon.
My own family is a saga in the endurance that characterizes India. My grandfather was a laborer in a harbor in a small town in south India. He and his large family of 5 sons and a daughter endured a marginal existence. My father joined a private sector company during British rule in India. When the world went to war in 1939 my father lost his job. He told me much later that my mother had, at one stage, only one saree, the traditional Indian women’s wear. She would wash this lone saree at night and cover herself with a towel and quickly wear the saree at break of dawn. The family endured near poverty and yet I am an MBA from an ivy league Indian business school, and a modestly successful guy. My niece was ranked among the highest in GMAT scores in the world. She is a Harvard alumnus and works for the most admired consulting firm in the world at Wall Street. Her siblings are all highly qualified professionals, who in their early years endured a humble middle class existence but are now in the topmost income brackets in the USA — a far cry from their laborer great grand father.
At this point of time I look at India as a genie that has come out of the bottle. The British denuded India over 200 years. Thereafter a rapacious polity and a repressive bureaucracy kept the lid tightly closed. But now a long suppressed people have decided to endure such atrocities no more. India’s time has come.
BHARAT MATA KI JAI.’
As I took my seat there were not a few wet eyes in the room. My eyes were wet too. If you believe in what I have said please forward this to your friends.
PS: What does being an Indian mean to you?
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
எவ்வளோ பண்றோம்... இத பண்ண மாட்டோமா...
A nice forward from G :)
*’எவ்வளோ பண்றோம்... இத பண்ண மாட்டோமா...’ *என்று தமிழகத்தின் விடிவெள்ளி சொன்ன பொன்மொழி, வாழ்க்கை வாழ்வதற்கான ஒரு உன்னத தத்துவம். எப்படி? இந்த தன்னம்பிக்கை கொடுக்கும் கதையை படிங்க...
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பில் கேட்ஸ், மைக்ரோசாப்ட் நிறுவனத்தின் முதன்மை செயலதிகாரியாக இருந்த நேரம்.ஐரோப்பிய மைக்ரோசாப்டின் கிளைக்கு தலைமை அதிகாரியை நியமிக்க, ஒரு நேர்காணலை நடத்தி கொண்டிருந்தார்கள். கிட்டத்தட்ட ஐந்தாயிரம் பேர் வந்திருந்தார்கள். ஒரு பெரிய அறையில் எல்லோரும் குழுமியிருந்தார்கள். கருப்பு கோட், நீல சட்டை, புள்ளி போட்ட டையுடன் எல்லாவற்றையும் கவனித்தப்படி ஒரு பக்கத்தில் உட்கார்ந்திருந்தார், நம்ம கந்தசாமி.
உள்ளே நுழைந்த பில் கேட்ஸ், 5000 பேர்களை பார்த்ததும் கொஞ்சம் அதிர்ந்து தான் போனார். வந்திருந்த அனைவருக்கும் வணக்கம் வைத்தார். பிறகு, நன்றி தெரிவித்தார். சிக்கீரம் முடிக்கணும், சிம்பிளா வைக்கணும்ன்னு முடிவு பண்ணினார்.
“உங்களில் யாருக்கெல்லாம் ஜாவா தெரியும்? தெரியாதவர்கள் மன்னிக்கவும். நீங்கள் கிளம்பலாம்.”
கந்தசாமி - “நான் ஒருத்தரைக்கூட நிர்வகித்தது கிடையாதே? என்ன செய்யலாம்?
சரி, அடுத்த கேள்வியை கேட்கலாம்.”
-------------------------
பில் கேட்ஸ், மைக்ரோசாப்ட் நிறுவனத்தின் முதன்மை செயலதிகாரியாக இருந்த நேரம்.ஐரோப்பிய மைக்ரோசாப்டின் கிளைக்கு தலைமை அதிகாரியை நியமிக்க, ஒரு நேர்காணலை நடத்தி கொண்டிருந்தார்கள். கிட்டத்தட்ட ஐந்தாயிரம் பேர் வந்திருந்தார்கள். ஒரு பெரிய அறையில் எல்லோரும் குழுமியிருந்தார்கள். கருப்பு கோட், நீல சட்டை, புள்ளி போட்ட டையுடன் எல்லாவற்றையும் கவனித்தப்படி ஒரு பக்கத்தில் உட்கார்ந்திருந்தார், நம்ம கந்தசாமி.
உள்ளே நுழைந்த பில் கேட்ஸ், 5000 பேர்களை பார்த்ததும் கொஞ்சம் அதிர்ந்து தான் போனார். வந்திருந்த அனைவருக்கும் வணக்கம் வைத்தார். பிறகு, நன்றி தெரிவித்தார். சிக்கீரம் முடிக்கணும், சிம்பிளா வைக்கணும்ன்னு முடிவு பண்ணினார்.
முதலில் தொழில்நுட்ப அறிவை சோதிக்க வேண்டும் என்று விரும்பி ஒரு கேள்வி கேட்க நினைத்தார். எப்படியும் மைக்ரோசாப்ட் நிறுவனத்திற்கு, மைக்ரோசாப்ட் டெக்னாலஜி தெரிந்துதான் வந்திருப்பார்கள். அதனால், இப்படி கேட்டார்.
“உங்களில் யாருக்கெல்லாம் ஜாவா தெரியும்? தெரியாதவர்கள் மன்னிக்கவும். நீங்கள் கிளம்பலாம்.”
2000 பேர் இடத்தை காலி செய்தார்கள்.
நம்ம கந்தசாமிக்கும் ஜாவா தெரியாதுதான். இருந்தும் போகலையே!
நம்ம கந்தசாமிக்கும் ஜாவா தெரியாதுதான். இருந்தும் போகலையே!
“இப்படியே இங்க இருந்தா, எதையும் இழக்க போறது இல்ல. எதுக்கு போய்கிட்டு? என்னத்தான் நடக்குது பார்ப்போம்” என்றபடி அங்கேயே இருந்து விட்டார்.
அடுத்த கேள்வி, “உங்களில் யாரெல்லாம் நூறு பேருக்கு மேல் ஆட்களை நிர்வகித்து இருக்கிறீர்கள்? அவர்கள் மட்டும் இருக்கலாம்.” இன்னொரு 2000 வெளியே கிளம்பியது.
கந்தசாமி - “நான் ஒருத்தரைக்கூட நிர்வகித்தது கிடையாதே? என்ன செய்யலாம்?
சரி, அடுத்த கேள்வியை கேட்கலாம்.”
இன்னும் ஆயிரம் பேர் இருக்கிறார்களா? என்று நினைத்துக்கொண்டு பில் கேட்ஸ் கேட்டார், “மேலாண்மை பட்டம் பெறாதவர்கள் தயவுசெய்து...”. சொல்லி முடிக்கும் முன்பே, 500 இருக்கைகள் காற்று வாங்கியது.
”அதையெல்லாம் படிக்க நமக்கு எங்க நேரம் இருந்தது?” பெருமூச்சுவிட்டபடி பில் கேட்ஸையே பார்த்து கொண்டிருந்தார், கந்தசாமி.
ஐரோப்பிய மொத்த கண்டத்திற்கு முழுமையான தலைமை பதவியாச்சே? கண்டம் முழுக்க சுற்ற
வேண்டி இருக்குமே? எத்தனை மொழிகள் தெரிந்திருக்கும் என்று பார்ப்போம் என்று அடுத்த கேள்வியை கேட்டார்.
“உங்களில் யாருக்கெல்லாம் செர்போ-க்ரோட் மொழி தெரியும்?” - செர்போ-க்ரோட், உலகில் அரிதாக பேசப்படும் மொழி. இப்ப, அரங்கில் இரண்டே பேர் இருந்தார்கள். அதில் ஒருவர் யாரென்று உங்களுக்கு தெரியும்.
அது, “எவ்வளவோ பண்ணிட்டோம். இத பண்ண மாட்டோமா?” என்ற நினைப்பில் நம்ம கந்தசாமி.
ஆனாலும், மனசுக்குள் பயம்தான். மூன்று பேரும் ஒரு வட்ட டேபிளை சுற்றி உட்கார்ந்தார்கள். இருவரையும் பார்த்தார், பில் கேட்ஸ்.
டிக் டிக்... டிக் டிக்... டிக் டிக்...
“ஏன்ப்பா, இப்படி பார்க்குற? சீக்கிரம் ஏதாவது கேளுப்பா... ” - மனசுக்குள் கந்தசாமி.
”இப்ப, நீங்க ரெண்டு பேர் தான் இந்த மொழி தெரிந்தவர்கள் இருக்குறீர்கள். செர்போ-க்ரோட் மொழியில் மைக்ரோசாப்ட் நிறுவனத்தை பற்றி, அதன் தொழில்நுட்ப திறன் பற்றி விவாதம் செய்யுங்க..”
கந்தசாமி அமைதியாக, பக்கத்தில் இருந்த இன்னொருத்தனை பார்த்தார்.. சின்ன வயசுக்காரன். நெஞ்சை நிமிர்த்திக்கிட்டு உட்கார்ந்திருந்தான். மூளைக்காரன் போல!
கந்தசாமி ஆரம்பித்தார்.
மெதுவாக, ”தம்பிக்கு எந்த ஊரு?” - கேட்டது தமிழில்.
"திருநெல்வேலி பக்கம். நீங்க?”
”அதையெல்லாம் படிக்க நமக்கு எங்க நேரம் இருந்தது?” பெருமூச்சுவிட்டபடி பில் கேட்ஸையே பார்த்து கொண்டிருந்தார், கந்தசாமி.
ஐரோப்பிய மொத்த கண்டத்திற்கு முழுமையான தலைமை பதவியாச்சே? கண்டம் முழுக்க சுற்ற
வேண்டி இருக்குமே? எத்தனை மொழிகள் தெரிந்திருக்கும் என்று பார்ப்போம் என்று அடுத்த கேள்வியை கேட்டார்.
“உங்களில் யாருக்கெல்லாம் செர்போ-க்ரோட் மொழி தெரியும்?” - செர்போ-க்ரோட், உலகில் அரிதாக பேசப்படும் மொழி. இப்ப, அரங்கில் இரண்டே பேர் இருந்தார்கள். அதில் ஒருவர் யாரென்று உங்களுக்கு தெரியும்.
அது, “எவ்வளவோ பண்ணிட்டோம். இத பண்ண மாட்டோமா?” என்ற நினைப்பில் நம்ம கந்தசாமி.
ஆனாலும், மனசுக்குள் பயம்தான். மூன்று பேரும் ஒரு வட்ட டேபிளை சுற்றி உட்கார்ந்தார்கள். இருவரையும் பார்த்தார், பில் கேட்ஸ்.
டிக் டிக்... டிக் டிக்... டிக் டிக்...
“ஏன்ப்பா, இப்படி பார்க்குற? சீக்கிரம் ஏதாவது கேளுப்பா... ” - மனசுக்குள் கந்தசாமி.
”இப்ப, நீங்க ரெண்டு பேர் தான் இந்த மொழி தெரிந்தவர்கள் இருக்குறீர்கள். செர்போ-க்ரோட் மொழியில் மைக்ரோசாப்ட் நிறுவனத்தை பற்றி, அதன் தொழில்நுட்ப திறன் பற்றி விவாதம் செய்யுங்க..”
கந்தசாமி அமைதியாக, பக்கத்தில் இருந்த இன்னொருத்தனை பார்த்தார்.. சின்ன வயசுக்காரன். நெஞ்சை நிமிர்த்திக்கிட்டு உட்கார்ந்திருந்தான். மூளைக்காரன் போல!
கந்தசாமி ஆரம்பித்தார்.
மெதுவாக, ”தம்பிக்கு எந்த ஊரு?” - கேட்டது தமிழில்.
"திருநெல்வேலி பக்கம். நீங்க?”
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Practice makes perfect
I've seen so many grad students and friends who think that they need to be perfect in everything they do. For some non-understandable reason, this is more apparent in girls than guys. I've known girls who are so much of a "perfect home" freak that I really don't want to go to their houses for partying. We try not to have their houses as party venues simply because those friends(yeah, the neat freaks) would never completely relax and would be surreptitiously glancing at all that the guests do. If someone spills some juice or food, even before the person who split it realizes it and gets a paper towel(most of my friends are humanly clean - and that is a BIG statement for grad students), they'd be there with the paper roll. At best, it doesn't let us relax too. At worst, it creates unnecessary friction. Anyways, there are also others who just don't turn in papers or projects till the last minute simply because they are perfecting the draft. There are some extreme cases where people think about doing something perfectly but are afraid of turning in a good work; they want their work to be perfect with every i dotted and every t crossed. The sad thing is they finally don't get to do even moderate work. Lots of sophomores and juniors would attest to this fact.
