Resolution lookback

This post is a (supposed) sequel of my resolution post (yeah! yeah! I'm still writing it and should have published it sometime in Jan but haven't yet gotten to it. Maybe I'll make that a prequel to this one! Ha!)
Since I'm still writing the prequel post, I'll give a short jist of what it would have:
A list of resolutions that I had intended for 2010.

Come on! Everyone makes resolutions in January in the spirit of the new year, right? And everyone slips out of one or two of them! I made a few of them and have stuck to them doggedly so far. One of them was to read every book in the top five of New York Bestsellers list. This resolution does not really fall under the "clearing bad habits" list or "improving oneself" list (these are the lists that most peoples' resolutions fall under). I feel that to stop a bad habit, you really don't have to wait until new year. If you think you are wrong and it is bad, then all you have to do is stop it! And improving oneself?? Hmmm... that's a discussion to be had another day!

Back to my book-reading resolution. This came more out of a need: the need for new favorite authors. All of us have some favorite authors and mine had Michael Crichton, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Arther Hailey, Jeffrey Archer, Issac Asimov, Robin Cook, Sidney Sheldon (now don't roll your eyes!!), Kalki, Sujatha, etc. I also read most of the current popular books like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chetan Bhagat's books, Dan Brown's novels, etc. But they were not books that I read for the author. I read them because I had received rave reviews of them from friends and family and wanted to give it a try. I came to the point where I've read almost all of my favorite authors' books and didn't have much left to read. And, to my horror, I found that every Tom, Dick and Harry wrote on mysteries, science fiction, political crime thrillers and complex plots. But whether they could make your heart tingle with anticipation about the next twist, that was unknown.

Towards the end of 2009, I started reading books suggested by friends but found that it was a fairly small set and that I wasn't doing justice to other books. There might be that perfect book and perfect author who has not yet been read by any of my friends. And I didn't have the time to sift through the hundreds of reviews for books and then read a book. By then, I lose the enthusiasm for reading. The New Year came at a convenient time and I decided to make a resolution (to suit my needs!) to read all the random books on new york bestsellers list. I chose this list out of thin air but was sure that the books wouldn't hit that list, atleast not the top five, without being appealing to a larger cross section of people across the world/USA.

To be fair, I didn't buy most of them. Thanks to the wonderful public library that I'm a member of, I can lay my hands on them for a tuppence. So all these impressions are my first impressions of the books and what I still feel about them (long after returning them back to the library). I feel that the test of time is the best test for anything - time shows if you really love something, if you like it, if its okish or if its plain bad. My assessment of some books might have been different if I had read and reread them a few times.But for me, reading the same book a second time, especially when the first time didn't make me like it, is a huge non-possibility. Most of the books that I've read a second time (or more) have been ones that took my breath away the first time. I would have to be so awed to actually go back and reread to get that feeling of awe again.

I plan to write a list of books that I read every month and what I thought about them, albeit in a few words. If there comes a book by which I was heavily blown away, then I'll dedicate a post to it. [Flash warning: what suits me need not suit you and vice versa! And my opinion of a book need not reflect yours! Give the book a try if you think you might like it!] Lets start the initial list of books I read in the past few weeks.

1. Dear John - an interesting one. This was one of the first books I read after I made the resolution and was fairly new to the whole show. The story was paced well but didn't include any mystery or thrillers. Emotional and good for introspection. But I found I wouldn't mind books of this genre now and then. (Earlier, I would've run helter-skelter from books of this genre).
2. The Lost Symbol - don't attempt it if you are not a fan of Dan Brown; even then, it would be hard to connect if you've not actually gone through the museums and halls of DC. I did recently and relived the happy memories of the trip through the book - so I liked it; I can't say how much that affected my judgement though.
3. First Family - racy. The loopholes were less but the story tries to show a beaten story in different light. Not very original. Think Clinton and you've hit it pretty much.
4. The Truth About Lord Stoneville - trash.
5. Impact - good, I loved the last twist to it. But again, science related - so my judgement may be biased.
6. The First Rule - had some mindless wanderings in the story. Could have been cut by one-fifth and we wouldn't have missed much.
7. The Lovely Bones - I don't like the genre. Period. The book might be interesting but the genre threw me off.
8. The Shack - I literally had to drag myself to finish this one. Showed me that there were some books/genres that I just can't read. Was one of the books I read initially and that gave me a good perspective of the variety of genres I was going to face in this exercise.
9. A reliable wife - very New Englandish. And meandered some too. I think I'm too young to fully understand this book (came to this conclusion after I discussed this book with an older friend - guess there is still a lot I should learn about the heart).
10. Arctic Drift - lots of hypotheses. Finally, the author went way out with the results. There was no gradual crescendo to the climax. I'd rather prefer books like that.
11. Cross Country - not much to say. Typical Patterson.
12. The Devil's Punchbowl - they threw in many things and tried to come up with a gripping storyline; and failed badly. Beware the exciting title!
13. Plum Spooky - I like the number series; I find it quirky yet plausible. One of the few series that I liked after a long time. However, this book wasn't as good as the series. Maybe because it was an in-between job??
14. True Colors - brought out the tension between three sisters and their lives well; it started out well, flattened a bit and then perked up in the end. If you are a woman and have sisters of your own, this would make sense. Else, try it at your own risk!
15. Shanghai Girls - read this one right after True Colors. Yet another one on sisters and their intertwined lives. The settings are different but the principles finally are the same. But I couldn't connect to it much.
16. Street Game - again, they put together lots of stuff and tried to come up with a nail-biting story but that didn't work out well. Jaimie's and Mack's relationship was supposed to be one part of the story but I felt that it overshadowed the rest. And, frankly when I'm reading books of crime/thriller genre, I'm not looking for relationship stuff. But the mememetrics stuff was cool (effects of doing a thesis in biometrics makes you love anything bio+computers stuff - I am biased) So, okish.
17. Under the Dome - interesting concept and an interesting way to look at everyone's life with that concept. Certainly one of the few new-idea books I read recently.
18. Pirate Latitudes - Definitely Crichtonish. Liked it (not loved it!! This is not in his best works list! Is that why he didn't publish it when he was alive? Did he think it was not worth publishing with his name on it? I certainly felt so. Still, this book was a surprise for I had missed Crichton's works after he died and then I got this one. Hence the like!)
19. Push - one of the books that made me uncomfortable since its a story that I just can't relate to it but know its damn true and that people meet with it daily. Though I cringed at the swear words, I understand that they are needed to bring the characters to life. If you are looking for something hard hitting, then this one would work. This showed me a new world of people - not many books have done so; but I'd rather not read such books every day and darken my mood; just a personal preference.
20. The Associate - My first book of this exercise; liked the style. But then, this is one of my favorite genres. So, no complaints!
21. What I did for love - okish
22. The Templar Cross - similar to Dan Brown's books; ok for one read if you are crazy about the genre.
23. 7th Heaven - Didn't like it much.
24. Sizzle - Liked this one. The story is the same but the connection points were different. In the last scene, one of the guys in the book says "I gave her up so she can live". One question to him: Dei, idhu avalukku theriyumaada? Ethana per ipdi kelambi irukeenga?*
25. Whiter Tiger - had been on my to-read list for quite some time. An interesting book; interlaced with the complexities of Indian society.
26. The Complete Persepolis - Loved this one! A heavy story but told with comics. Thanks to Aths for suggesting it.
27. Embroideries - I read this with the huge expectation created by the complete persepolis. But it didn't meet it. It was funny, yes; but not my recommendation list.
28. Nerds: who they are and why we need more of them - This book was more like reading a thesis on electromagnetic oscillation pattern analysis. I had to read novels in between so that I don't get completely swamped by this one. Well written; but as an Indian, I thought many things were rather obvious. And I couldn't connect to the rest since I didn't grow up in USA. Read it at your own risk!
29. How Opel Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life - Ha! Ha! Funny! though I guess I'm past that stage where I'd absolutely love that book. I'd have done so, had I read it some 7 years back :D
30. The Twenties girl - now this book found a place on my recommendation list. A light read with the right amount of story!! I wasn't captivated from page one, but slowly started liking the style and what it portrayed.
31. Camel club - Too many twists that I lost track! (or, did I read it when I was really tired?)
32. Bleachers - This one is about letting go and settling things out. I'm usually not a fan of this genre - so not on my recommendation list.
33. Vi Agra Falls - Paagal* story, as my roommate would put it :D
34. 2666 - ugh! I've lost the patience to read heavy literature, even one with good amount of twists.
35. Fired up - first book of DreamLighter series. Okish... but I'm curious to know how it turns out.
36. Pretties - Another one from Aths' recommendation list. Though the story itself was not very exciting, I look forward to reading the next one in the series. Guess that's a big win!
37. Poor Little Bitch Girl - I had this feeling of deja vu when I read this one; so it didn't make much of an impression.
38. Skipping Christmas - Ha! Ha! light reading material but the final touch was good and unexpected.