I'm not sure if people start becoming complacent once they leave school for I've not heard about many people at work bothering so much about perfection. But one of my friends says that there is a guy in her office who never gives presentations to his group about his work because he wants to give the 'perfect' presentation. His manager is tired of asking him to do the presentation and finally went around to assign him work with another person as a smaller team. My friend says that being in that smaller team is hard because that guy expects perfection in every step and would never let the project complete at the right time. It would inevitably get delayed and they'd rush through in the last minute producing a poorer quality work. But the irony of it all is that the guy would blame the teammate saying that the poor quality work was because they didn't concentrate on perfection in every step. Working with him is a sure stress-inducer! My friend had the misfortune of being his teammate last year for one of the projects and she went from being a calm person finishing work at the correct time to someone highly stressed. Thankfully, she is out of the project now. Her lessons from it were to factor in extra time and to clearly demarcate the responsibilities even inside a two member team. When she recounted this experience, I was reminded of the following story.
"The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot — albeit a perfect one — to get an “A”. Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes — the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay."
So, practice makes perfect is a true adage. Stop theorizing your ideas and start "doing" it. I recently spoke to a friend and he said that he always want to do something. That is a good attitude. Do well or do moderately ok or even do badly, but do it. Like the tamil adage
"Chithiramum kai pazhakkam,
senthamizhum naapazhakam"
(The picture becomes perfect as you keep drawing it,
your tamil becomes perfect as you keep speaking it),
as you do something, you'll become more confident, you'll know how things are done and finally will achieve that excellence that you are aiming for. Just remember this: no one came into this world knowing everything that they do today. Everyone learned things only after being born. When someone else can do it, you can too! So, why wait? Do that project that you've been procrastinating for the past few months now. As time goes by, you'll see that you do more and more in your life; You'll be more satisfied with the entire outcome. And you'll finally reach that "perfect" thing, presentation, pottery and anything else!
I'm not sure if people start becoming complacent once they leave school for I've not heard about many people at work bothering so much about perfection. But one of my friends says that there is a guy in her office who never gives presentations to his group about his work because he wants to give the 'perfect' presentation. His manager is tired of asking him to do the presentation and finally went around to assign him work with another person as a smaller team. My friend says that being in that smaller team is hard because that guy expects perfection in every step and would never let the project complete at the right time. It would inevitably get delayed and they'd rush through in the last minute producing a poorer quality work. But the irony of it all is that the guy would blame the teammate saying that the poor quality work was because they didn't concentrate on perfection in every step. Working with him is a sure stress-inducer! My friend had the misfortune of being his teammate last year for one of the projects and she went from being a calm person finishing work at the correct time to someone highly stressed. Thankfully, she is out of the project now. Her lessons from it were to factor in extra time and to clearly demarcate the responsibilities even inside a two member team. When she recounted this experience, I was reminded of the following story.
"The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pound of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds a “B”, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot — albeit a perfect one — to get an “A”. Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes — the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay."
So, practice makes perfect is a true adage. Stop theorizing your ideas and start "doing" it. I recently spoke to a friend and he said that he always want to do something. That is a good attitude. Do well or do moderately ok or even do badly, but do it. Like the tamil adage
"Chithiramum kai pazhakkam,
senthamizhum naapazhakam"
(The picture becomes perfect as you keep drawing it,
your tamil becomes perfect as you keep speaking it),
as you do something, you'll become more confident, you'll know how things are done and finally will achieve that excellence that you are aiming for. Just remember this: no one came into this world knowing everything that they do today. Everyone learned things only after being born. When someone else can do it, you can too! So, why wait? Do that project that you've been procrastinating for the past few months now. As time goes by, you'll see that you do more and more in your life; You'll be more satisfied with the entire outcome. And you'll finally reach that "perfect" thing, presentation, pottery and anything else!
Sunday, November 09, 2008
From grandma to granddaughter
[Read it somewhere - very good! I'm sure my grandma would have said the same if she was here]
Dear Granddaughter,
This is a very special gift
That you can never see
The reason its so special is
It's just for you from me.
Whenever you are lonely,
or even feeling blue
You only have to hold this gift
and know I think of you.
You never can unwrap it
Please leave the ribbon tied.
Just hold it close to your heart
It's filled with Love inside.
[One such gift I consider so special is my Granny's pic... despite some days when I've had too much to do and wanted nothing better than being in C, the picture has comforted me in more ways than one. I miss all the good times with her and can still feel her soft fingers on my face comforting me for everything from a scraped knee to horror dreams to serious talk. And, she is THE best cook in the world(even better than my mom, sometimes!) Love you, Paati!]
Dear Granddaughter,
This is a very special gift
That you can never see
The reason its so special is
It's just for you from me.
Whenever you are lonely,
or even feeling blue
You only have to hold this gift
and know I think of you.
You never can unwrap it
Please leave the ribbon tied.
Just hold it close to your heart
It's filled with Love inside.
[One such gift I consider so special is my Granny's pic... despite some days when I've had too much to do and wanted nothing better than being in C, the picture has comforted me in more ways than one. I miss all the good times with her and can still feel her soft fingers on my face comforting me for everything from a scraped knee to horror dreams to serious talk. And, she is THE best cook in the world(even better than my mom, sometimes!) Love you, Paati!]
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Life's lessons!
Ok! this is going to be another forward sent to me by a friend. This was one of more interesting speeaches I heard. Not only that, I've seen people who come into a situation with lot of spark and then let their spark die and become listless and dull. Recently I saw a school friend of mine, thousands of miles away from where we both went to school. She was one of the bubbliest people I knew in school. Now, into a job that she aspired for and with a family behind her, she should have been jumping with joy. Instead I saw a person who is pushing her everyday life as if it was a punishment and not a joy to live(which it rightly should be). Now what went wrong? I know this question cannot be answered by anyone(maybe her) but I do know that it is sad that she is not having a good time. And, I also know that it is harder still to rekindle that spark once you let it die. Most of my friends ask me why I become excited even for the simplest of things as there is so much to do in life and that simple things don't matter. Well, pal, that is because I'm not sure if I'd be around for the big things to happen and even if I am, I'm only increasing the net joy I have in life by getting excited for the simpler things as well. I'm sure that if I get a new job, a new house, a new car, etc I'd be excited. But that doesn't stop me from getting excited and happy when I get a new book of my favorite author, when I meet a friend unexpectedly, when I play with my friend's son, when I win a pool game, etc. Since this forward related a lot to some of the discussions I've been having with my friends, I thought it would be appropriate to put it on my blog and discuss it with my readers as well. Let me know what you think about it all. I know, some of you have asked, "when is your next post going to be?". I'm caught up in work now and am sure I'd get a handle on it soon. Till then, take care and enjoy this:
Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program, Pune - 23rd June, 2008
- By Chetan Bhagat
Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.
Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.
I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?
Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.
To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.
Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.
Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.
There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.
You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, 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.
One last thing 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. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? 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.
I've told you 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.
Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.
Disappointment's cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.
Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.
Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.
There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.
I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.
Thank You.
Inaugural Speech for the new batch at the Symbiosis BBA program, Pune - 23rd June, 2008
- By Chetan Bhagat
Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you. This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your life. I am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is truly elated. The first day in college is one of them. When you were getting ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be like, what would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates - there is so much to be curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that makes you feel truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the time.
Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old twin boys have a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on the bed. They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.
I see students like you, and I still see some sparks. But when I see older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark fades. People whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and bitter. Remember Kareena in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half? That is what happens when the spark is lost. So how to save the spark?
Imagine the spark to be a lamp's flame. The first aspect is nurturing - to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against storms.
To nurture, always have goals. It is human nature to strive, improve and achieve full potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible for you. It isn't any external measure - a certain cost to company pay package, a particular car or house.
Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material landmarks is success and rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday choices, financial freedom is a big achievement. But it isn't the purpose of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for work. Shah Rukh Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs won't be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of dollars already. Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive. Just getting better from current levels feels good. If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You may also know that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the next level. Striving for that next level is important.
Nature designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we were born. To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature's design. Are you? Goals will help you do that. I must add, don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order.
There is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup. There is no fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.
You must have read some quotes - Life is a tough race, it is a marathon or whatever. No, from what I have seen so far, 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.
One last thing 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. This quote has defined my work ever since. Whether its my writing, my job, my relationships or any of my goals. I get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is heaps of praise, there is intense criticism. If I take it all seriously, how will I write? Or rather, how will I live? 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.
I've told you 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.
Disappointment will come when your effort does not give you the expected return. If things don't go as planned or if you face failure. Failure is extremely difficult to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What did this failure teach me? is the question you will need to ask. You will feel miserable. You will want to quit, like I wanted to when nine publishers rejected my first book. Some IITians kill themselves over low grades – how silly is that? But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it's life. If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge. And remember - if you are failing at something, that means you are at your limit or potential. And that's where you want to be.
Disappointment's cousin is frustration, the second storm. Have you ever been frustrated? It happens when things are stuck. This is especially relevant in India. From traffic jams to getting that job you deserve, sometimes things take so long that you don't know if you chose the right goal. After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release. Frustration saps excitement, and turns your initial energy into something negative, making you a bitter person. How did I deal with it? A realistic assessment of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even though they are watched quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process rather than the end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts, having a side plan – I had my third book to write and even something as simple as pleasurable distractions in your life - friends, food, travel can help you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.
Unfairness - this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how our country works. People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces, pedigree find it easier to make it – not just in Bollywood, but everywhere. And sometimes it is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in India, so many stars need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out. But realize, there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to go to college and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm lucky by Indian standards. Let's be grateful for what we have and get the strength to accept what we don't. I have so much love from my readers that other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don't get literary praise. It's ok. I don't look like Aishwarya Rai, but I have two boys who I think are more beautiful than her. It's ok. Don't let unfairness kill your spark.
Finally, the last point that can kill your spark is isolation. As you grow older you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want Ice cream and Spiderman. As you grow older to college, you still are a lot like your friends. But ten years later and you realize you are unique. What you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even the people closest to you. This can create conflict as your goals may not match with others. . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in college invariably stop playing basketball by the time they have their second child. They give up something that meant so much to them. They do it for their family. But in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.
There you go. I've told you the four thunderstorms - disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation. You cannot avoid them, as like the monsoon they will come into your life at regular intervals. You just need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.
I welcome you again to the most wonderful years of your life. If someone gave me the choice to go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I also hope that ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as they do today. That you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college, but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole country will keep that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any moment in history. And there is something cool about saying - I come from the land of a billion sparks.
Thank You.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Top ten reasons why America is the best country in the world!!
Now that we have the Fourth of July upon us, there have been loads of forwards floating about the best and worst of America. Though America has its bad points(like every other country in the world), I respect it for its people's hardwork, individualism, open mind(some call it crazy mind!!), diversity, etc. Here is a forward from two of my American friends. They said that they had the comments written up when they were bored at work.
Disclaimer: None of the opinions given here are mine and I don't endorse any. So, please don't flame me. I post it here because I see a sense of wry humor in this forward. If you don't, well and good, just lite it.
Top ten reasons why America is the best country in the world
1. Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
I’m not sure that this is actually accurate. That is, has someone actually put together a graph with the locations of every hospital, fire department, etc., and analyzed this with traffic patterns? Somehow this seems fishy.
2. Only in America.....are there handicapped parking places in front of a skating rink.
There are legitimate reasons for there to be handicapped places in front of a skating rink. Say we have a handicapped parent. Should we really make it extra hard for him because his able-bodied children are able to use the skating rink. (You can make arguments just about anywhere for things like this; hence why ADA requires them)
3. Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Perhaps because cigarettes are an impulse buy that you remember when you leave the store and prescriptions are not? OTC drugs are also a high-value item for shoplifters. Putting them in the back allows for more reaction time. Cigarettes are behind the counter and more difficult to shoplift.
4. Only in America......do people order double cheese burgers, large fries and a diet coke.
Interestingly enough, the caloric content of a soda is non-negligible. For example, a large coke at Taco Bell has 350 calories. A McDonald’s Double cheeseburger has 440 calories, and a large fries at McDonald’s has 570 calories. The soda has 80% of the calories of a double cheeseburger and 61% of the calories of a large fries. Assuming that you’re eating three meals of this a day, such a diet would have 3000 calories daily. Not healthy, but much better than 25% more calories.
5. Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
What bank doesn’t have its doors unlocked during business hours? Pens are chained to the counter to keep you from inadvertently walking off with them. If you assume that you have a thousand customers in a bank a day, 10% take a pen, and pens cost ten cents each, then you’re costing roughly $10 a day in pens. Unless you’re trying to advertise, you probably don’t want to spend something like $200/mo in pens.
6. Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
If you have a lot of useless junk, you can’t very well put it out in your yard. Cars can be locked, and even if it’s not great for the paint job, you don’t have much of another option if you want to create the illusion of cleanliness in the home. I don’t think that this is unique to the US either.
7. Only in America......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.
Although we end up taking messages from people we didn’t want to talk to, answering machines are primarily so that we don’t miss calls at all. What’s wrong with managing information?
8. Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
This has to deal with bakers tending to do things in multiples of three and four, not some wide conspiracy. You’ll find that they do this in Europe as well. Hot dog manufacturers use a more natural multiple of 10, as do many other items.
9. Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well:'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures '
This is a false etymology. The derivation is from “politicus” or “citizens of the state”.
10. Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
ATM machines are made mass-manufactured, and we still have ADA in our pocket. It’s also possible for a blind person to walk up to an ATM machine.
Disclaimer: None of the opinions given here are mine and I don't endorse any. So, please don't flame me. I post it here because I see a sense of wry humor in this forward. If you don't, well and good, just lite it.
Top ten reasons why America is the best country in the world
1. Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
I’m not sure that this is actually accurate. That is, has someone actually put together a graph with the locations of every hospital, fire department, etc., and analyzed this with traffic patterns? Somehow this seems fishy.
2. Only in America.....are there handicapped parking places in front of a skating rink.
There are legitimate reasons for there to be handicapped places in front of a skating rink. Say we have a handicapped parent. Should we really make it extra hard for him because his able-bodied children are able to use the skating rink. (You can make arguments just about anywhere for things like this; hence why ADA requires them)
3. Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Perhaps because cigarettes are an impulse buy that you remember when you leave the store and prescriptions are not? OTC drugs are also a high-value item for shoplifters. Putting them in the back allows for more reaction time. Cigarettes are behind the counter and more difficult to shoplift.
4. Only in America......do people order double cheese burgers, large fries and a diet coke.
Interestingly enough, the caloric content of a soda is non-negligible. For example, a large coke at Taco Bell has 350 calories. A McDonald’s Double cheeseburger has 440 calories, and a large fries at McDonald’s has 570 calories. The soda has 80% of the calories of a double cheeseburger and 61% of the calories of a large fries. Assuming that you’re eating three meals of this a day, such a diet would have 3000 calories daily. Not healthy, but much better than 25% more calories.
5. Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
What bank doesn’t have its doors unlocked during business hours? Pens are chained to the counter to keep you from inadvertently walking off with them. If you assume that you have a thousand customers in a bank a day, 10% take a pen, and pens cost ten cents each, then you’re costing roughly $10 a day in pens. Unless you’re trying to advertise, you probably don’t want to spend something like $200/mo in pens.
6. Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
If you have a lot of useless junk, you can’t very well put it out in your yard. Cars can be locked, and even if it’s not great for the paint job, you don’t have much of another option if you want to create the illusion of cleanliness in the home. I don’t think that this is unique to the US either.
7. Only in America......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.
Although we end up taking messages from people we didn’t want to talk to, answering machines are primarily so that we don’t miss calls at all. What’s wrong with managing information?
8. Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
This has to deal with bakers tending to do things in multiples of three and four, not some wide conspiracy. You’ll find that they do this in Europe as well. Hot dog manufacturers use a more natural multiple of 10, as do many other items.
9. Only in America......do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well:'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures '
This is a false etymology. The derivation is from “politicus” or “citizens of the state”.
10. Only in America......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
ATM machines are made mass-manufactured, and we still have ADA in our pocket. It’s also possible for a blind person to walk up to an ATM machine.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Sondha Mannil.... (In the native land!)
I received this poem through a friend of mine. I usually read the poems and either store them in my mailbox(if they are really good) or trash them(if else). But this one struck a chord somewhere and so reached my blog. Here, it is:
I tried translating it to english for my nonTamil readers, but the beauty just gets lost. Kudos to the original author whoever they are. It just portrayed what every person who knows what a happy and carefree childhood is and who is now into the grips of technology(in this grip willingly, so can't complain much! But the heart yearns for those simpler days!) feels at heart. Its worse when you are away from your family because the pangs are harder and take more time and effort to be quelled. Do you guys feel the same way too?
I tried translating it to english for my nonTamil readers, but the beauty just gets lost. Kudos to the original author whoever they are. It just portrayed what every person who knows what a happy and carefree childhood is and who is now into the grips of technology(in this grip willingly, so can't complain much! But the heart yearns for those simpler days!) feels at heart. Its worse when you are away from your family because the pangs are harder and take more time and effort to be quelled. Do you guys feel the same way too?
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Believe it or Not!!
This post has nothing to do with Ripley's Believe it or Not! chain of places(actually, IMHO(ok, that's a computer person's version of saying In My Humble Opinion... I've started loving abbreviations for some reason. But I make some of my friends go mad! Ah! This too shall pass!(Ithuvum Kadandhu pogum!)So, my dear friends, hang in there!),that's a good place to go to, especially if you are in New York. They've got an awesome collection there. Even my parents(who have traveled to lots of places) were wowed by the collection. And that's something to say!) but more to do with the last post I wrote about Dasavatharam, Kamal's latest movie. Loads of my friends discussed about it with me and some even said that I hadn't taken the time to analyze the movie better. But even after a full two weeks of analysis and discussion, I still stand by what I expressed in the post. If that movie couldn't wow me in the first place, it just doesn't have that wow factor even if I read a lot about it, watch it again scores of times, talk/discuss more about it. Telling me that the movie grows on me is just not my cup of tea. Come on! I have loads more interesting things to do than spend 6 hours for a movie to make an impression on me. I have better things to do than to re-watch the movie.
All said and done, there were an unprecedented number of forwards about this movie and its interpretations. Kamal should be appreciated for that fact. He has given such a film that everyone has his/her own interpretation of it and each of it seems right. A true test of a person's rationale. Though I got interesting forwards, there was one which stood out amongst them. I was LOLing(again, laughing out loud for those who didn't get it) after reading it(thanks S, for sending it my way! I know you ROTFLed after reading this one!). I'll let you decide if you have to give work to your rationale or not after reading this one. Here goes:
1) In 1978, Kamal's Tamil movie "Sivappu Rojakal" got released. He played the role of a Psychopath killer . One year later, a guy called Psycho Raman was caught for brutally murdering people
2) In 1988, Kamal played the role of a unemployed youth in the movie "Sathya". In 89-90's our country faced lot of problems due to unemployment.
3) In 1992, his blockbuster movie "Devar Magan" got released. Its a village based subject. There will be some scenes portraying communal clashes. Exactly a year later in 1993, there were many communal clashes in southern districts.
4) We all know in 1996 many people in our country was cheated by finance companies. Our Kamal Hasan has clearly depicted this in his movie "mahanadhi" which got released in 1994 itself.
5) In "heyram"(2000), there are some scenes relating to Hindu Muslim clashes . We all know 2 years later, godhra(Gujarat riots) incident happened.
6) He used a word called 'tsunami' in his movie "Anbesivam"(2003).The word 'tsunami' was not known to many people before. In 2004, 'tsunami' stuck the east coast of our country and many people lost their lives.
7) In his latest movie "Vettaiyadu Vilayadu "(2006) there are two characters called ila&amudhan who played the roles of psychopath killers. After 3 months of release of the movie, the noida serial killing came to light (moninder/sathish)
And to add another point to the seven below
8 )He shows the outbreak of a biological weapon(virus/vial) in Tamil nadu --Dasavatharam(2008)
?????????????????????????????????????????
My view: Does it mean now Kamal will become Kamalanandha and start dancing with women (ok! In a swamiyar garb) and bringing out Lingams and Vibuthis and predict the future of politics, cinema and India?
Your Views: On the comment section, please!
All said and done, there were an unprecedented number of forwards about this movie and its interpretations. Kamal should be appreciated for that fact. He has given such a film that everyone has his/her own interpretation of it and each of it seems right. A true test of a person's rationale. Though I got interesting forwards, there was one which stood out amongst them. I was LOLing(again, laughing out loud for those who didn't get it) after reading it(thanks S, for sending it my way! I know you ROTFLed after reading this one!). I'll let you decide if you have to give work to your rationale or not after reading this one. Here goes:
1) In 1978, Kamal's Tamil movie "Sivappu Rojakal" got released. He played the role of a Psychopath killer . One year later, a guy called Psycho Raman was caught for brutally murdering people
2) In 1988, Kamal played the role of a unemployed youth in the movie "Sathya". In 89-90's our country faced lot of problems due to unemployment.
3) In 1992, his blockbuster movie "Devar Magan" got released. Its a village based subject. There will be some scenes portraying communal clashes. Exactly a year later in 1993, there were many communal clashes in southern districts.
4) We all know in 1996 many people in our country was cheated by finance companies. Our Kamal Hasan has clearly depicted this in his movie "mahanadhi" which got released in 1994 itself.
5) In "heyram"(2000), there are some scenes relating to Hindu Muslim clashes . We all know 2 years later, godhra(Gujarat riots) incident happened.
6) He used a word called 'tsunami' in his movie "Anbesivam"(2003).The word 'tsunami' was not known to many people before. In 2004, 'tsunami' stuck the east coast of our country and many people lost their lives.
7) In his latest movie "Vettaiyadu Vilayadu "(2006) there are two characters called ila&amudhan who played the roles of psychopath killers. After 3 months of release of the movie, the noida serial killing came to light (moninder/sathish)
And to add another point to the seven below
8 )He shows the outbreak of a biological weapon(virus/vial) in Tamil nadu --Dasavatharam(2008)
?????????????????????????????????????????
My view: Does it mean now Kamal will become Kamalanandha and start dancing with women (ok! In a swamiyar garb) and bringing out Lingams and Vibuthis and predict the future of politics, cinema and India?
Your Views: On the comment section, please!
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Vazhkaye porkalam!
This is a poem from a friend's status message(thanks, varsh!) It was succinct yet conveyed the message! All kudos for the original author
vazhkaye porkalam,
vazhndudaan parkanum,
porkalam maaralam,
porgal daan marumo
[English translation:
Life is a battlefield
We have to live and see the end
The battlefield can change
But do the battles ever change?]
vazhkaye porkalam,
vazhndudaan parkanum,
porkalam maaralam,
porgal daan marumo
[English translation:
Life is a battlefield
We have to live and see the end
The battlefield can change
But do the battles ever change?]
Monday, March 31, 2008
Mars and Venus!!
Another interesting forward! This is from JM. Couldn't resist sharing :)
One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed. Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says, "I don't feel like it, I just want you to hold me." I said, "WHAT??!! What was that?!" So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear...
"You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man." She responded to my puzzled look by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?" Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep.
The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn't decide which one to take, so I told her we'd just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said, "Lets get a pair for each outfit." We went on to the jewellery department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you... she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play tennis. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey."
She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement. Smiling with excited anticipation, she finally said, "I think this is all dear, let's go to the cashier." I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel like it." Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled, "WHAT?" I then said, "Honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman. Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the the bank balance I have?"
Though the boyfriend and girlfriend in this story are in the extremes, there is always a part of every couples' life where there is a question of how much and what to give and take. If only we could give more and expect less, Ah! that is a recipe for ideal life. Do share your views!
One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed. Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says, "I don't feel like it, I just want you to hold me." I said, "WHAT??!! What was that?!" So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear...
"You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man." She responded to my puzzled look by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?" Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep.
The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn't decide which one to take, so I told her we'd just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said, "Lets get a pair for each outfit." We went on to the jewellery department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you... she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn't even know how to play tennis. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey."
She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement. Smiling with excited anticipation, she finally said, "I think this is all dear, let's go to the cashier." I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel like it." Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled, "WHAT?" I then said, "Honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman. Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the the bank balance I have?"
Though the boyfriend and girlfriend in this story are in the extremes, there is always a part of every couples' life where there is a question of how much and what to give and take. If only we could give more and expect less, Ah! that is a recipe for ideal life. Do share your views!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Every girl's dream in an arranged marriage
Another good forward that I couldn't resist sharing! Nowadays, I've started seeing some decently good forwards too, among all the Bill Gates sharing fortune forwards and the Help me, pass it on forwards. Kudos to the original author!
Some of my thoughts on the story before you read it. In India, from where I come, there are three kinds of wedding. The first is where you pick the groom(or bride) by yourself without help or support from family(the "love" marriage, though other marriages also have love in them, here love is the basis for the wedding and so the name), the second is where you pick the groom(or bride) by yourself and then get the family's approval(the "love cum arranged" marriage) and finally the one where the family(mostly the parents) search for a suitable groom or bride based on different criteria and you get to pick one among the selected list(the "arranged" marriage. This is more common in India but people are slowly moving over to the "love cum arranged" marriage type atleast in the cities). But there are loads of girls, me included, who think that searching for the perfect partner is a hard thing to do(too much responsibility!) and prefer to leave it to the parents and enjoy singledom happily. But most of the girls do have loads of doubts about their futures and some don't even think of their futures beyond the marriage as it would depend a lot on the person to whom they are getting married to. I'm not sure if the guys feel the same too but I've never heard anything of that sort from my guy friends. They are not bothered so much about the changes in career or life after marriage. Instead, they are more worried about the financial side(will I be able to support both of us? and questions of that sort) and the emotional/physical side of it(will I be able to satisfy her? will we hit it off together?). But this is strictly my opinion.