I'm in the process of reading some other books currently. You'll see them in the next list. Not all of the books in the above list were from the New York bestseller's list. Some came from friends' recommendation lists and some I picked up when browsing or reading something. But I'm glad for this exercise; I get to read a lot of genres and experiment with different authors and styles. For example, even though Push is a very hard hitting book, I wouldn't have it in my book shelf as it doesn't really make me comfortable. But that doesn't mean the book is not good. It is really good about what it portrays; I fail to connect to it as a reader; or rather, the connection I make to it makes me squirm under its glare of truth and I would rather have something light and funny to read instead of something hard and introspective. On the other hand, the twenties girl had a title and back flap story that I just wouldn't have picked up. But now I love this book enough to seriously consider buying it for my collection. This exercise made me realize not to judge a book by its cover, literally! :D

I'm also glad that I read 40 books in two and a half months. I consider that amount of reading good enough (with everything else going on in life), though my mom's going to be worried sick that I only read and not do anything else. But my other resolutions took care of the "not doing anything else" part. More on that later! Do let me know if there are any books that you think are interesting and that I should read. I'm always open to reading new books and authors, not that it has to hit the top five of the bestsellers list. And, your reviews on any or all of these books if you've read them would be awesome!

Dei, idhu avalukku theriyumaada? Ethana per ipdi kelambi irukeenga?* - Does she know this? How many people have started like this?
Paagal* - Mad as the hatter

Dear Mr.Boring Pompous Lecturer!

Warning: This is a rant post. I couldn't rant about this one on Facebook or Orkut or Gtalk or any of the hundred and one social networks out there for fear of hurting someone or something. I ranted about it to one of my closest buds and that helped but lets just say I'm still simmering! Since my blog is also my space to rant out, here you go to get the full flow of it. If you are not interested, please stop at this point and check the next post. I might be in a better mood then!

P.S to the warning: If you know me in person, please please do me a favor and not ask anything about this post!! Atleast to save your head and our friendship... Rest assured that the person in this post doesn't know about my blog at all... (one of the saving graces!)

In person, I'm a very friendly person who loves doing things with friends all the time. By 'all the time', I literally mean all the time. I'd be happiest if I can be with friends and have fun 24x7x365. My weekends are busier than weekdays and every weekday has something new at the end of it to spend with friends. So, I have a large social circle with myriad intertwinings in it. I try my best to keep the circle good and happy (being the Libran I am, I want everyone around me to be happy! It might sound silly to some... but then that is what I aim for, every single day. I would go out of my way to really make someone atleast temporarily happy. In that process, I've caused some permanent damage and felt bad for it later but that is a story for another day). I try and share my time and resources with everyone in it sometimes giving up what I want out of it all.

Now, there is a certain person in my circle who is neither a friend nor an acquaintance. I don't even want to hint about that person. So lets go with the generalized he. If you want, you are totally welcome to think the person is a she. But I digress...
Going back to the story, for lack of any other word, our relationship can be termed as friendship. And that is a rare one for I welcome and love making and maintaining friends (look at the looonnnnggg intro at the top). I think he is a scum rat but civility demands I be nice and friendly to him. So, going with civility, I'm civil with him but barely so...

I've known him since college but met him a few weeks ago at a party hosted by a common friend and he started jabbering away to nonsense. I couldn't even feign interest in whatever he said. Finally, a friend rescued me and we left the place. Then I met him again in some mall and had to bear some really boring lecture on women's bill. Please, Mr.Boring Pompous Lecturer! I don't care even an iota about the bill for it is not going to affect me in any way. I know I'm not being the best of citizens by saying this but I personally DON'T CARE about this one. I think its a total sham and that people are politicizing the entire issue. If everyone can make sure that they treat the women they meet in daily life with respect and love and help develop confidence, then that is the path for true liberation. I think everything else is a coverup for getting more votes. Do you know that I realized that you had spoken the same thing to me in the party only when you asked me questions on it in the mall?? Sheesh! You are even worse than my eighth standard Geography teacher, who asked questions without teaching anything! Atleast then I knew she was asking something from the book!

The main reason why I didn't even tell you my views on it was because I wasn't even that interested enough in you or your thoughts on it. I didn't even want an argument, for argument's sake(that, from a person who loves debates! Sigh! See how bad you are... ). I thought that if I just nod and say yeah right for everything, you'll lose steam and run out of things to say. But how am I to know that you considered that as the major motivation to continue??? Please understand that if someone keeps looking at her watch, makes her friends call her just to rescue her from your aruvai, says she has some work to do at home, etc etc, she is just itching to get away from you, even if you are the world's last remaining person!!

Then, as my bad luck will have it, I met him in the Indian grocery store with a long queue in front. It took all my patience to not drop my basket and run from there as if a hundred hyenas were after me. I had to stand and grin and bear the lecture again. Dude!! did you forget that I told you that I don't give a sh!t about the bill? Why bore me with the one topic you know on earth? And, how exactly did you manage to subvert my attempts to change the topic and get back to this one? What exactly is the connection between our company's tech fest and women's bill? I have to give it to you on this one! You are one of the very few that I've met who doggedly refused to change topics even when it was glaringly obvious that the other person wanted it. And that is not a proud thing, you dumbo! It is something you lack; To top it all, you managed to stand near my car driver door for half an hour preventing me from getting into my car and escaping from your clutches! I had to stand in the cold and listen to your whines! As a result, I missed spending more time with my roomies and S and A. You totally suck!!

So, here you go! Here is what I wanted to say on my Facebook status, my Gtalk status and even my office communicator: To save everyone's sanity, please GET LOST!!! Please please don't get anywhere near to me till I get myself back to normal. I know that losing sleep for a stupid like you is totally unnecessary. But then, your lectures and encounters get me to such a worked up state that I'm typing this away at 2 am in the night. I couldn't even update my Gtalk status or Google buzz since you have the indecency to ask me if I blocked you if you don't see me online for a few days. Yes! I blocked you and yes, I've had to unblock you again just to escape that yucky question everytime! This time though, I'm blocking you permanently... I've reached the ends this time. Mind you, this is not something you should be proud about. I did the unblocking only because I didn't want any kind of conflict with you. Its more because of my nature rather than you...

I realized how bad GTalk invisible status is today. I didn't know if that guy was truly online or not. I couldn't even rant peacefully! For all the people out there who are on invisible mode on Gtalk, please please be online (for its only your friends who know you are online) or please sign out!! Being invisible and pinging only when you want to is plain high-handedness.... do you think you are so busy that the world can't ping you when it needs but you can ping others when you want help? Please!! Everyone is as busy as you are.. just because someone is on GTalk and in available mode doesn't mean they have nothing at all to do. It just means that they don't mind spending a few minutes talking to friends. And the fact that you can ping me since you see me online, but I can't ping you since I think you are offline??? That falls in "Yuck!!" category!

When I type into someone's chat window that shows they are offline(when they are invisible), I trust that the person is actually offline. Please don't kill the trust I place in you. If you are busy, please change to busy status and tell your friends that you shouldn't be disturbed when you are busy or have a particular status message on it. And process the messages you get when you are on busy status once you are done with work. Being invisible is so damn sheesh!! Be courageous enough to say that you are somewhere when you ARE actually there. Please be grown up about it.

If you think there are morons who expect immediate response from you even when you put a busy status, then its high time you start thinking about your GTalk friends list. And please please don't be on busy status ALL THE TIME. Social networking is fun as well! So give some of your time (time that you spend facebooking or playing with new stuff or reading on google reader) to be on green and available, atleast once a month!! If you are on red all the time, there is no meaning for that status after that. People would surely disrespect that message. Its all in your hands buddy!

Though this rant hasn't cooled me down, I'm happy to have vented it somewhere! Oh, I think I should have asked that guy to just shut up instead of torturing mankind! Now, how good it would be if I can really tell a person that in real life situations... Sometimes, being a Libran is a bother! I guess I better learn how to tune out such morons when they blah blah blah!