Especially when the wedding happens in a short span of time or when the bride-to-be and groom-to-be do not have a lot of time to interact with each other before the wedding, I'm sure there are going to be lots of doubts on either side on various issues. And it becomes all the more difficult when you just can't rationalize about what is happening. Come on! won't everyone get atleast a bit flustered when the society says that we have to live our whole lives with a person whom we barely know? That person might be good, bad, ok... His/her tastes, lifestyle, opinions, values, view of life, etc may be the same or different. He/She might be adjusting/demanding, nagging(I've seen some nagging husbands too,G :P), short-tempered/calm, quick with the tongue, etc. And one blindfold with the arranged marriage type of weddings is that you really don't know if things will work out. The parents make the best possible match and you start off with the wedding hoping things will be good. If they turn out good, everyone is happy. If not, the couple pay the maximum price. But usually, this type of marriage works very well, even better than the other two methods(this might be because of the close-knit familial ties in the Indian society or because everyone has a hand in the wedding, everyone helps to keep the marriage from breaking!). Still the uncertainty exists unless proved one way or the other. And this story is about a girl and her uncertainties. Here it is:
The woods were lovely dark and deep. Walking slowly beside her, in the damp mud road, was her husband whom she barely knew. He was very relaxed, happily watching a group of kids playing at a distance. Her "mehandi" was still dark and smelling fresh, reminding of the excitements and tension 2 days back. "It can't work this way mom...please stop this", she kept telling her mother till the last moment, who wouldn't listen but carry on with beautifying her. She had been crying all night and her make-up had to be patched up twice or thrice to hide her awkwardly swollen face.
It was too late now. She had to get married "NOW" to the guy...The guy whom she had seen once and talked thrice. The guy about whom she knew nothing at all but for his name and work. Everything happened in a hurry and everything was over before she could breathe again... here was she with this guy, all alone in this hill station... how can anybody send their daughter such a long distance with a stranger???
"Hey look at that....!!!" he shouted in excitement... she shrugged and looked where his finger pointed... Bright colored balloons dotted the sky. Children were jumping in joy and he seemed to be completely absorbed into it... colors are always exciting...but not now. She was not with her friends, not with her team mates, not even with her parents. This was not a 3 day tour or team building trip. This was her life and she has been forced to start off with this person. Loneliness and discomfort with this stranger was sickening...She looked at him in wonder... does he even realize that he has married me? Does he understand that he has to love me, protect me, care for me, a new girl, a stranger, all his life?
The marriage morning started like a daylight nightmare for her. The first time in life she felt she should have fallen in love and then married somebody. some man who she would have felt more comfortable with, someone whom she could call by name and introduce to friends, someone whom she could trust. But marriage morning was obviously not the time to think all these. Her parents would never have said "no" if she had declared that she was in love. But she was not emotionally attached to anybody she met, especially guys. She was very friendly, playing, teasing, but never had second thought for any man around her. That brought the entire responsibility of looking for a groom on her parents' shoulders. Her parents had had a very bad time with this entire process. They started their groom search with unending "&" operation. The concatenation of "Horoscope matching" & "Decent family" & "Good looking" & "Good pay" & "same cast" & so on... that always gave 0 output. Now after all that 8 months hunt, they were not ready to hear her "ifs" and "buts" for this 'good guy'. She had explained to her father. She does not feel anything for this person. He is nothing more to me than any other software professional. Like list of names she sees in the chat rooms. Distant and usual...Her father asked her to talk to him and even meet him and discuss their likes and dislikes. That meeting started like the induction program self introduction and ended like a 3 hour seminar.She was waiting to get away from that place. "So did you talk with him?". "yes". "was he polite and decent". "yes". "Oh he got that special flavoured tri-color icecream...!!!".OK. All her family and relatives discussed...She was given the chance to "understand her life partner" and that they have understood each other "well" and she is ready for the marriage now.
All arrangements geared up and it was 24 days after her first meeting that she was getting married to her man... perfect match as everybody else described. Marriage hall was full with excited people, kids got the chance to play, ladies got the chance to wear the silk saree. The smell of rose and jasmine filled the hall. Different poses for the photographer and artificial smiles for the videos. The moment he had
tied the sacred thread was unexplainable vacuum in the head. It was over.She was his wife. Accepted by the society and law. Her proud parents were relaxed. This was their duty they had been planning to fulfill since she was born. All this crowd will fade away, leaving her to explore her new world...
He pulled her hand gently to sit on the stone bench. The bench was wet and the chillness was indeed enjoyable. "So what are you thinking about?"... that was an unexpected ball. should she reply? should she be silent? She remembered the two hour presentation she had taken last month. Bold and confident, she kept answering all the queries with a broad smile. Now she remained silent. "Do you know honey... I was not
for this marriage too..." Oh my God... what did I hear??? did HE tell that or did I think aloud? what does he mean? didn't he like me? was he forced into this?" He must have noticed the quizzical look on her face...with a gentle smile he continued..."I wanted to look for a girl myself, buy her everything, care for her, argue with her, laugh and cry with her, then get married to her... Anything otherwise would be a drama. Traditional drama and I was not for it anytime. But my love for my work and also my stress would not give me time and mind to search that girl...When your parents talked to me 2 weeks before our marriage, about your fear of getting married, to a stranger, I could completely understand your mind. I could see myself in you and that was the moment I decided I will marry you. There was no time to prove myself to you, make you trust me, everything happened in a hurry. But there was the entire life before me, to please you, to love you, to make you trust me. This is no less than what I had dreamt, the girl I was waiting for, is you. Now tell me... will you love me???" Tears came down her cheek. Her parents had done more than their duty. They had found her the perfect guy. "Thank you Mom!!! Thank you Dad!!!" She sent up a silent prayer. His question remained unanswered yet both knew the answer....
Some of my thoughts on the story before you read it. In India, from where I come, there are three kinds of wedding. The first is where you pick the groom(or bride) by yourself without help or support from family(the "love" marriage, though other marriages also have love in them, here love is the basis for the wedding and so the name), the second is where you pick the groom(or bride) by yourself and then get the family's approval(the "love cum arranged" marriage) and finally the one where the family(mostly the parents) search for a suitable groom or bride based on different criteria and you get to pick one among the selected list(the "arranged" marriage. This is more common in India but people are slowly moving over to the "love cum arranged" marriage type atleast in the cities). But there are loads of girls, me included, who think that searching for the perfect partner is a hard thing to do(too much responsibility!) and prefer to leave it to the parents and enjoy singledom happily. But most of the girls do have loads of doubts about their futures and some don't even think of their futures beyond the marriage as it would depend a lot on the person to whom they are getting married to. I'm not sure if the guys feel the same too but I've never heard anything of that sort from my guy friends. They are not bothered so much about the changes in career or life after marriage. Instead, they are more worried about the financial side(will I be able to support both of us? and questions of that sort) and the emotional/physical side of it(will I be able to satisfy her? will we hit it off together?). But this is strictly my opinion.
Especially when the wedding happens in a short span of time or when the bride-to-be and groom-to-be do not have a lot of time to interact with each other before the wedding, I'm sure there are going to be lots of doubts on either side on various issues. And it becomes all the more difficult when you just can't rationalize about what is happening. Come on! won't everyone get atleast a bit flustered when the society says that we have to live our whole lives with a person whom we barely know? That person might be good, bad, ok... His/her tastes, lifestyle, opinions, values, view of life, etc may be the same or different. He/She might be adjusting/demanding, nagging(I've seen some nagging husbands too,G :P), short-tempered/calm, quick with the tongue, etc. And one blindfold with the arranged marriage type of weddings is that you really don't know if things will work out. The parents make the best possible match and you start off with the wedding hoping things will be good. If they turn out good, everyone is happy. If not, the couple pay the maximum price. But usually, this type of marriage works very well, even better than the other two methods(this might be because of the close-knit familial ties in the Indian society or because everyone has a hand in the wedding, everyone helps to keep the marriage from breaking!). Still the uncertainty exists unless proved one way or the other. And this story is about a girl and her uncertainties. Here it is:
The woods were lovely dark and deep. Walking slowly beside her, in the damp mud road, was her husband whom she barely knew. He was very relaxed, happily watching a group of kids playing at a distance. Her "mehandi" was still dark and smelling fresh, reminding of the excitements and tension 2 days back. "It can't work this way mom...please stop this", she kept telling her mother till the last moment, who wouldn't listen but carry on with beautifying her. She had been crying all night and her make-up had to be patched up twice or thrice to hide her awkwardly swollen face.
It was too late now. She had to get married "NOW" to the guy...The guy whom she had seen once and talked thrice. The guy about whom she knew nothing at all but for his name and work. Everything happened in a hurry and everything was over before she could breathe again... here was she with this guy, all alone in this hill station... how can anybody send their daughter such a long distance with a stranger???
"Hey look at that....!!!" he shouted in excitement... she shrugged and looked where his finger pointed... Bright colored balloons dotted the sky. Children were jumping in joy and he seemed to be completely absorbed into it... colors are always exciting...but not now. She was not with her friends, not with her team mates, not even with her parents. This was not a 3 day tour or team building trip. This was her life and she has been forced to start off with this person. Loneliness and discomfort with this stranger was sickening...She looked at him in wonder... does he even realize that he has married me? Does he understand that he has to love me, protect me, care for me, a new girl, a stranger, all his life?
The marriage morning started like a daylight nightmare for her. The first time in life she felt she should have fallen in love and then married somebody. some man who she would have felt more comfortable with, someone whom she could call by name and introduce to friends, someone whom she could trust. But marriage morning was obviously not the time to think all these. Her parents would never have said "no" if she had declared that she was in love. But she was not emotionally attached to anybody she met, especially guys. She was very friendly, playing, teasing, but never had second thought for any man around her. That brought the entire responsibility of looking for a groom on her parents' shoulders. Her parents had had a very bad time with this entire process. They started their groom search with unending "&" operation. The concatenation of "Horoscope matching" & "Decent family" & "Good looking" & "Good pay" & "same cast" & so on... that always gave 0 output. Now after all that 8 months hunt, they were not ready to hear her "ifs" and "buts" for this 'good guy'. She had explained to her father. She does not feel anything for this person. He is nothing more to me than any other software professional. Like list of names she sees in the chat rooms. Distant and usual...Her father asked her to talk to him and even meet him and discuss their likes and dislikes. That meeting started like the induction program self introduction and ended like a 3 hour seminar.She was waiting to get away from that place. "So did you talk with him?". "yes". "was he polite and decent". "yes". "Oh he got that special flavoured tri-color icecream...!!!".OK. All her family and relatives discussed...She was given the chance to "understand her life partner" and that they have understood each other "well" and she is ready for the marriage now.
All arrangements geared up and it was 24 days after her first meeting that she was getting married to her man... perfect match as everybody else described. Marriage hall was full with excited people, kids got the chance to play, ladies got the chance to wear the silk saree. The smell of rose and jasmine filled the hall. Different poses for the photographer and artificial smiles for the videos. The moment he had
tied the sacred thread was unexplainable vacuum in the head. It was over.She was his wife. Accepted by the society and law. Her proud parents were relaxed. This was their duty they had been planning to fulfill since she was born. All this crowd will fade away, leaving her to explore her new world...
He pulled her hand gently to sit on the stone bench. The bench was wet and the chillness was indeed enjoyable. "So what are you thinking about?"... that was an unexpected ball. should she reply? should she be silent? She remembered the two hour presentation she had taken last month. Bold and confident, she kept answering all the queries with a broad smile. Now she remained silent. "Do you know honey... I was not
for this marriage too..." Oh my God... what did I hear??? did HE tell that or did I think aloud? what does he mean? didn't he like me? was he forced into this?" He must have noticed the quizzical look on her face...with a gentle smile he continued..."I wanted to look for a girl myself, buy her everything, care for her, argue with her, laugh and cry with her, then get married to her... Anything otherwise would be a drama. Traditional drama and I was not for it anytime. But my love for my work and also my stress would not give me time and mind to search that girl...When your parents talked to me 2 weeks before our marriage, about your fear of getting married, to a stranger, I could completely understand your mind. I could see myself in you and that was the moment I decided I will marry you. There was no time to prove myself to you, make you trust me, everything happened in a hurry. But there was the entire life before me, to please you, to love you, to make you trust me. This is no less than what I had dreamt, the girl I was waiting for, is you. Now tell me... will you love me???" Tears came down her cheek. Her parents had done more than their duty. They had found her the perfect guy. "Thank you Mom!!! Thank you Dad!!!" She sent up a silent prayer. His question remained unanswered yet both knew the answer....
Sunday, January 13, 2008
A mother at heart!
This is a beautiful story that one of my professors forwarded. Though I've read many like it back in India, the ending is different. I hope you like it too and all kudos go to the original author of the story, wherever he/she is.
"Are you sure, you don't have any problem with this" Selvi asked him once again, probably for the tenth time.
Suresh smiled at her."No ma. I am in fact happy that you made this decision". She leaned on his shoulders and closed her eyes. They are heading towards Anbagam (House of Love). It's a home for homeless children. Only last night, she asked Suresh about this. "Shall we adopt a child?" Her lovely eyes were wet. "I need a child, A Child of my own." Suresh didn't utter a word. He knows the pain that she undergoes all these ten years of their life together.
Theirs is a Love Marriage. Its not a Love at first sight kinds. They have been friends since the age of 10 and God only knows when exactly the friendship turned to Love. No proposals, No Cards, No 'I love yous'. When Selvi's parents fixed her alliance with a bottle-faced Richie, She realized that there can't be a life for her without Suresh. They didn't need many words to be exchanged between them as he also had the same thing in him. After failing to convince their parents, they decided to elope. It took two full years for their parents to accept them, that too, not whole-heartedly. But they neither bother them much nor ignore them. They live such an intimate life they need none else.
She has a great love for children. At every journey, she will manage to attract a child and soon it will be seen on her Lap. "See how those tiny fingers look... See how she smiles... so cute with lovely dimple... See how he looks. sooooo sweet. He is almost a doll..... Like this She has hundreds of 'See hows' to be excited about a kid. Once a Mom astonished after 6 hours of train journey with us,"My Son does not go to anyone other than me. I wonder how he got attached to your wife".
As destiny has its own way of dictating things, they don't have a child. Though She is yearning for one, she found ways to cope up with it. Every day, one could find a minimum of 10 children at her home. She would feed them, play with them and go to temples with them. She had her own world with them unperturbed by the comments of others.
One day she over-heard his mother talking to a neighbour, "When you don't look at the horoscopes, this is how things will be. These young people don’t listen to elders. Marriage is not a joke. Why we insist on horoscopes and auspicious days and all. They simply went and married without giving ears to our advices. See now, its we who suffer. I am worried if there won't be any heir to us at all. But what to do. I can only pray to God"
That night she cried for the first time after they got married. It was very hard for Suresh to console her.
"Have I spoiled your life" She asked in between her cries.
"Stupid girl, Stop all these non-sense. There is nothing to worry about these comments. I am here for you always.
Believe me. Soon, we will have a beautiful child. As beautiful as my kuttimmaa. Now please stop crying. I don't like to see my dear like this"
"Shall we go to Doctor" She asked with all the seriousness in the world.
Suresh didn't know what to tell.
"Why ma, lets wait"
"No Suresh, Please take me to a Doctor".
They went to Doctor. Not one. For next three years, they went to many a Doctor. Lots of scans, tests, specialists.....
All of them showed the same result......They are medically fit and there is not a single problem with either of them.
But still, the result they wanted never happened. God keeps answers to few puzzles to himself. They are beyond Medical science, In fact beyond any science. May be He is of the opinion that 'if the man-kind can find answers to all puzzles of the world, His existence will be ignored'.
As years went, they had to cope and tolerate more and more comments. And some of them were made on the face and many behind. They got used to it. None of these comments came between them. Their love for each other grew with them, undeterred.
Last evening that happened. He came back from office to see selvi waiting for him anxiously at the gate. "Suresh, manju is not well it seems. She is hospitalized. Let's go now pls."
Manju is a two years old girl of their neighbour who is one of the darlings of his wife. He drove to the Hospital. All along, selvi was telling me how manju was active playing with her till that afternoon. By afternoon, her mom came to take her, telling that her Granny has come village. As he reached the hospital, she didn't wait for him to park the car and ran to the reception. He parked the car and checked at the reception. The Child was in Room number 202 and when he approached the room, he saw selvi at the door.
She looked transfixed.
Then he heard that conversation too.
It was the granny of the child shouting at the mother. "Its all your carelessness that brought this to us, You neither use your head, nor listen to us."
"What did I do, Aunt"
"Haven't I told you 100 times not to leave the child to that ill-fated woman?"
"No Aunt, there is nothing wrong with her. She takes care of Manju very well"
"Even now, after experiencing this, you don't understand, is it?,
Have you ever watched at that selvi's eyes when she looks at our kid. Its all filled with jealousy and inability. That's what struck our child now. Otherwise, will a child who was active till 3, start vomiting continuously like this"
"Aunty. Please don't blame selvi akka (sister).
She is too good at heart to think so mean"
"Oho! So Your Selvie akka is not mean. Its me who is mean , is it"
"Oh Aunty, Please don't play with words. I meant to tell you that she is good at heart, that's all"
"hmmm, Good at heart….As if you saw her heart to comment on it"
"Yes. It's visible by her deeds. I have never seen her putting a foot wrong. She is kind and helpful. You can see every kid of the street in her house, all the time. Though she does not have a child on her own, You have seen how well she takes care of all kids. That's why I call her good"
"You can't judge a person that easily. She has a crooked mind behind all her deeds. More than me, More than you...
God judges everyone so well. Tell me why she is not blessed with a child. Tell me. God knows what to give to whom.
Stop arguing with me. And listen to me. Our Child is not going to her home anymore. That's it."
Selvi could not stand there even for a second after hearing this. She ran from there. The door was open and Suresh knew they were out there seeing them. But he didn't have time or courtesy to smile at them. Suresh had to rush back to his car where he saw Selvi in a totally collapsed state. He let her cry for sometime and that's when she asked him if they could adapt a child.
They reached that home by the prayer time. They joined the Prayer. They are singing a song praising the God for creating the world. Its thanks God for creating all beautiful things, Falls, mountains, landscapes, greens, creatures, man-kind.......and Love..... It ended saying that everything is His and everyone is His children. Its so touching to see all the innocent faces with pure hearts singing the song.
Selvi looked at all the kids. Her eyes are searching and he could see her eyes smile on seeing each face. Suresh knows that its going to be tough for her to single-out a child. The home is called 'House of Love' is run by the Jesuits and Father Ignaci Muthu is the Director of the Home. Prayers are over and now they are in Father's room. Suresh knows Fr. Ignaci very much as he got graduated from a Jesuits college. Suresh sees some tension creeping on selvi's face.
Actually they went with some sweets and we decide to distribute the sweets to all children. The Plan is to have a look at all children while giving the sweets. Selvi is given a list with all names of the children. They looked at all the children.
Children of different ages....
Fair, dark, lean, stout, special needs........
some are smiling...
some didn't bother to.....
A few thanked immediately.....
a few did after insistence by the Sister who accompanied them.....
one started feeling Selvi's saree with wide open eyes.....
one got curious about the Suresh's spectacles .....
but.....
All of them have many things in common.
they all have no mask on their faces...
they belong to same religion, religion of Love...
they have same parent.. The Almighty...
they have same character... Innocence...
they are all punished for a fault which is not theirs,
Yet, they are not aware of it and they don't hate the world or they don’t know how to....
By another hour, the sweet distribution is done and they are back in Father's room. Father asked Suresh "So My Son, Have you chosen a child, or do you both need to discuss" "We don't need any discussion father. It's going to be selvi's choice" Saying this Suresh looked at his wife. Selvi is biting her lips with a lowered head.Then she told, "No. I don't want to adopt a child"
Suresh is shocked.
And Father looked confused.
"Selvi, what are you saying?"
"No, Suresh. I don't want a child. Leave me like this. I don't want to adopt a child. I don't want. I don't want." With that, she started crying.
Father looked at Suresh without losing his calmness.
"Son, don't force her. Leave her. I guess you should have talked to her little more, before taking her here."
"No father, it's her decision to adopt"
"Yes, I did take the decision. And I am stupid. Now, I don't want to adopt. Please take me out"
She fell on the chair and she could not be controlled.
"I am sorry Father. Will meet you later"
Suresh took her out and didn't want to look at her.
She slept off on the way after weeping for sometime. They reached home and Suresh saw the paper with all names of the children in her hand. He is surprised that no child impressed her. He slowly tugged the paper and looked at it.
She has marked a tick on.......All names.
Till night they didn't speak much to each other. She came and asked if she could keep her head on his lap. He nodded and she did. "Are you Mad on me" she asked. "Yeah, Initially I was."
"So you are not, now"
"hmmmmm, but I am still confused"
She remained silent.
"I know you like all those children. But why did you say, you don't want to adopt a kid"
She asked him back, " If I asked you to select, whom you would have gone for"
Suresh thought for few seconds and told "That Amudha, 3 yrs old girl"
"Then don't you like that little Aruna who cannot walk".
Suresh didn't know what to tell.
"We can adopt both if you want".
She spoke after few minutes of silence.
"Suresh."I like all those children. It was not easy to choose one of them. Even if I choose one, that child will get a Mom and Dad in us. Don't you think it is an injustice done to all other children? If I have not seen all of them then it's a different thing. I saw them, each one of them. I can't say one is better than the other. Or I can't find out which one needs me more. All I can say now is I love them all and we can't adopt them all. Can we?"
Suresh looked at her face and didn't even try to reply.
She continued, "I know. We can’t. I don't want to disappoint other children by choosing one of them. They all are equal They all are good. They all are beautiful. Better than me. Better than you. They cannot be discriminated on any basis. They all are blessed and children of God. Can we make better parents than God? Let's not adopt a single child and try to give it a king's or queen's life. Let's adopt the home. Let's give all our money for them. Let's visit the home whenever possible. Please allow me to join them as a teacher. I don't care the world. Let me be, an issue-less woman who cannot be a mother forever. But let’s not adopt a child".
Suresh nodded his head in silence.
He understood that though selvi is not blessed with a child, she is already mother in heart.
A true Mother indeed.
"Are you sure, you don't have any problem with this" Selvi asked him once again, probably for the tenth time.
Suresh smiled at her."No ma. I am in fact happy that you made this decision". She leaned on his shoulders and closed her eyes. They are heading towards Anbagam (House of Love). It's a home for homeless children. Only last night, she asked Suresh about this. "Shall we adopt a child?" Her lovely eyes were wet. "I need a child, A Child of my own." Suresh didn't utter a word. He knows the pain that she undergoes all these ten years of their life together.
Theirs is a Love Marriage. Its not a Love at first sight kinds. They have been friends since the age of 10 and God only knows when exactly the friendship turned to Love. No proposals, No Cards, No 'I love yous'. When Selvi's parents fixed her alliance with a bottle-faced Richie, She realized that there can't be a life for her without Suresh. They didn't need many words to be exchanged between them as he also had the same thing in him. After failing to convince their parents, they decided to elope. It took two full years for their parents to accept them, that too, not whole-heartedly. But they neither bother them much nor ignore them. They live such an intimate life they need none else.
She has a great love for children. At every journey, she will manage to attract a child and soon it will be seen on her Lap. "See how those tiny fingers look... See how she smiles... so cute with lovely dimple... See how he looks. sooooo sweet. He is almost a doll..... Like this She has hundreds of 'See hows' to be excited about a kid. Once a Mom astonished after 6 hours of train journey with us,"My Son does not go to anyone other than me. I wonder how he got attached to your wife".
As destiny has its own way of dictating things, they don't have a child. Though She is yearning for one, she found ways to cope up with it. Every day, one could find a minimum of 10 children at her home. She would feed them, play with them and go to temples with them. She had her own world with them unperturbed by the comments of others.
One day she over-heard his mother talking to a neighbour, "When you don't look at the horoscopes, this is how things will be. These young people don’t listen to elders. Marriage is not a joke. Why we insist on horoscopes and auspicious days and all. They simply went and married without giving ears to our advices. See now, its we who suffer. I am worried if there won't be any heir to us at all. But what to do. I can only pray to God"
That night she cried for the first time after they got married. It was very hard for Suresh to console her.
"Have I spoiled your life" She asked in between her cries.
"Stupid girl, Stop all these non-sense. There is nothing to worry about these comments. I am here for you always.
Believe me. Soon, we will have a beautiful child. As beautiful as my kuttimmaa. Now please stop crying. I don't like to see my dear like this"
"Shall we go to Doctor" She asked with all the seriousness in the world.
Suresh didn't know what to tell.
"Why ma, lets wait"
"No Suresh, Please take me to a Doctor".
They went to Doctor. Not one. For next three years, they went to many a Doctor. Lots of scans, tests, specialists.....
All of them showed the same result......They are medically fit and there is not a single problem with either of them.
But still, the result they wanted never happened. God keeps answers to few puzzles to himself. They are beyond Medical science, In fact beyond any science. May be He is of the opinion that 'if the man-kind can find answers to all puzzles of the world, His existence will be ignored'.
As years went, they had to cope and tolerate more and more comments. And some of them were made on the face and many behind. They got used to it. None of these comments came between them. Their love for each other grew with them, undeterred.