PS - for the 0.001% probability case: Moron! If you are actually reading this blog post and know that I meant you, you'll know who I am as well. In that case, please don't come and ask me if I meant all this. Yes! I mean every word of it. Though I doubt if you will listen to it. I can already imagine you standing in my way and boring me with one of your endless lectures... Yikes!

Live the life!

Sent by SD, this youtube video was one of the really few that made me watch it twice. Sharing it with you guys...

Have you done your taxes yet?

I know I'm horribly lagging behind in my posting schedule for my blog. Its almost like being under a writer's block, but in reality, I'm not. Trust me, I've been under it so many times I know exactly how it feels.... and I'm not seeing those symptoms this time! Unless writer's block has variants and I've been so far afflicted with (thankfully) only one type and this is another type that I'm grappling with. I've got so many things going on in life(another post, I promise you) that I'm barely treading water when it comes to keeping up with reading other blogs, let alone write. I know this is not a good excuse and I'm damn unhappy to give this one, but hey! thats the truth! And, I've got a few posts all lined up but waiting for the final go (talk about not having the time for it).

Through it all, we are fast approaching the tax season. Here is one of the links I found to be interesting. Since 2009 was a year with lots of moves and changes, my taxes this year would be a wee bit more complicated than using a software to print out the forms. And last year, I didn't even have to worry about which software it was!! Talk about more responsibilities as you grow older! Anyways, happy tax season! :D

Some questions
Do you do early filing of taxes?
Do you prefer a human to help you or software?

அன்பு தோழி!

அன்பு தோழி!
நலம் நலமறிய அவா
எப்படி இருக்கிறாய்? ஏனிப்படி?
மன குமுறல் ஒரு புறம்
எங்கிருந்தாலும் வாழ்க
மன தத்துவம் மறுபுறம்

காவிரி கரையில் கை கோர்த்து
கள்ளு காட்டில் கண்ணாமூச்சி ஆடி
சில்லென்ற காற்றடிக்க
சின்னஞ்சிறு கதைகள் பேசி
கழித்த காலங்கள் எங்கே?

இடம் விட்டு இடம் வந்து
இறக்கை இல்லா குறையாய் பறந்து
இயந்திர வாழ்வில் தொலைந்து போன
இதயங்களுக்கு தெரியுமா அந்த பதில்?

இனிக்க இனிக்க பேசியவள் நீ
இனி எப்போது காண்பேன் உன்னை?
என்னில் குற்றம் கண்டுபிடித்தாய்
தாய் சேயை திருத்துவது போல
அடுத்த முறை பார்க்கும் போது
அது, சேட்டு கடன்காரன் குற்றம் போல் ஆகிடுமா?
தெரியவில்லை எனக்கும்!

கண் மூடி யோசிக்கிறேன்
காற்றில் மிதந்து வரும் பாடல்
"எங்கிருந்தாலும் வாழ்க"
சிரித்து கொண்டே செல்கிறேன்
மனதில் சோகம் இழையோட!

Balancing act for CA

Do you think you have an answer for California's budget deficit? Here is a way to play with the numbers and find out for yourself.
Lets start the year with a balancing act!

Opening our minds....

Strange that I came across two videos that spoke about opening our minds, one to the different possibilities and another to the different problems in the society, both impacting me in different ways. Sharing them with you....
Video 1: Nescafe - open up!!


Video 2: Sunitha Krishnan on TEDIndia


Visit Sunitha's blog to know/help more.

Efficiency is the name!

One of my friends recently tweeted about a particular article. It was about a business in India. Some unique things about it were:

• it didn't need millions to start this business, just some ingenuity on the part of the entrepreneur
• it wasn't based on new products or inventions
• it was closely connected to people's lives
• it was uniquely Indian (where else would people wait to know when the water would come?)
• it was simple - simple enough that you don't need an MBA to figure it all out
• it doesn't need too much to run on, leaving the company to concentrate on expanding its business - lesser maintenance costs per customer
• it takes advantage of the perks of other companies - For eg, this company (in the current model) would fail if the cell phone companies decide to charge for incoming SMSes; but the cell phone companies wouldn't do it in the near future for their profits still depend on these freebies.
• it combines technology to what people basically need
• it uses local resources (read, finding local unemployed youth to run the franchise) - lesser relocation costs and upkeep costs; add to it happier employees (as they don't have to relocate without families) who come with their own network that they can put to immediate use (their personal network - family, friends, etc) and you've got a solid deal for so less.
• it doesn't need to train employees much (except for the basics)
• it is not dependent on finding employees with special talent or degrees - if one employee quits, they can always find another; finding an unemployed youth who is ready to do this in their own town/village for such less a cost is not too hard
• it fosters entrepreneurship - even if 1% of franchise owners decide to do more on their own, then entrepreneurship has grown - and that is something India needs!!

I could go on and on about this business, but I'll leave the rest to you guys! In one word, this business is effficient. They've taken care of the basics of any business, leading to a very successful business model. What are your thoughts on it?

Vanish away, can you?

Can someone really vanish in this digital world? Here is a link about a guy who tried to do exactly that, and his adventures while at it. I've read stories about how people walk out of one life and leave no trace. But I guess it would become harder and harder as digital life takes over more and more. Though I'm not sure what would cause someone to do it, I can't imagine myself doing it, even for the sake of trying it out. Would you? Atleast for the sake of trying it?

A note to Newyorkers

As you know, NYC is one of my favorite cities in the world. That city lives and breathes energy into anyone that comes in contact with it. This link would be of interest to Newyorkers where it displays the income level of people living in a particular area. I'm curious to see such maps for other cities, especially aamchi Mumbai or singara Chennai. It would throw light on the lives of people in a far more zoomed in manner. Now, that would be interesting!

PS: Been away finishing up stuff... now I'm safely back from the thin ice world. Hope everyone had a good Diwali and Karthigai and Thanksgiving!

Skating on thin ice

Its that time of the year again

When the world starts to slumber

And words fail to express life

The ice rink is beckoning

So pure and so undisturbed

And so silent with myriad mysteries

The skates are polished

The ropes are wrapped

And the picks are cleaned

And I, I skate on thin ice!!

Till I get back,

Have fun on the ice, folks!

Happy Fall :)

பச்சை பட்டாடையில் மஞ்சள் முத்துக்கள்
பவழ கொடியினிலே மல்லிகை மொட்டுக்கள்
தென்னாடன் குலமகள் பார்க்க
தென்றலது வீசி வர
இளம்குளிர் காலம் வந்ததம்மா!
இனிய சுகம் தந்ததம்மா!


மாய உலகில் மயங்கும் மான்கள்
மூடு பனியில் முகிழும் மலர்கள்
தீபங்கள் அலங்கரிக்க
தூபங்கள் கமழ்ந்திட
சில்லென்ற குளிர் காற்று வந்ததம்மா!
சிந்தையில் மகிழ்வு தந்ததம்மா!

PS: I wrote this one when waiting at a traffic signal. The drive from home to office is one of my favorites with trees turning yellow, golden and red. Its like an beautiful arch that the angels created just for us :) Fall is the best time with the world becoming colorful all at once. Happy fall times, everyone!

A look at Windows' history

This is a nice link about the history of Windows. The earliest I can remember using is Windows 3.1 in third grade... And minesweeper was my favorite game in the world! The feeling after beating the "computer" in guessing the mines was euphoric! I'm one of the few millions in the world who would NOT have studied computers if there was no graphical user interface. I still prefer clicking my way through to actually typing the commands, though the command-typing-green-lines-on-a-serious-looking-black-screen is cooler. Geeks may deride my admission but that is how it is! And I know that there are millions of others who are glad for the simple-to-use GUI. And all said and done, Windows with its GUI paved way for faster integration of computers into the lives of common man all through the world (I'm not talking about geeks who would've been happy typing commands into command line window with or without GUI) and made computers less fearful. The growth of Windows in all areas of computing(UI, power, performance, etc) has been impressive. And, I'm glad about Windows 7. :)

What is the earliest Windows that you have used?

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?

Another doyen passes away

Mornings in my home were for studies or getting ready for school/work. My mom was never great on TV time, especially in the mornings. The rare occasions when she puts on the TV in the mornings is to listen to Thenkachi Ko.Swaminathan's Indha Naal Iniya Naal on Sun TV. With her, I got into the habit of listening to his short stories. His manner of lacing a short story with a moral made my granny comment "Manushan nachunu solraar!" Unlike some others, who are the vazha vazhaa kozha kozhaa types. Really sad that another doyen of Tamildom has passed away :( I'm sure this is yet another change from the C that I know of and morning TV programmes are never going to be the same anymore! RIP!

A split in Gen Yers?

Lots of research has gone into the spending habits of people by generation. Being part of the Gen-Y crowd, I show more than the normal interest in knowing how things are going for us, Gen Y-ers. Recently, I came across an interview(part 1, part 2) that discussed some pertinent stuff about our spending habits. It was an interesting read and I can identify most, if not all, of what was said.

But there was one thing that stuck out in this interview. She said the GenY might have to be split into two:under and over 20. True, I can see the difference between some of my friends/cousins who grew up with facebook, used cellphones when in grade school and use myspace as an active substitute for social activities. They think that googling/binging for some information is a natural thing to do and cannot comprehend it if we talk of looking up things in the papers/library. Worse, they think email is so damn uncool and the craze of forwards that held us by sway when I was a teen is the funniest thing ever! Damn! Nothing to make you feel old than that!

It is also funny how I used to think that we were the most tech savvy generation growing up with the Internet and getting to be the unencumbered generation that had the resources to try out all the fancy gadgets out there. But talking to the younger GenYers, I realize that their lives are more enmeshed in technology than ours(older GenYers) was at their age. One of my friends couldn't live without checking Facebook when he was in his village and he is only 17!! He said that it was the worst few weeks of his life because he felt he wasn't doing something that he did everyday! And Facebook didn't even exist when I was 17! And, they couldn't comprehend the joys that we had when we were kids playing in the rain and mud and dirt! An afternoon in the swing with a book and rose milk in hand or spent playing badminton/cricket all day is something they just can't relate to!

It would be interesting to see how our generation would turn out as the years go and if this subtle difference in our teen years would have a big impact in our spending habits, our approach to things in life, etc. This is a unique position to be in, for this setting cannot be recreated by any lab, not even on a smaller scale. Would we still be the same generation despite these subtle differences or would there be a big disparity in our attitudes and thoughts due to changes in our teen years? Ah! Now lets follow the 'Wait and Watch' policy!

Totally funny!

தாலேலோ!

உயிரோடு அவன் இருக்கையில்
உறவுகள் எல்லாம் தொலைவில்
உயிரற்ற உடலானதும்
உயிலுக்கோர் போராட்டம்

ஊகங்களும் கேள்விகளும் பல பல
உண்மை ஆடுது கண்ணாமூச்சி ஆட்டம்
உலகே அவனுக்கு அஞ்சலி செய்ய
உறக்கத்தில் சிரிக்கிறான் தாலேலோ!

PS:I wrote this for for MJ, King of Pop the day he died! Still miss some of his songs. I keep watching the drama going on around MJ's death, as shown on Larry King's show. Totally sickened by it as a common person. And the poem is more apt now [wry smile]. I'm sure MJ is ROTFLing somewhere in this big broad Universe at all the things going on here. RIP!

Another step to adulthood

உயிரென கருதும் உறவுகள் இல்லையெனில்
உலகமே இருந்தும் என்ன பயன்?

Wish my family was with me, as I take a bigger step to adulthood! Missing you loads, guys!

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.

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!

“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?”

Books and Movies - this week

Sometimes, it happens that movies and books that you read sync up to a particular issue by sheer coincidence. I guess Nazi occupation is the theme that's currently going on.
Books:
My Enemy's Cradle - this is a story set in Nazi occupied France about a Jew girl who goes to a German run institution to deliver her baby. She also falls in love with the (supposed) father of the child. The narration is poignant and fast. It shows yet another light on the Nazi occupation of Europe, just like the Inglorious Bastards. Read it if you are looking for something poignant and want to dig into the less known 'A child for Hitler' program (I forgot the actual name of the program).
Love marriage - This is a novel by a SriLankan writer about three generations of two Tamil families from and in Sri Lanka linked through marriages of all kinds. Their lives are intricately twisted into the wars, LTTE rise, suicide bombings, etc and yet holds on to the quaint cultural flavors seen in every Tamil village. It also reflects a lot on the rights and wrongs of each generation and what they mean to others in the past, present and future generations. Sometimes, the places that we are makes decisions for us than the places we came from. And some other times, the vice versa is true. This was not a page turner but if you are interested to peel away the news-ridden scenario of LTTE and Tamils of Sri Lanka, this view of a family might help.
Night Smoke - Totally girlish. Just one if you don't want to think of anything.
The A-list - this was more a teen novel about the celebrity teens of Hollywood. They are no different from other teens, but have more scrutiny on them (and yeah! they can buy a $3000 handbag just to show off at a party on their parents' amex card). Again, a no-brainer.

Movies:
Shaurya - Hindi - Suggested by a friend of mine. A lot like 'A Few good men' but Rahul Bose's acting is good. Powerful message, taut storyline but I don't know if it captured the masses. The masala is definitely missing...
Final Destination 1, 2 and 3 - Did a movie marathon on this one. The first one was interesting but the second one was "oh! I think it might repeat the first". The angle of new life defeating death started some interest in the second movie but showed that death was uncheatable. Actually, the new life was the kid of the pregnant woman. But if the kid was alive inside the mother's womb, wouldn't it have died in the accident as well? Or is life taken into account only after the kid is born into the world? But technicalities aside, it was an interesting take that failed to gain momentum. The third one shifted to the camera linking the people who are about to die. But I guess a pattern can be created from any set of random deaths if that was the case. True! Knowing that pattern before hand is kind of wacky but hindsight can show the pattern clearly.

Allavudinum 1000 watts bulbum - Another of Crazy Mohan's comedy that had me in splits. Going through the list compiled by a friend one per week so I get the full fun out of it :D

Have a happy labor day weekend!

Food Combinations!

Did you make a fuss when you were forced to eat the sambar rice first, rasam rice second(usually with appalam) and finally the curd rice? And given certain combinations of food and not others? Like the jaggery and adai? Or how about coconut milk and idiappam? And the ubiquotous upma and curd? (For Cians, I'm sure you'd know how much importance is given in our cuisine for wheat upma). Well, there might be a reason behind all that! Food experts say that certain food combinations actually increase the chance of absorbing more nutrients or additional quantities of a nutrient. Check out this link for more details. Wish someone could do research on Indian food combinations and tell me why exactly upma is best had with curd or adai is best had with jaggery? (other than the taste reasons, of course!)

Towards the elixir

She moved through the forest
With the Voice in tow
Searching for the elixir
Needed for the Voice

She sparred and stunned
With the Voice standing near
Offsetting the traps (that)
Ensnared the path of elixir

She matched wits to wits
With the Voice getting weaker
Solved the puzzles (and)
Lighted the path to elixir

Now,
She stands at a junction
With the Voice almost limp
Two roads before her
Which one to the elixir?

Caution pushes her to one
Trust pushes her to another
Dreams push her to one
Practices push her to another

Brought up in trust
Hard to leave that path
Fueled by dreams
Harder still to leave that path

Pained by caution
Hard to take that path
Singed by practices
Harder still to take that path

O ye Universe,
Guide her through
For she is fighting

To save her guidance
To save her world
To save her Voice

Books and Movies

For long time readers, its not surprising that I'm a book fan. But lately, I've started watching movies too. Though I still don't think movies can match books, there are a few movies that are really enjoyable. But they are few and far apart.

This week's book list:

1) Seramaan Kaadhali - a tamil historic novel - total waste novel. Kathaiyae illa. Chumma, suthi suthi kathai ezhuthi irundhaan. Total waste of four hours.

2) 7 deadly wonders by Matthew Reilly - an english novel peppered liberally with historic facts and diagrams - not bad. But its not a must read as well. Its definitely not a page turner. But its fascinating how they combine so many historic facts to keep the novel in place. If you are a fact buff, you'll like this one.

3) Prom Crashers - English - a fun and light read - totally girlish

4) Batter off dead - English - okish - I took it mainly for the mystery part in it - but it was more like Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys minus the satisfaction you get after reading it.

5) Gifts of the season - English - okish - Suggested by a friend to read this genre. I would read it if I'm too tired to think of anything - warning: totally, totally girlish.