Last evening that happened. He came back from office to see selvi waiting for him anxiously at the gate. "Suresh, manju is not well it seems. She is hospitalized. Let's go now pls."
Manju is a two years old girl of their neighbour who is one of the darlings of his wife. He drove to the Hospital. All along, selvi was telling me how manju was active playing with her till that afternoon. By afternoon, her mom came to take her, telling that her Granny has come village. As he reached the hospital, she didn't wait for him to park the car and ran to the reception. He parked the car and checked at the reception. The Child was in Room number 202 and when he approached the room, he saw selvi at the door.
She looked transfixed.
Then he heard that conversation too.
It was the granny of the child shouting at the mother. "Its all your carelessness that brought this to us, You neither use your head, nor listen to us."
"What did I do, Aunt"
"Haven't I told you 100 times not to leave the child to that ill-fated woman?"
"No Aunt, there is nothing wrong with her. She takes care of Manju very well"
"Even now, after experiencing this, you don't understand, is it?,
Have you ever watched at that selvi's eyes when she looks at our kid. Its all filled with jealousy and inability. That's what struck our child now. Otherwise, will a child who was active till 3, start vomiting continuously like this"
"Aunty. Please don't blame selvi akka (sister).
She is too good at heart to think so mean"
"Oho! So Your Selvie akka is not mean. Its me who is mean , is it"
"Oh Aunty, Please don't play with words. I meant to tell you that she is good at heart, that's all"
"hmmm, Good at heart….As if you saw her heart to comment on it"
"Yes. It's visible by her deeds. I have never seen her putting a foot wrong. She is kind and helpful. You can see every kid of the street in her house, all the time. Though she does not have a child on her own, You have seen how well she takes care of all kids. That's why I call her good"
"You can't judge a person that easily. She has a crooked mind behind all her deeds. More than me, More than you...
God judges everyone so well. Tell me why she is not blessed with a child. Tell me. God knows what to give to whom.
Stop arguing with me. And listen to me. Our Child is not going to her home anymore. That's it."
Selvi could not stand there even for a second after hearing this. She ran from there. The door was open and Suresh knew they were out there seeing them. But he didn't have time or courtesy to smile at them. Suresh had to rush back to his car where he saw Selvi in a totally collapsed state. He let her cry for sometime and that's when she asked him if they could adapt a child.
They reached that home by the prayer time. They joined the Prayer. They are singing a song praising the God for creating the world. Its thanks God for creating all beautiful things, Falls, mountains, landscapes, greens, creatures, man-kind.......and Love..... It ended saying that everything is His and everyone is His children. Its so touching to see all the innocent faces with pure hearts singing the song.
Selvi looked at all the kids. Her eyes are searching and he could see her eyes smile on seeing each face. Suresh knows that its going to be tough for her to single-out a child. The home is called 'House of Love' is run by the Jesuits and Father Ignaci Muthu is the Director of the Home. Prayers are over and now they are in Father's room. Suresh knows Fr. Ignaci very much as he got graduated from a Jesuits college. Suresh sees some tension creeping on selvi's face.
Actually they went with some sweets and we decide to distribute the sweets to all children. The Plan is to have a look at all children while giving the sweets. Selvi is given a list with all names of the children. They looked at all the children.
Children of different ages....
Fair, dark, lean, stout, special needs........
some are smiling...
some didn't bother to.....
A few thanked immediately.....
a few did after insistence by the Sister who accompanied them.....
one started feeling Selvi's saree with wide open eyes.....
one got curious about the Suresh's spectacles .....
but.....
All of them have many things in common.
they all have no mask on their faces...
they belong to same religion, religion of Love...
they have same parent.. The Almighty...
they have same character... Innocence...
they are all punished for a fault which is not theirs,
Yet, they are not aware of it and they don't hate the world or they don’t know how to....
By another hour, the sweet distribution is done and they are back in Father's room. Father asked Suresh "So My Son, Have you chosen a child, or do you both need to discuss" "We don't need any discussion father. It's going to be selvi's choice" Saying this Suresh looked at his wife. Selvi is biting her lips with a lowered head.Then she told, "No. I don't want to adopt a child"
Suresh is shocked.
And Father looked confused.
"Selvi, what are you saying?"
"No, Suresh. I don't want a child. Leave me like this. I don't want to adopt a child. I don't want. I don't want." With that, she started crying.
Father looked at Suresh without losing his calmness.
"Son, don't force her. Leave her. I guess you should have talked to her little more, before taking her here."
"No father, it's her decision to adopt"
"Yes, I did take the decision. And I am stupid. Now, I don't want to adopt. Please take me out"
She fell on the chair and she could not be controlled.
"I am sorry Father. Will meet you later"
Suresh took her out and didn't want to look at her.
She slept off on the way after weeping for sometime. They reached home and Suresh saw the paper with all names of the children in her hand. He is surprised that no child impressed her. He slowly tugged the paper and looked at it.
She has marked a tick on.......All names.
Till night they didn't speak much to each other. She came and asked if she could keep her head on his lap. He nodded and she did. "Are you Mad on me" she asked. "Yeah, Initially I was."
"So you are not, now"
"hmmmmm, but I am still confused"
She remained silent.
"I know you like all those children. But why did you say, you don't want to adopt a kid"
She asked him back, " If I asked you to select, whom you would have gone for"
Suresh thought for few seconds and told "That Amudha, 3 yrs old girl"
"Then don't you like that little Aruna who cannot walk".
Suresh didn't know what to tell.
"We can adopt both if you want".
She spoke after few minutes of silence.
"Suresh."I like all those children. It was not easy to choose one of them. Even if I choose one, that child will get a Mom and Dad in us. Don't you think it is an injustice done to all other children? If I have not seen all of them then it's a different thing. I saw them, each one of them. I can't say one is better than the other. Or I can't find out which one needs me more. All I can say now is I love them all and we can't adopt them all. Can we?"
Suresh looked at her face and didn't even try to reply.
She continued, "I know. We can’t. I don't want to disappoint other children by choosing one of them. They all are equal They all are good. They all are beautiful. Better than me. Better than you. They cannot be discriminated on any basis. They all are blessed and children of God. Can we make better parents than God? Let's not adopt a single child and try to give it a king's or queen's life. Let's adopt the home. Let's give all our money for them. Let's visit the home whenever possible. Please allow me to join them as a teacher. I don't care the world. Let me be, an issue-less woman who cannot be a mother forever. But let’s not adopt a child".
Suresh nodded his head in silence.
He understood that though selvi is not blessed with a child, she is already mother in heart.
A true Mother indeed.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Update on Ennama Thozhi!!
I got a comment on the earlier post saying that it was part of a new movie called “Kaalai Pani “. I was immediately eager to check out the full song and I checked the net to listen to it. Though I like the full song too, the shorter version had more punch and soul in it compared to the longer one. This might be because of the music from other instruments accompanying the voice or because of the lyrics that weren’t as sweet as the first verse but I really don’t know. But it is not satisfying enough once you’ve heard the original shorter version. Here are the links to both.
Shorter Version
Longer Version(only the audio)
Do hear them and give me your comments.
Shorter Version
Longer Version(only the audio)
Do hear them and give me your comments.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Ennama Thozhi!
This is a song I came across in my recent travails over the net. It was so good that I kept on singing this song for about two days and drove everyone mad. Some of my friends even learnt the song(courtesy, my constant singing!).
This is a folk song by Vedanth. Though I don't know anything else about the song or the artist, I can easily say that this is a really good one. The lyrics are simple without being simplistic and that's rare in the present world. They capture the innocence of bygone times and I only wish that the song was longer and didn't finish so abruptly. Here are the lyrics:
Ennama Thozhi, Bommaiya Kaanom!
Naan enna seiyya poren?
Ennama Thozhi, Bommaiya Kaanom!
Naan enna seiyya poren?
Thala vaari pinni Pookal vaithu
Pudu chattai potu vitten
Ippasi maasam Kaaveri snaanam
Bommaiya vaangi vandhen
Ennama Thozhi, Bommaiya Kaanom!
Naan enna seiyya poren?
{english translation:
My dear friend, I can't find my doll!
What am I going to do?
My dear friend, I can't find my doll!
What am I going to do?
I tied its hair, decked it with flowers,
And gave it new clothes.
In the month of Ippasi(a tamil month), a bath in Cauvery(a well known river),
I got the doll!
My dear friend, I can't find my doll!
What am I going to do?)
This is a folk song by Vedanth. Though I don't know anything else about the song or the artist, I can easily say that this is a really good one. The lyrics are simple without being simplistic and that's rare in the present world. They capture the innocence of bygone times and I only wish that the song was longer and didn't finish so abruptly. Here are the lyrics:
Ennama Thozhi, Bommaiya Kaanom!
Naan enna seiyya poren?
Ennama Thozhi, Bommaiya Kaanom!
Naan enna seiyya poren?
Thala vaari pinni Pookal vaithu
Pudu chattai potu vitten
Ippasi maasam Kaaveri snaanam
Bommaiya vaangi vandhen
Ennama Thozhi, Bommaiya Kaanom!
Naan enna seiyya poren?
{english translation:
My dear friend, I can't find my doll!
What am I going to do?
My dear friend, I can't find my doll!
What am I going to do?
I tied its hair, decked it with flowers,
And gave it new clothes.
In the month of Ippasi(a tamil month), a bath in Cauvery(a well known river),
I got the doll!
My dear friend, I can't find my doll!
What am I going to do?)
Thursday, September 13, 2007
One Black Coffee!!
This is one of the most interesting forwards that I have received in recent times. One of my friends sent it. When I opened it first, the subject didn't intrigue me at all because I was fully expecting a forward that spoke about the virtues of black coffee(I'm sure all of you would have received forwards extolling the virtues of this and that). But after reading the entire thing over, I reread it :). Do tell me your comments on it.... And, now, here goes:
One Black Coffee
"One black coffee. No sugar please" He told the Café CoffeeDay employee.
Every day at 1:30 in the afternoon he ordered exactly the same configuration as dessert after lunch – sometimes after skipping lunch.
The girl standing next to him eyed him curiously. "Americanized!" she remarked with a smile on her face.
He was jolted. It was a clear intrusion into his privacy. She had no business accosting him like that. He wanted to tell her how annoying her remark had been.
But he didn't – mainly because the girl in question was Monalisa Kumari. Twice she had been unanimously elected the Crown Princess of SoftSol, the company both of them worked for.
Monalisa was part Indian part Deutsch. She was fluent in Hindi, Spanish and French apart from Deutsch. She was so beautiful that it was difficult to describe her beauty in words.
He would accept any word spoken by this girl. Guys considered it a privilege to talk to her.
She was still looking at him. He realized he had to respond.
"Not exactly. I love black coffee."
She nodded, "So you are saying, you loved black coffee ever since you were a kid!"
He thought about it, "No, only in the last five years"
"That is – after you visited the West"
He was surprised, "How do you know I'd been to the West?"
"Oh, that's pretty easy!" she replied casually, "One: you said Black Coffee. No Sugar and not Black Coffee without Sugar. Two: You said Please! Three: You look quite old. Everyone in this firm of your age had visited the West at least twice."
He laughed, "One and Two are quite good. But I think it is Three which gave me away!"
"Right Dr. Watson. So you started your tryst with black coffee after an expedition to the West! Am I correct?"
"Yes" he responded.
"Quad Erat Demonstrandum" she smiled.
"That doesn't prove that I am Americanized" He retorted, "It only proves that I was introduced to black coffee's virtues in America"
"Same difference, ain't it?" Monalisa gestured him towards a table nearby.
They walked to the table and occupied it.
He sipped his piping hot black coffee and started talking, "You know! It is not the same. Americanization means – a paradigm shift in the way we think and operate. Just liking your coffee black does not mean you are Americanized. It just means that you are familiar with certain Western practices. I don't see anything wrong with that."
She stared into his eyes.
"Whatever it is. I still believe people drink Black Coffee just because it is the in thing you know… and not because they love the taste of it. Who would love that bitter liquid anyways."
He was offended. She might be the most beautiful girl of the campus. She might be a swift driver of a Swift. She might be a 99 percentiler. But she still had to respect the tastes of her colleagues.
She knew at once there was something wrong. "Oh I am sorry Srini. I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I really don't know why people like this black coffee."
He composed himself and came up with the most daring proposition of his life so far.
"Why not give it a try?"
She was surprised, "Black coffee? Eeeks! Thank you very much. I am pretty much Ok with my Latte – full of Sugar – Soulful!"
He asked her, "Have you ever tried it?"
"No!" came the emphatic answer.
"Alright. Let us play a little game. Tomorrow onwards, every afternoon at 1: 30, we will meet here and have a cup of black coffee – for five days. I suggest you don't drink any other type of coffee in this period. If at the end of the fifth day you still don't understand why people drink black coffee, I will stop drinking it."
There was silence. Pin drop. She eyed him suspiciously. It was evident that he wanted to spend more time with her. She knew it.