This week's movie list:

1) Inglorious bastards - English - liked it, especially Brad Pitt's and Christoph Waltz's acting. I've not seen any other movies of Waltz (yeah! I'm that pathetic!) but Pitt pulled a great accent. And, the last scene where Shoshanna's face shows through the smoke, man! That was an eerie touch. Though some scenes were bizarre (like people cutting off scalps as if they were bread loaves - I can't stomach that), it was a nice movie overall. (But three of my friends slept through parts of the movie. So, it just might not be your type!)

2) District 9 - English - Ugh! Too gory for my taste though the story line is different. The problem is I just can't relate to it or imagine that aliens can live on earth with us. If you can, then its a movie for you.

3) Kandasamy - Tamil - Less said, the better! Waste movie!

4) Raghavan - Tamil - ithellam oru padam! Padam eduthavan tamil makkala sariyaana kenai pasanga nu nenaichutaan pola iruku. Act pannavae theriyaatha oru hero. Kathai illatha story line. Ithoda director, script writer, producer moonu perayum, indha padatha oru 100 times paarka vakkanum. Athaan, correct punishment!! Adhulayae paathi uyir poidum.

Naan indha movie epdi parthen nu ketkareengala? I read the reviews of all tamil movies. Ellam waste stories. Seri, listla randomaa onnu choose pannalaamnu panninen. Adhula, ithu vandhadhu. En yaar yaarumae nalla tamil movie edukka maatendraanga? The last good one was Pasanga. After that, there is a dearth of good tamil movies.

5) The Ugly Truth - English - it starts out great but falls flat somewhere in the middle. Maybe that was because I expected the movie to go one way and it went another. And, compared to The Proposal (don't ask me why, but I keep comparing this movie to that one), it wasn't that good.

Drama: I also heard the audio of Crazy Mohan's Meesai aanalum Manaivi (Bharath's suggestion). It was good, reminds me of DD time some ten or fifteen years back. But sometimes, it looks to be a part of another era totally! Does anyone get this feeling when you see old drama or skits or episodes?

What is your movies/books list?/ Any recommendations for must read/watch books/movies?

Kandasamy - Waste samy

Solla nenaichatha sollitaanyaa!

Don't waste your money on it. Unless, of course, you are a Shreya fan and would tolerate any stupidity dished out for her sake!

Spending habits: Some revelations

Spending habits of a person can easily tell loads about them. An account statement is about as intimate as you can get to a person's mind and the ideas churning there. We can easily segregate people into different classes based on their spending habits (loves travel, food connoisseur, movie buff, sports fan, art enthusiast, book lover, etc). Everyone has got their vices and pleasures. And that is what makes the world fun to be in.

I'm usually conscious about my spending but don't really get into a budget overdrive (I've done it maybe two months!). However, as I was reviewing my accounts after a long time (yeah, so much so that I don't know what happened to some of the stuff I had and had to start afresh with some left to "Gandhi kanakku"), I found interesting patterns to emerge.

When I moved Neverland, I was given some money(some big money - compared to my grad student state) to cushion the move. I assumed that it would last me the whole of the card's life term. But, yesterday, I found that I had blown some four-fifths of that money within four months. Woah! Wait a minute! Where did it all go? True! Some of it went for travel (ok! I'm nuts about travel and the experiences it'll give - I'd rather give $100 for an experience than for something I can take home - one that would finally become junk) that I'm doing in the coming months and for the recent trips I did with friends and cousins (not to mention my move). And some of it went for the new place (of course! THE bed of mine). And some of it went for shopping (yup! I've spent more than $200 in Bath and Body works alone) for stuff. The rest? Agreed, I paid my bills (atleast most of them) with this card. Shave off some $60 per month for that. That still takes away only $250 for four months.

One thing that jumps out of the statements is my long standing relationship with Airtel. I'm this compulsive home-caller whose mom is a skype-hater. A perfect situation where Airtel-customer love can grow like crazy. I need to call my mom every single night before I go to sleep. And my mom is this person who just hates talking over skype. I've charged this card of mine exactly 38 times(all in dimensions of $25) to airtel. No wonder I keep getting calls from airtel's customer center saying that I'm eligible for this promotion and that. At this rate, I'd be eligible for all the promotions they've got. Ok! I hear your *&#$&*@ words. But I guess that I pay more for the convenience of calling my mom and talking to her for hours whenever I feel like it rather than the actual talking that we do. So, this is still a worthy spend but guess I'll share my love between airtel and reliance from now on. Just so, flying under the radar :P

Another trend was that all my saving bursts were followed by spending bursts(if you can call not spending as saving) on this card. Or rather, spending bursts were followed by guilt laden saving bursts. Its all in the way you look at it, you see! But knowing me, I'd be more satisfied with the spending bursts and would let the experience sink in totally before I search for the next one. The gap would have been my saving burst. It was not intentional for sure! Wonder what will happen if I go on a spending high for too long. Would I crave the saving phase just for the change of it? Or would I need to spend more and more to be satisfied?

Looking back, I'm glad I spent the money on travel (tickets, car rentals, experiences, etc - though most of the fun came from being with friends and that's priceless!), treats (again this was money well spent), gifts (I'll do it again without batting an eyelid) and of course, shopping (despite all the bills, I feel that I have chosen well - saving where it is needed and spending where needed). One of the few regrets I had was spending on my bed. I wasn't thinking straight that evening and wanted a bed THEN for I had had a bad sleep before. But that didn't happen (the bed got delivered only the next morning - by which time, I was kicking myself and hard!). Though I love my bed now, I know that it is not the best of decisions I took. It could've been a bigger purchase and worse mistake. That incident made me understand the power of instant gratification. I thought I had worked it out of me but nope! I still need that. But now, I know the limits. The rest got covered in groceries (small things DO add up), dinners with friends (still can't forget the yummy Thai Kitchen :) and the small perks from time to time.

On hindsight, I also found that I hadn't planned well for it. I was working in the dark and the good spends I did were a result of sheer luck and lack of temptations before me. I had frankly not thought to use Airtel a whole lot. My usage in grad school was ridiculous (around $100 a month) but this is outrageous (2.5x times it!). Frankly, I had forgotten what it is to start a house from scratch (one of the ills of non-frequent moving - you forget what it is to move and start anew). So, alpine, time to plan things better.

Another thing that popped up was the change in my lifestyle from being a student to an employee. Some things that were reserved as treats have now become 'yet-another-thing'. Like heat-and-eat dinners! They were a treat when in grad school now I do it more out of habit or boredom to cook than for the experience of it. I'm getting less happiness at the same value. I'm not sure if this is the right way to think about it but yeah, I love this experiment. Lets see where it takes me! Btw, I'm seriously considering making some more changes to my lifestyle at Neverland, just to test the limits of what luxury means to me :) What is life if not change?

How are your spending habits? Do you see changes in your lifestyle after big transitions like graduation, wedding, divorce, loss, etc?

Safe drinking water for all

One of the best ideas that I've come across in recent years. Imagine if everyone had access to safe drinking water without the need for unnecessary storage, treatment and distribution of water. Life would be bliss for some on earth. And infinitely easier for others Kudos to Michael Pritchard!
Check out the video here.

Me vs myself!

[Modified an old but non-published post]

Do you know who is the hardest person to convince in this world? Do you know who is the hardest person to cheat on? Do you know who is the hardest person to please? Its you! Yes, you heard me right!

Try convincing yourself that a new dress on sale is something that needs to go to your closet or that new car that you've been wanting is just the perfect gift for yourself and you'll know what I mean!

Try cheating on yourself by eating more icecream than you should or by spending more than you should on a shopping spree! You'd find that harder than climbing Mt.Everest.

Try sleeping in when your mind says to get out and go for a jog or going for a jog when your mind says to sleep in! You'll know that pleasing your mom or boss or spouse is a cakewalk compared to that!

Start of day:

[Characters:

I: the one that wants to have fun all through the day, read novels, munch yummy food, sleep when she feels like it, hang out with friends, do something different every day and hates routine life.

Me: the one that is the mommy character. Knows that routine is actually good and sets tasks that will feel really terrible at the start but will be so good at the end. Loves fun but knows that work is fun too(yeah! my workaholic tendencies crop from this character)

Setting: A day in life!]

Me: Get up! its 6.30, for God's sake! Otherwise, you are sure to miss work/class!

I: Damn! I just got to an interesting point in the dream. Now shut up and don't disturb!

Me: If you want to catch the 8 am bus yet have time for all the stuff you want done before you leave, you are already 15 minutes late! Do you get that into your thick skull?

I: Oh shit! Now I've lost the aborigines!! Ok! What the hell do you want me to do?

Me: Well, for one, it'll be great if you can drag yourself out of bed and start getting ready for the day!

I: Oh! No probs! How about this deal? I'll do everything as you say today in exchange for letting me continue my quest on aborigines!! I can't leave them stranded in Magic Land! They need my help to get out of it!!

Me: Good idea. How about adding this clause? Lets pause your quest till tonight and get back to the aborigines in the dream later! That way, you won't have to sleep yet you'll listen to everything I say! That is a double treat!

I: Double whammy!

[I drag myself through all the things to be done... work/class, reading, talking, etc etc]

[A typical scene during shopping.. feel free to change it to dress, shoes, whatever... the latest being a car!]

I:Yay! An icecream! I'm so going to buy this one.

Me: NO WAY!! You just had an icecream in S's party last night! You can't have two icecreams on consecutive days.

I:Come on! You are not my mommy! I can have it!
Me:No you can't. I'm not paying for it!

I: Yuck! Where's the fun in being a grown up if you can't even eat an icecream in peace?

Me: With fun, comes responsibility! Eating two icecreams is definitely not responsibility enough!

I: Oh my!! Next time, I'm going to leave you at home when I go for parties!

Me: Ha! Ha! Try it!

[After I'm done with the day]

I: Phew! that was one interesting day! Wasn't XYZ fun? I thought it would be boring to code that. Now I wish I could do more of it!

Me: I'm sure you'll be bored of it in a wink! I've planned ABC tomorrow.

I: No!! ABC is just work! How can I do an assignment now for something due next week? I've got six full days in between!

Me: yeah right! You also have the DEF to finish! Not to mention the weekly status report to your prof! You also offered to help out X with Y preps! And you haven't yet started on your thesis!!! You also want to go to Z's house for the potluck this weekend!! How the hell, then, do you have six full days??

I:[grumbling] OK! OK! I'll do ABC tomorrow! Damn! How I wish I had some days off to catch up!

Me: Now, now! Don't fret about it! You have time enough to squeeze things through. Lets see!

I: Mmmm... anyways, me back to the aborigines!

Me: Lol! Sweet dreams! But I think it would be Vandiya Thevan and Kundavai's turn today to grace you with their presence!

[The day ends]

Every single day, though the motions are similar, I find that this conversation with myself to be really interesting. Though there were times when I has felt like rebelling against me, I'm glad that I actually shut up and listened to myself. I'm sure everyone'll have conversations with their inner selves and choose based on it.

Its been an interesting journey so far in life with I and me being the two sides of the scales. As long as I'm a Libran, I'm sure I'll have both traits within me. And that makes life really fun!!

What makes your life fun?

[Yay!! My 200th post! One of my friends reminded me of this one two weeks back! She is a regular reader here and one of my most silent yet most supportive readers. I don't usually celebrate the blog's anniversary but she wanted me to do a special post for this one. I wanted to blog about so many things (my O trip, changing views about marriage, how people spend time, the veggie challenge and of course, a voice post) but didn't feel that they touched the special mark. Not that the 200th post is any different, but its nice to know that there have been posts that I've spent hours writing and those that hold pieces of my memory of distant lands and peoples past. I've tried to capture I and me in this post of mine. I'm sure I'll laugh at this one when I'm older and be glad that I listened to both I and me, with I being the heart and me being the brains. Lets hope I make it to 300 by end of this year. An ambitious goal but what is fun in life if not for ambitions...]

Go Bing!

Just over a month after its release, Bing is still going strong. Though I use both Google and Bing as a customer, its nice to see some serious competition in Search. As they say, "Competition keeps you on your toes". Go Bing!

Business Fraud Alert

We all know that the economy in US is facing troubles. With economic troubles comes more confused people willing to try out quick fixes for all their problems, problems that they built over years with irresponsible credit card usage and need-it-now philosophy. And this is a perfect hunting ground for fraudsters and con-men. I've already written about MLMs and how stupid and dangerous they really were. A friend of mine recently forwarded the following video about fraud with telemarketing.



I fail to understand how people think they can solve all the problems by buying a business opportunity over phone without thinking through it. Seriously, how stupid can you get?? Even if you've seen the person and gone through the product like a hundred times, there are chances of failure (I'm immediately reminded of the famous 'roti-making machine' that made rounds in the exhibitions in India which people bought and didn't get the round, well made rotis like the salesman once they tried it at home. Include the vacuum, the roti machine, food processor, whatever product you want). So, how can people be naive enough to believe something that is just shown on TV??? Beats me!!

Is the way humans think changing?

A group of friends and I, we are doing a discussion on Human thinking and how it changes. The seed for our discussion started with this article. In all, all of us felt the following symptoms:

• Cannot concentrate on a single task more than ten minutes - interestingly we found that we could concentrate if need be, but that the bar for need was set very high(way up near the sky!) so that most of our daily activities were below the bar. (You can say a deadline in an hour to be above the bar - but even then some of my friend just needed to check their text messages)
• Needed music in the background to give more productive work - I definitely need them to write better code but felt that when I'm writing articles and documents, the music is a hindrance! And some friends needed music even to study for exams! Heck! One of them even has a "Study time" playlist in his iPod.
• Cannot remember phone numbers - None of us can remember each other's phone numbers. I remember some phone numbers in India but that's about it. I don't remember my best bud's number in US though we talk to each other every alternate day. I'd be so lost without my cell phone and its list of numbers.
  
• Lesser exercise in strategic thinking for the brain - I think Google maps is really, really good making it easy to do all the figuring out for every shopping trip we do. We use the public transit for all shopping!! And my brain gets lesser exercise!! :(
  
• More skimming of articles - I cannot read any more serious prose or long poetry. Succinct is the word. Same with all my friends. Sometimes we wonder if the human brain is becoming more attention deficient. But my dad can still read long articles without batting eyelids! Guess the younger generation is the most afflicted with it.
• More web interaction - I 'talk' to so many of my friends through internet. Facebook, Twitter (though I don't use it much), Gtalk, Orkut, LinkedIn, etc, etc. The phone and face-to-face communication is becoming rare. But its fun and has become a way of life to get up in the morning and check messages on these mediums. I remember times when internet was limited to just half an hour a day and this was just 4 years ago!!
• More information, less knowledge, lesser wisdom - all of us are bombarded with information from all sides and in all forms. But it takes time to make it knowledge and that time is what we can't give to all information. It takes practice and time to make the knowledge into wisdom. But, we feel that transforming info to knowledge is possible for most of us but true wisdom is really difficult in this fast paced world. But I guess no one cares anymore - people have the internet and Google and Bing to bring the world's wisdom to their fingertips. If they can use that wisdom well, they'd be the kings of this world. But using the wisdom also requires practice. And that takes time!
• Change in lifestyle - I still remember the day my uncle took us to the bank to learn how it works. But now, everything is online and automated and more abstract than ever. My first bank trip to withdraw Rs.100 from my account required serious planning - go to the bank when it is open, fill in the appropriate form, wait in queue, etc. Now, all I do is, go to the atm, insert card and get the cash. Though it saves time, I'm not sure if the experience is worthy remembering in my day.
• Loss of older ways - We are so comfortable once things are set but in this fast paced experience, there is no settling down of things. My friend's daughter thinks that it is normal to chat inside the email but I remember times when that was not the case. And my mom still reminisces about the hand written letters and the joy they bring with every shout of "Saarrr! Possttt!!" but I feel disconnected about it (this might also be because my family stayed close and we never wrote letters to each other - I've never experienced the wait for a letter and thrill of seeing it in the mail box one day or the thrill of getting it from the postman).
  
• Speed - I need the movie to be over yesterday. My friend needs to tour Hawaii last month. Do you get it? We need everything to be done fast. Fast, faster! Once, I've caught myself thinking that the plane should touchdown as soon as it took off. With the influx of information at our fingertips, 'now' has become the norm. However, sometimes, it pushes people to the brink in coping with the pressures (have you felt the need to cross out everything on your to-do list?) and spoils their lives. It IS important to stop and smell the roses!

These are some of the ways we find that our lives are different from those that lived in the same position just five years back. I do see a big difference in the way we think, even between those in my age and those five years older to us or between us and those five years younger to us. The world is changing rapidly and the human mind is adapting rapidly as well. Hope this all leads to a balance and that the journey is interesting. Hang in there, mate!