"Tomorrow at 13:30. Same place." She said.
Day 1:
Monalisa examined carefully the contents of the cup.
"Do I really have to drink this?" she asked no one in particular. He didn't respond. He knew she cared a damn for his answer.
And then she took the first sip. Her facial expressions changed at the speed of light. He waited. She eventually came back to this world.
He didn't say a thing.
She silently walked over to the trash can and threw the coffee cup into it.
"Let us get out of here. I want to show you something." She gestured him to follow her.
Half an hour later – they were seated in a dilapidated dhabha off NH45 twenty kilometers from the office.
He sipped the three rupee coffee sans sugar. It was delightful.
"What do you infer from this?" she asked him.
"That coffee in a NH45 dhabha twenty kilometers from the office tastes really good?"
She laughed, "You do have a sense of humor"
He smiled, "Maybe yes. What is the point?"
She sighed. "One way of looking at it – pay 3 rupees and have a lovely coffee. Or pay ten rupees and drink the rubbish you've been drinking till now."
He was stupefied, "you want me to drive twenty kilometers to this dhabha just because it offers me coffee at 3 rupees?"
"Think about that" she took her purse out.
Day 2:
Srini was curious. Monalisa sipped her black coffee and told him, "You know! We don't have to do this. I am most certainly not going to like this liquid."
"We decided. We follow." Srini was adamant.
Monalisa winked, "All this just for black coffee?"
Srini thought for a moment, "I am enjoying these meetings"
"Friends?" she extended her hand.
"No" He was firm.
There was a stunned silence. She was swept off her feet. "What did… why?"
"I don't think we can ever be friends. You are too beautiful to be a friend."
She stared at him, "When Harry Met Sally?"
"Partly yes" he responded.
"More than twice?" she asked.
"More than twenty times. I own the DVD."
"Aren't you taking it a little too seriously? It is possible for a girl and a boy to be just friends. Give me a break. We see so many such friends in the food court everyday."
He shook his head, "I don't want to talk about others. Myself – I am attracted to you. Wait! I am not saying anything wrong here. All I am suggesting is that we can never be friends."
She finished the black coffee in three quick gulps, "Goodbye Harry!"
Day 3
She was dressed in a black chudidaar. He couldn't take his eyes off her.
"You are staring." She said gently.
He was caught off guard. "Not my mistake"
She smiled and sipped the black coffee. "You know what! This is turning out to be a very interesting incident."
"Drinking black coffee?" He asked her.
"Drinking black coffee with you." She looked into his eyes. He lowered them.
"Why are you so nervous when I am talking to you?"
He looked up. "I told you yesterday."
"Srini, you do realize this is not a movie."
He nodded. "Yes"
"Real life is not reel life."
He cringed, "Thanks for the cliché Monalisa!"
Her face turned red. She kept the black coffee cup on the table and stood up. "What do you think you are Mister? Just because I am drinking coffee with you – doesn't give you the right to say whatever that comes to your mind."
He was surprised, "All for that pathetic cliché?"
For a while neither of them talked. "Coffee's on you." She said.
He agreed.
Day 4
"As such life is a great mystery." Srini told her.
They were driving down the highway NH45 to the dhabha. It was a pleasant afternoon. Traffic was scarce.
Monalisa laughed, "What a cliché"
Srini shook his head, "It is the truth."
"So you speak truth and nothing but the truth. When I say something I speak cliché and only clichés"
He smiled. "You have a way with words."
She didn't reply.
"What are you thinking Monalisa?" He prompted her again.
"Mona. Call me Mona." She deftly swerved right throwing Srini off the seat.
"What the hell was that?" He was dismayed.
"I was avoiding a speeding buffalo you idiot." She yelled, "God! I hate driving in India."
Srini was silent. They reached the dhabha.
She ordered two cups of coffee. He observed silently. She knew there was something wrong.
"OK. What is it?"
"What?"
"Why are you so silent?"
"Nothing. I am OK."
"Idiot?"
"Yes"
"Can't I call you idiot, dear?"
"How can you? I want to be treated with dignity...." He abruptly stopped and stared at her. "What did you just say?"
"Can't I call you idiot, Dear?" She ruffled his hair, "Can't I?"
"Wait. Whatever happened to being platonic friends?" He asked her.
She didn't reply.
"So Harry met Sally?"
She nodded. "I saw the ending again yesterday."
Srini couldn't suppress his quirky smile. "A lovely little fool I know told me sometime back that real life was not reel life."
"Yes. Don't push it though." She sounded cold.
Day 5
"I still don't like this black coffee. Will it really make a difference? It is the final day – right?" She pleaded with him.
"The agreement is binding Ms Monalisa Kumari" He was ruthless.
"No way out?" She wouldn't give up.
"There is" he smiled.
"Great! What is it?"
"Number one: Since you don't want to finish the fifth day black coffee, I need not stop drinking black coffee"
"With no sugar?"
"Or without sugar."
"OK. What is number two?"
"You tell me what made you talk to me on the first day."
She didn't expect that. "What?"
He was serious. "Tell me Mona. Why did you initiate the conversation on the very first day?"
"I thought you were cute"
"Bulls. There were many more cute guys around. More handsome and dying to talk to you."
She looked around. "I can't see any?"
"Don't change the topic. Tell me what made you talk to me? A bet with your friend?"
She stared at him. "You knew!"
"Yes. Unfortunately your friend is my friend's girlfriend. He told me last night when I was raving about you."
She stood up; held his hands and said, "It all started because of that bet I agree Srini. However our black coffee encounters introduced the real Srini to me. The bet did not govern my actions after the first day. Please believe me."
He shook his head. "And all the time I thought you were really interested in me."
She was horrified to see tears in his eyes. "Srini please. I like you. I really really like you. I am extremely sorry. I shouldn't have done that. But tell me Srini... How would I ever have known the real Srini if it were not for the bet with my friend? You are an introvert. You don't talk to girls. How could I have found you otherwise?"
He kept his black coffee on the table and walked away. "Srini. I said Sorry." She shouted completely ignoring the other people in the cafeteria.
He stopped, turned back and told her – "Convince me."
She went to Café Coffee Day and said – ""One black coffee. No sugar please"
One Black Coffee
"One black coffee. No sugar please" He told the Café CoffeeDay employee.
Every day at 1:30 in the afternoon he ordered exactly the same configuration as dessert after lunch – sometimes after skipping lunch.
The girl standing next to him eyed him curiously. "Americanized!" she remarked with a smile on her face.
He was jolted. It was a clear intrusion into his privacy. She had no business accosting him like that. He wanted to tell her how annoying her remark had been.
But he didn't – mainly because the girl in question was Monalisa Kumari. Twice she had been unanimously elected the Crown Princess of SoftSol, the company both of them worked for.
Monalisa was part Indian part Deutsch. She was fluent in Hindi, Spanish and French apart from Deutsch. She was so beautiful that it was difficult to describe her beauty in words.
He would accept any word spoken by this girl. Guys considered it a privilege to talk to her.
She was still looking at him. He realized he had to respond.
"Not exactly. I love black coffee."
She nodded, "So you are saying, you loved black coffee ever since you were a kid!"
He thought about it, "No, only in the last five years"
"That is – after you visited the West"
He was surprised, "How do you know I'd been to the West?"
"Oh, that's pretty easy!" she replied casually, "One: you said Black Coffee. No Sugar and not Black Coffee without Sugar. Two: You said Please! Three: You look quite old. Everyone in this firm of your age had visited the West at least twice."
He laughed, "One and Two are quite good. But I think it is Three which gave me away!"
"Right Dr. Watson. So you started your tryst with black coffee after an expedition to the West! Am I correct?"
"Yes" he responded.
"Quad Erat Demonstrandum" she smiled.
"That doesn't prove that I am Americanized" He retorted, "It only proves that I was introduced to black coffee's virtues in America"
"Same difference, ain't it?" Monalisa gestured him towards a table nearby.
They walked to the table and occupied it.
He sipped his piping hot black coffee and started talking, "You know! It is not the same. Americanization means – a paradigm shift in the way we think and operate. Just liking your coffee black does not mean you are Americanized. It just means that you are familiar with certain Western practices. I don't see anything wrong with that."
She stared into his eyes.
"Whatever it is. I still believe people drink Black Coffee just because it is the in thing you know… and not because they love the taste of it. Who would love that bitter liquid anyways."
He was offended. She might be the most beautiful girl of the campus. She might be a swift driver of a Swift. She might be a 99 percentiler. But she still had to respect the tastes of her colleagues.
She knew at once there was something wrong. "Oh I am sorry Srini. I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I really don't know why people like this black coffee."
He composed himself and came up with the most daring proposition of his life so far.
"Why not give it a try?"
She was surprised, "Black coffee? Eeeks! Thank you very much. I am pretty much Ok with my Latte – full of Sugar – Soulful!"
He asked her, "Have you ever tried it?"
"No!" came the emphatic answer.
"Alright. Let us play a little game. Tomorrow onwards, every afternoon at 1: 30, we will meet here and have a cup of black coffee – for five days. I suggest you don't drink any other type of coffee in this period. If at the end of the fifth day you still don't understand why people drink black coffee, I will stop drinking it."
There was silence. Pin drop. She eyed him suspiciously. It was evident that he wanted to spend more time with her. She knew it.
"Tomorrow at 13:30. Same place." She said.
Day 1:
Monalisa examined carefully the contents of the cup.
"Do I really have to drink this?" she asked no one in particular. He didn't respond. He knew she cared a damn for his answer.
And then she took the first sip. Her facial expressions changed at the speed of light. He waited. She eventually came back to this world.
He didn't say a thing.
She silently walked over to the trash can and threw the coffee cup into it.
"Let us get out of here. I want to show you something." She gestured him to follow her.
Half an hour later – they were seated in a dilapidated dhabha off NH45 twenty kilometers from the office.
He sipped the three rupee coffee sans sugar. It was delightful.
"What do you infer from this?" she asked him.
"That coffee in a NH45 dhabha twenty kilometers from the office tastes really good?"
She laughed, "You do have a sense of humor"
He smiled, "Maybe yes. What is the point?"
She sighed. "One way of looking at it – pay 3 rupees and have a lovely coffee. Or pay ten rupees and drink the rubbish you've been drinking till now."
He was stupefied, "you want me to drive twenty kilometers to this dhabha just because it offers me coffee at 3 rupees?"
"Think about that" she took her purse out.
Day 2:
Srini was curious. Monalisa sipped her black coffee and told him, "You know! We don't have to do this. I am most certainly not going to like this liquid."
"We decided. We follow." Srini was adamant.
Monalisa winked, "All this just for black coffee?"
Srini thought for a moment, "I am enjoying these meetings"
"Friends?" she extended her hand.
"No" He was firm.
There was a stunned silence. She was swept off her feet. "What did… why?"
"I don't think we can ever be friends. You are too beautiful to be a friend."
She stared at him, "When Harry Met Sally?"
"Partly yes" he responded.
"More than twice?" she asked.
"More than twenty times. I own the DVD."
"Aren't you taking it a little too seriously? It is possible for a girl and a boy to be just friends. Give me a break. We see so many such friends in the food court everyday."
He shook his head, "I don't want to talk about others. Myself – I am attracted to you. Wait! I am not saying anything wrong here. All I am suggesting is that we can never be friends."
She finished the black coffee in three quick gulps, "Goodbye Harry!"
Day 3
She was dressed in a black chudidaar. He couldn't take his eyes off her.
"You are staring." She said gently.
He was caught off guard. "Not my mistake"
She smiled and sipped the black coffee. "You know what! This is turning out to be a very interesting incident."
"Drinking black coffee?" He asked her.
"Drinking black coffee with you." She looked into his eyes. He lowered them.
"Why are you so nervous when I am talking to you?"
He looked up. "I told you yesterday."
"Srini, you do realize this is not a movie."
He nodded. "Yes"
"Real life is not reel life."
He cringed, "Thanks for the cliché Monalisa!"
Her face turned red. She kept the black coffee cup on the table and stood up. "What do you think you are Mister? Just because I am drinking coffee with you – doesn't give you the right to say whatever that comes to your mind."
He was surprised, "All for that pathetic cliché?"
For a while neither of them talked. "Coffee's on you." She said.
He agreed.
Day 4
"As such life is a great mystery." Srini told her.
They were driving down the highway NH45 to the dhabha. It was a pleasant afternoon. Traffic was scarce.
Monalisa laughed, "What a cliché"
Srini shook his head, "It is the truth."
"So you speak truth and nothing but the truth. When I say something I speak cliché and only clichés"
He smiled. "You have a way with words."
She didn't reply.
"What are you thinking Monalisa?" He prompted her again.
"Mona. Call me Mona." She deftly swerved right throwing Srini off the seat.
"What the hell was that?" He was dismayed.
"I was avoiding a speeding buffalo you idiot." She yelled, "God! I hate driving in India."
Srini was silent. They reached the dhabha.
She ordered two cups of coffee. He observed silently. She knew there was something wrong.
"OK. What is it?"
"What?"
"Why are you so silent?"
"Nothing. I am OK."
"Idiot?"
"Yes"
"Can't I call you idiot, dear?"
"How can you? I want to be treated with dignity...." He abruptly stopped and stared at her. "What did you just say?"
"Can't I call you idiot, Dear?" She ruffled his hair, "Can't I?"
"Wait. Whatever happened to being platonic friends?" He asked her.
She didn't reply.
"So Harry met Sally?"
She nodded. "I saw the ending again yesterday."
Srini couldn't suppress his quirky smile. "A lovely little fool I know told me sometime back that real life was not reel life."
"Yes. Don't push it though." She sounded cold.
Day 5
"I still don't like this black coffee. Will it really make a difference? It is the final day – right?" She pleaded with him.
"The agreement is binding Ms Monalisa Kumari" He was ruthless.
"No way out?" She wouldn't give up.
"There is" he smiled.
"Great! What is it?"
"Number one: Since you don't want to finish the fifth day black coffee, I need not stop drinking black coffee"
"With no sugar?"
"Or without sugar."
"OK. What is number two?"
"You tell me what made you talk to me on the first day."
She didn't expect that. "What?"
He was serious. "Tell me Mona. Why did you initiate the conversation on the very first day?"
"I thought you were cute"
"Bulls. There were many more cute guys around. More handsome and dying to talk to you."
She looked around. "I can't see any?"
"Don't change the topic. Tell me what made you talk to me? A bet with your friend?"
She stared at him. "You knew!"
"Yes. Unfortunately your friend is my friend's girlfriend. He told me last night when I was raving about you."
She stood up; held his hands and said, "It all started because of that bet I agree Srini. However our black coffee encounters introduced the real Srini to me. The bet did not govern my actions after the first day. Please believe me."
He shook his head. "And all the time I thought you were really interested in me."
She was horrified to see tears in his eyes. "Srini please. I like you. I really really like you. I am extremely sorry. I shouldn't have done that. But tell me Srini... How would I ever have known the real Srini if it were not for the bet with my friend? You are an introvert. You don't talk to girls. How could I have found you otherwise?"
He kept his black coffee on the table and walked away. "Srini. I said Sorry." She shouted completely ignoring the other people in the cafeteria.
He stopped, turned back and told her – "Convince me."
She went to Café Coffee Day and said – ""One black coffee. No sugar please"
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Mother's Day!
This is among the oh-so-many forwards on Mother's day. But almost all of them bring a warm feeling in our hearts because the people, mothers, are so special in every person's heart. Two of them which I really liked are:
Reflections
Today, I looked in the mirror;
Curious as to what I would see.
I expected to see my reflection
Staring back at me.
But as I looked, I saw something more
In the face that was there.
I saw the reflection of my mother;
A woman filled with care.
Each year is another year closer
To looking like my Mother.
I see her in my reflection,
In one way or another.
May I not only look like her
But, reflect her heart as well.
For, it's full of love and kindness;
God's goodness in a nutshell.
Another year closer to looking like mom,
That only makes me glad.
For, I love my beautiful Mother.
She's the best reflection I've had.
Mothers
Mother's are special,
With their own brand of love;
Filled with warmth and compassion,
From our Father above.
They can tell when you're happy.
They can sense when you're sad.
But, they're always there for us;
Through the good times and bad.
Their lips fill with praise
Because you've made them so proud
When your report says all A's
And you stand out from the crowd.
Mother's are nurses,
And teachers, and such.
They'll do anything for you,
because they love you so much.
And you'll never find
A more loyal friend
Than your mother or mine,
Because they're a God send.
We know Mother's are special.
So, we'd all like to say,
"This love wish brings blessings,
On your Special Day."
Happy Mother's Day!
To all mother's everywhere!
Reflections
Today, I looked in the mirror;
Curious as to what I would see.
I expected to see my reflection
Staring back at me.
But as I looked, I saw something more
In the face that was there.
I saw the reflection of my mother;
A woman filled with care.
Each year is another year closer
To looking like my Mother.
I see her in my reflection,
In one way or another.
May I not only look like her
But, reflect her heart as well.
For, it's full of love and kindness;
God's goodness in a nutshell.
Another year closer to looking like mom,
That only makes me glad.
For, I love my beautiful Mother.
She's the best reflection I've had.
Mothers
Mother's are special,
With their own brand of love;
Filled with warmth and compassion,
From our Father above.
They can tell when you're happy.
They can sense when you're sad.
But, they're always there for us;
Through the good times and bad.
Their lips fill with praise
Because you've made them so proud
When your report says all A's
And you stand out from the crowd.
Mother's are nurses,
And teachers, and such.
They'll do anything for you,
because they love you so much.
And you'll never find
A more loyal friend
Than your mother or mine,
Because they're a God send.
We know Mother's are special.
So, we'd all like to say,
"This love wish brings blessings,
On your Special Day."
Happy Mother's Day!
To all mother's everywhere!
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Easy and Difficult!!
This is one of the forwards that get passed on through mail. But a very interesting read! Hope you like it.
Easy is to get a place is someone's address book.
Difficult is to get a place in someone's heart.
Easy is to judge the mistakes of others
Difficult is to recognize our own mistakes
Easy is to talk without thinking
Difficult is to refrain the tongue
Easy is to hurt someone who loves us.
Difficult is to heal the wound...
Easy is to forgive others
Difficult is to ask for forgiveness
Easy is to set rules.
Difficult is to follow them...
Easy is to dream every night.
Difficult is to fight for a dream...
Easy is to show victory.
Difficult is to assume defeat with dignity...
Easy is to admire a full moon.
Difficult to see the other side...
Easy is to stumble with a stone.
Difficult is to get up...
Easy is to enjoy life every day.
Difficult to give its real value...
Easy is to promise something to someone.
Difficult is to fulfill that promise...
Easy is to say we love.
Difficult is to show it every day...
Easy is to criticize others.
Difficult is to improve oneself...
Easy is to make mistakes.
Difficult is to learn from them...
Easy is to weep for a lost love.
Difficult is to take care of it so not to lose it.
Easy is to think about improving.
Difficult is to stop thinking it and put it into action...
Easy is to think bad of others
Difficult is to give them the benefit of the doubt...
Easy is to receive
Difficult is to give
Easy to read this
Difficult to follow
Easy is keep the friendship with words
Difficult is to keep it with meanings.
Easy is to get a place is someone's address book.
Difficult is to get a place in someone's heart.
Easy is to judge the mistakes of others
Difficult is to recognize our own mistakes
Easy is to talk without thinking
Difficult is to refrain the tongue
Easy is to hurt someone who loves us.
Difficult is to heal the wound...
Easy is to forgive others
Difficult is to ask for forgiveness
Easy is to set rules.
Difficult is to follow them...
Easy is to dream every night.
Difficult is to fight for a dream...
Easy is to show victory.
Difficult is to assume defeat with dignity...
Easy is to admire a full moon.
Difficult to see the other side...
Easy is to stumble with a stone.
Difficult is to get up...
Easy is to enjoy life every day.
Difficult to give its real value...
Easy is to promise something to someone.
Difficult is to fulfill that promise...
Easy is to say we love.
Difficult is to show it every day...
Easy is to criticize others.
Difficult is to improve oneself...
Easy is to make mistakes.
Difficult is to learn from them...
Easy is to weep for a lost love.
Difficult is to take care of it so not to lose it.
Easy is to think about improving.
Difficult is to stop thinking it and put it into action...
Easy is to think bad of others
Difficult is to give them the benefit of the doubt...
Easy is to receive
Difficult is to give
Easy to read this
Difficult to follow
Easy is keep the friendship with words
Difficult is to keep it with meanings.
Monday, December 04, 2006
My Favorite quotes III
Hi,
One of my friends sent me a forward containing the quotes on Chanakya. They are so relevant even in the present world. I find these quotations,really deserving.These are just like an unleashing innings of an marvelous mind.knowledge is an infinite ocean,it's very hard to be through. Friends,if you have any such quotations,then give those Tornados a direction towards my mailbox.
Chanakya's Quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC - 275 BC)
"A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and Honest people are screwed first."
"Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous."
"The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. ! It will destroy you."
"There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no Friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth."
"Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."
"As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."
"The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman."
"Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest."
"The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."
"Whores don't live in company of poor men, citizens never support a weak company and birds don't build nests on a tree that doesn't bear fruits."
"God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple."
"A man is great by deeds, not by birth."
"Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness."
"Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends."
"Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."
"Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth."
Though I have reservations about a few of these quotes, on introspection, they seem to be true. Atleast, each of them would make a good topic for contemplation on a rainy afternoon or on a sleepless night with no other soul for company. Try it! You'll learn loads about yourself. Keeping a journal of such times would enhance the journey. After such a free wheeled ride on your mind, you would feel so rejuvenated and you would have become your own best friend! Do tell me your comments and views on it!
One of my friends sent me a forward containing the quotes on Chanakya. They are so relevant even in the present world. I find these quotations,really deserving.These are just like an unleashing innings of an marvelous mind.knowledge is an infinite ocean,it's very hard to be through. Friends,if you have any such quotations,then give those Tornados a direction towards my mailbox.
Chanakya's Quotes (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC - 275 BC)
"A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and Honest people are screwed first."
"Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous."
"The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. ! It will destroy you."
"There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no Friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth."
"Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead."
"As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."
"The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman."
"Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest."
"The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."
"Whores don't live in company of poor men, citizens never support a weak company and birds don't build nests on a tree that doesn't bear fruits."
"God is not present in idols. Your feelings are your god. The soul is your temple."
"A man is great by deeds, not by birth."
"Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendships will never give you any happiness."
"Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends."
"Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."
"Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth."
Though I have reservations about a few of these quotes, on introspection, they seem to be true. Atleast, each of them would make a good topic for contemplation on a rainy afternoon or on a sleepless night with no other soul for company. Try it! You'll learn loads about yourself. Keeping a journal of such times would enhance the journey. After such a free wheeled ride on your mind, you would feel so rejuvenated and you would have become your own best friend! Do tell me your comments and views on it!
Friday, December 01, 2006
To my Child!
This is a beautiful forward making its rounds in the cyber world. Thought I'll put it in here. The things dealt here are the simple pleasures of life, ones that are very important from a child's point of view but seemingly insignificant in the adult's world.Which adult would want to spend time blowing bubbles? Adults think it is a waste of time while kids think it is the best way to enjoy an afternoon. Ask a kid if you can blow bubbles and see the way their eyes light up!!
TO MY CHILD
Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.
Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.
Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.
Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.
Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favourite TV shows.
Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.
I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms. The mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly and screaming inside that little body
And when I kiss you goodnight I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day.............
For all the moms and dads who are reading this post, I ask only one thing of you. Spend more time with your kids for they tend to grow out of their childhood faster than you think or you will have lost those special moments forever. The best times I remember in my childhood are the ones I spent with my dad and mom. I still remember the talks that my dad and I used to have when he drove me to classes or the fun that my mom had with me while in the market. True! They taught me the fundamentals of life in those places. The lessons given there have helped me pull through most of my ordeals. I don't think that those times would ever come again even if we tried to recreate that scenario. Now I know the world (atleast a part of it!) and they take me to be an adult. The mistakes that they would have accepted as part of learning then are taken with a small degree of disapproval now. So, friends, make as many mistakes as you can while growing up and learn the lessons. For, you might have to pay a heavier price later. Worse, you might not have a chance to learn them later.
TO MY CHILD
Just for this morning, I am going to smile when I see your face and laugh when I feel like crying.
Just for this morning, I will let you choose what you want to wear, and smile and say how perfect it is.
Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry and pick you up and take you to the park to play.
Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.
Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.
Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck, and I will buy you one if he comes by.
Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.
Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.
Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.
Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.
Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.
Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.
Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favourite TV shows.
Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.
I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms. The mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly and screaming inside that little body
And when I kiss you goodnight I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask him for nothing, except one more day.............
For all the moms and dads who are reading this post, I ask only one thing of you. Spend more time with your kids for they tend to grow out of their childhood faster than you think or you will have lost those special moments forever. The best times I remember in my childhood are the ones I spent with my dad and mom. I still remember the talks that my dad and I used to have when he drove me to classes or the fun that my mom had with me while in the market. True! They taught me the fundamentals of life in those places. The lessons given there have helped me pull through most of my ordeals. I don't think that those times would ever come again even if we tried to recreate that scenario. Now I know the world (atleast a part of it!) and they take me to be an adult. The mistakes that they would have accepted as part of learning then are taken with a small degree of disapproval now. So, friends, make as many mistakes as you can while growing up and learn the lessons. For, you might have to pay a heavier price later. Worse, you might not have a chance to learn them later.
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