What are your opinions on this post? Do you think our thinking is changing? Did your style of thinking change in the last few years? Any thoughts welcome.

My Hutch puppy!

Thought I left it in school, but oh no, it has followed me like the Hutch puppy!!



Long live our freedom!
Happy weekend!!

The Veggie challenge!!

I've been hounded by a friend of mine(I mean,literally hounded) who is a Vegan(Gosh!! How does he do it? No milk??? Mommy!!) to stop eating chicken and fish. I already don't eat red meat, because I don't like that taste much. But chicken, that is a different issue. And seafood is neither there nor here.

Jogging my memory(and taking my mom's help when I can't), I was a pure vegetarian till about 8 years old. Then started my love affair with chicken. I started eating chicken livers and moved on to real chicken pieces(the one with bones - apparently I became a big girl, big enough to handle bones!). Then, I stopped again due to non-encouragement at home. Actually, non-encouragement is a vastly different word from lack of encouragement. But I digress... And seem to have given some not-to-be-mentioned statements to my family! They love pulling my leg for it!!

Back to my Non Veg story. I started eating chicken again once I was in college when the doc said that I had to get some iron into my body to become Lady Shaktiman! (sadly that never happened - chicken went in but iron got spent more. And Lady Shaktiman? The hope is dimming!). And, as a result, I started trying out different chicken dishes(mmm... the Arunachalas and the shops near my college where we got this yummy grilled chicken!! They won over any hesitations that I had!!) and even started cooking some of them(And this was greatly aided by AS). The triple K's sure had some fun times cooking chicken dishes, right from chicken biriyani to chicken curry. And I became an expert at making Chicken Chettinadu, so much so that I started cooking chicken every week(!!).

Now I stand at eating chicken almost every other week. Been into discussions with different friends about veg/non-veg issues over the past one year. And finally got nailed by one of my friends who said that I should try only veg for a month and if I think that I don't feel a difference at the end of one month, I can get back to eating chicken as I like. He offered the piscatarian choice(veggies + fish for a month and then veggies for a month - he knows I can't/won't cook fish! And schemed to make me live on veggies for (almost)two months!! Aha! Now that won't do!) but brave that I am, I jumped on the veggie challenge directly!

The challenge is to eat only vegetarian diet(meaning veggies, fruits, rice, lentils, grains, dairy products, etc) for a month... That is 3*31 = 93 meals!!

Mmmm.... There I said it. The reason to put this on my blog is to chronicle my experiences with it so that I can judge easily at the end of the month. Since I haven't had chicken today, I'm taking today as the first day of the challenge. Oh God!! I can already see butter chicken mocking at me!! Give me the strength to overcome this challenge and prove the world that chicken eating is actually good for health! Or wait, maybe veggies are better!! Oh! Just prove whichever is better... so that I can stop having these arguments again and again with so many people.

P.S.: All words of encouragement/condolences to my state are welcome. Any support/personal stories are double welcome! But no flame wars please. And certainly no sending yummy chicken dishes home!!!

Demons of Time!!

She was happy
She was singing
Suddenly
She heard the Voice cry

She was flabbergasted
She hadn't encountered it before
She didn't know what to do
She called to the Voice

She wondered
Wondered about what was wrong
She worried
Worried about how to set it right

The Voice came
The Voice was sobbing
Slowly
The Voice told her the reason

"My friend died
Died of skepticism
Died of overdose of cynicism
Died of lack of care"

The Voice quivered
Quivered with sorrow and fear
The Voice waned
Waned so much that listening became harder

She was shocked
Shocked to see the Voice's waning voice
Of present, of the moment

She remembered
Remembered the Voice's exuberant voice
Of past, of yore

She realized
She had drawn upon the Voice
To pull her through trials and tribulations
She had leaned on the Voice
Through troubles and thunders

She realized
The Voice needed her care now
To bring it back to its past glory
The Voice required nourishment
Lack of which, it would wane to forever

She was afraid
Afraid if she was worth the task
Afraid if she had it in her
To pull them both through this ordeal

She knew
Knew that she can do it
Knew that the time has come
To put the Voice's teachings into practice

She rose to the task
The task that will raise them both
The Voice followed this time
Happy that it had done a worthy deed

The Voice was sure
That it was in good hands
She was determined
To heal the wounds of skepticism

She and the Voice
They battle the demons of time again!
Let us wish them the best
For they need it, in their own ways!

[Mourning the loss of a friend's Voice.... er, Voice's friend!! Amen!]

Michael Jackson

Michael Johnson, the King of Pop is best known to me as the first "foreign" artist I knew at the age of 7 or 8. Ever since hearing his "Thriller", I've thought that "western music" was always awesome. But as I dug deeper into his other albums and that of other artists, I found that the expectations set by "Thriller" are very very hard to be matched, let alone exceeded!

My second brush with him came during my pre-teens when we were ardently discussing "Backstreet Boys" and "Boy zone" and of course, comparing them with the enchanted MJ, as we all called him. We've spent hours discussing them yet none of the other albums still created the magic of Thriller for me. Then, as I grew up, I moved away from MJ's music and completely lost touch with it. But, now, after hearing his death yesterday during our mixer party, I felt a sense of loss, the loss that comes when your first pop icon is no more. I looked forward to going to one of his concerts ever since I was a kid. Yeah! One of those fans that were mad for him and his songs! Sadly, I'll have to take it off my "100 things to do" list. Sure, I can replace it with any other artist's concert. But nothing would match that of MJ's.

He was to my previous generation(and to some extent, ours) what Elvis Presley was to our parents generation. I don't think any other artist can beat him in his dance moves, the famed "moonwalk", his freeze-shots, etc. He is the only "phoren" artist millions of people in the villages of India knows. Even today, you can see people comment "Nee enna periya Michael Jackson nu nenaipaa?" to someone trying out different dance moves! Imagine being known to people who have no idea of America, no idea of dancing and certainly no idea of western pop music!! Ah! that is fame, that is immortality!

MJ, you'll surely be loved for the magic you created with music and dance! Thanks for letting us share that magical world with you as you took that journey! Now, at the end of the journey, hope your soul rests in peace. Amen.

What can you do with Rs.500?

What can you do with Rs.500 (or little over $5)? This link was on a friend's gtalk status and I couldn't help sharing it over here:



Lets do our best to give kids education and a safe childhood, the childhood that we were all privileged to get. We owe it to our future citizens and the world at least this much!

This is a topic close to my heart. Lets aim to give at least Rs.5 per month(is it $0.1?) for a kid's education (any kid, it can be your housemaid's daughter trying to finish her 10th standard, it can be your locality watchman's son trying to get books for school, it can be even kids from the local school). Just go and you'll find the needy kids in every corner of India. Or, give to one of the NGOs that are working towards this cause. I'm sure our small help to a kid would radically change his/her path in life. Lets join hands to eradicate poverty and work towards education for every kid!

Moved Neverland successfully!

The last few weeks have been frenzied. I had to move Neverland and set it all up again. Phew! Dismantling and rebuilding, especially Neverland, is a thing I really don't look forward to. Though setting up a new home is always fun, I find that I've become a creature of habit and was trying to capture the Neverland in its last state. I realized this last night when I spent some two hours (two hours that should've been used to work or atleast catch up with stuff - We ALWAYS have that, don't we?) trying to rearrange the furniture (read, a bed, two shelves and a box - I'm yet to get a table or chair) and all the small stuff in different positions. Finally, I got so frustrated that I decided to get it all back to the original position. I then realized that I was trying to recreate my old room and moved the lights and shelves a bit to accommodate it. Now, if only I can raise the height of my bed to get the window view...

On a related note, I'm going bed-shopping before this weekend is over. For without the window and the draft hole over my bed, I got so bugged yesterday (yeah! its the summer in Neverland! I'm only thankful that I didn't go to some other places where I know I be fried like pork chops!!) and woke up so many times that finally my roomie had to restrain me from touching the AC control (she is a light sleeper and I would have switched on/off the AC atleast 15 times). The worst part was I was feeling very sleepy yet couldn't sleep. If hell was possible, it was that. I had to call quits and called V for a night chat. Our chat was fun as always but my work day loomed large and I had to force myself back to sleep. Oh! How I wish I was still a student in this regard.

PS: Though I've kept up with most of your posts, I've not really had time to write the posts. With regard to this post, I had some interesting and insightful chats with fellow bloggers. That led to different paths and I'm willing to test some of them. So, hang on and we'll glide through to see what is present on the other side. For I am as curious as you are :)

Miss you, Nands!

She was a great friend of mine,
She helped see the world and life,
Still a source of fun and frolic
Though far, yet close to heart.
Miss you Nands!

This is her favorite hero and song. I chanced upon it in another friend's orkut album and that triggered all sweet memories of school, innumerable badminton matches, the fun life of 7th, 8th and 9th standards, the final farewell party at her place, dance practices, Guides club planning sessions, crush talks and of course, our farewell to our seniors! Man! I miss those days!



And yeah, Dino Morea still looks good in this song :D

Where do we go from here?

Blogging, for me, has been a really fun thing to do. I've come a long way from the first post to now. I've done some really good posts and some bad ones. But overall, I see that my writing has become better and more importantly, I love doing it! But, as I move from being a college student (that thought is still so new to me!!) to a professional, I feel that I need to make a few changes to my blog. And I need your opinion on it. 

I want this blog to follow my life experiences and my opinion on anything that I think is worth it. But, at the same time, I value my privacy. I blog anonymously for that same reason. However, I know that my blog is frequented by my friends (and I love hearing their opinion!) but certainly, one part of my reader base is tainted with preconceived notions of me. I think that a mind without any preconceived notions is the best receptacle that an author can hope for! 

If you've been following my blog closely in the past few months, you would see that I had tried a variety of things. I tried stories, poems, technology, finance, link posts, opinion posts, about-me posts, forwards posts and even the Voice series. Though I liked all of them, there was nothing (save the Voice posts and opinion posts) that I really loved writing. Frankly, stories and poems are good but I need to wait for that creative streak to come (that type of creativeness is rare in my case! I might still belt out an occasional story or poem.. but thats about it!). Technology and finance, I think I'm more suited to reading about them than writing about them (for there are already experts in these fields who can write them better - I might bring in my opinions and usage reviews but not much else!). Link posts are good but I feel that they don't really come under 'My posts' category and certainly do not want my blog to be a bunch of bookmarks!!

Opinion posts!  Ah! Here comes the Pandora's box! I basically have only one tenet that I live with "do whatever you want to as long as it doesn't affect others' lives in a big way!". So when I apply this tenet to all the problems in this world, it sometimes ends with solutions that are not accepted by all in this world. And that has led to some fun wars offline!! :D I really want to hold peace with my friends and hence don't think that it is a good idea to put all my opinions on my blog and get rap for it. Why ruffle feathers when you don't have to do so? I can live with my opinions, the other person can live with her opinions and we can still be friends. We wouldn't discuss politics or abortion or any other touchy issue when we meet in real life. So, why do it in the blogworld? I've seen that most people (me included!) become a tad defensive when our beliefs are challenged. We may be right or we may be wrong, but we turn defensive. And try to come up with reasons to hold on to our beliefs even when we are proved wrong! Sadly, losing graciously is a quality that most of us have to learn. And its hard to make someone change their opinion on any issue when they don't have an open mind (too much work and too less returns!). So, I don't think I'd want to fill my blog with it. Maybe, I'll pepper my blog with it just to spice things up occassionally ;)

About-me posts, these are among the really easy ones to write (well! who would find it hard to write about their favorite subjects, themselves? :D) but of late, its becoming harder as I don't feel really comfortable writing about myself. Call it growing up, call it being cynical but it's a fact. I'd rather write about something I saw or heard or read than something I felt or wanted or liked. It does change people's opinion of you. Once, I had a friend refer to one post of mine and ask me something at a party. It was ok but I was a tad annoyed. It was right out of the blue and I wouldn't have willingly shared all that info in real-life setting. Further, I think its not necessary to tell all about yourself to the anyone and everyone in the world. Some things are best kept off the line. Else it takes the spice off life for there is nothing to explore about the person! Though, sometimes, its really good to get people understand without you being explicit! But it's too much a price to pay for this convenience. So, this would be minimal from now on.

Forward posts, they are easy to do too. But, sadly there are very less forwards or articles that I feel are really worth sharing. Not that others are not good or something, but I don't feel like putting them up. And, they have the same horror of link posts - not really coming under "my posts" category! So, this too would be occassional from now on.

Voice series, now, here is something that I'm sure would still remain in my blog. It is a nice snapshot of various emotions that I see in life. It's quasi-personal in that I can tell about people's emotions without really telling about them and endangering their privacy. But I'm sure that a blog with just these posts would be similar to a poem blog and I don't want that monotony in mine. Or, rephrasing, I don't think I'm that passionate about it yet. For, posts in Voice series are more spontaneous and they just "strike" when I see an emotionally charged situation. I can't wait around for the mood to strike. So, using only these posts is not a good idea.

So, it brings me back to the question: What do I do in my blog now? Any ideas? Anything that you'd like to see more/less/added/removed/changed? Do give your suggestions and we'll try each of it out. Oh! this is going to be fun and I'd get to try out different stuff. So, readers, pour in your ideas!

PS: On a personal front, I'm moving NeverLand from B__ to R__ in a few days. So, I'd be busy moving stuff, walking the 'Walk' to get my degree (at long last! Phew!) and spending time with family (I'm so glad they are making this trip! I'd get some more time to spoil my nieces :D). I did a really good farewell trip to most places in and around Neverland, met with almost all friends, did all the stuff I wanted to (too many last-time-points in these days). So, I'm all set after the farewell trip. Nothing like a good farewell to make you get ready for a good welcome! I'm going to miss B__ for it has been my home for the past two years. I've learned so much, grown a lot and had various experiences that made life interesting. In all, I'm glad I decided to come here and do my MS. I'm proud to be part of this great university, its people, labs, traditions and all. With this, I'm signing off! See you next soon!

The 'Indian' Way!

Interesting Article!

Would you want to do things the 'Indian' Way?
For me, I'd love it if we can have both the state and people working towards our goals. But I guess that day is still a distant dream!

Secret Seven!!

Being under hibernation, I hadn't filled up a tag from a friend. Now, being the VO of Neverland, I finally dug into the forgotten to-do list and brought out the tag. Here it goes:

Tag rule: Tell seven things about yourself that you want to share! (he had just listed some characteristics of his... So I made this up! You can make it spicier/saucier/sexier when you do this tag - no restrictions!) And pass it to 5 friends!!

Tag:
1) I think I'm going to end up with the nice-girl-of-the-town title (I don't mind that as long as I have fun) and hope I don't finish last.
2) I can't stand people who are hypocrites. If you stand for something, do stand for it till the end. Don't change it ever so often. And stand for your principles even if it hurts. I'd respect you more a person for sticking up to your beliefs even if I see you have been in the wrong. If you change your principle about something, do so only on the basis of a solid reason. Don't change it for every whim and fancy! Please spare the world from it!!
3) I want to give everyone a fair chance in explaining what they did and why they did something. Everyone has a reason to act as they did! And certainly no one is stupid, just that the priorities are different! We should respect the differences and give people a fair chance! Seen too many breakups because of lack of it.
4) Am fairly easy to get along until you try to encroach on my private life. Just because I talk a lot to you doesn't mean that I give you permission to discuss other parts of my life(unless I explicitly do!). I prefer to keep different parts of my life secluded from one another (mixing never helps!).
5) Despite having a HUGE friends list, the number of close friends is less than 10 at any point of time in life. You need to have traveled with me in life for a considerable distance of life's journey before you can hit that list.
6) I love to eat anything red: right from strawberries to beetroot(my mom would be tired of making beetroot poriyal ever so often when I was a kid!). I think that anything red is lot tastier than others.
7) The basic things of my life have remained a constant despite all the experiences I've got. I'm glad I got them right the first time.

Tagging: Aths, Arun, Madhan, King Vishy and Dream Chaser.
Others, if you are interested, tag yourself and leave a link in the comments section.

P.S:He! He! You thought this was a post about my childhood-favorite detective gang? (though, I'd love to do it).

Incredible India

One of my friends forwarded Aamir's Incredible India video link. After some more youtubing, I came across another one that more closely resonated with what I think is a better glimpse of India's myriad differences. Our country truly stands by the slogan "Unity in Diversity". Here is the video:


India has so much to give, so much to share and so much to live for!! Missing every fibre of it! Love India!!

That's a dog??

One of my friends sent this picture by mail. Kudos to whoever thought it up!

Captures people's different perspectives beautifully!! Just my $0.02!