STRUGGLE WITHIN

Friendship Day .. over the years and for times to come

2011-08-06T14:49:00.002+05:30

A measure of evolution ( ok, lets be not so harsh on the word .. yes agreed that we corrupt with age so evolution is a misplaced word but then so is maturity , growth on similar lines of reason, but for lack of words - evolution ) is the shade of reaction under the same stimuli over the years ..

So down those memory lanes faintly remember , that the first Sunday of August, which we label as Friendship day, held no meaning .. not because the radius of circle of friends around were zero but that it hardly mattered, every day was for friend , every day was special and the ritual of making any day different seemed so out of world ...... the clock clicked over the years and during the course of Teenage , it assumed the pivotal role around the pivotal purpose of life " the hunt for mate " ...which meant the day was the D-day ... to assess performance over the year and sometimes over the quarter and some times on more than one subject ... to find out how many birdies are bonded over and cross with me, arm in arm , to the other side of relationship, from just another guy to boy friend ... so that was both a test day and festival . which meant blowing away pocket money for gifts , scheming plans to woo over ... while this still continues ( they say men are always boys till they die ).. I am sure fiddling around would be thing of past some time in future ...giving way to having the best friend for life around.

Vacuum Really sucks

2011-05-23T23:07:00.005+05:30

The first cut gushes out the stream of blood to a foreign environment- and that’s when it is the scariest most and post that blood gets used to it … “ yeah am flowing out .. going down the drains .. but so did the blood stream before me “ quips the “ not the first” stream of blood..

And as more blood oozes, the pain remains and mostly aggravates but then no one can take from the first stream the degree of scariness.

As I place myself in a quiet corner of quietest but extravagant restaurant in town when the city is maddening with celebration, meeting endless near and dear ones, exchanging wises and gifts, illuminating the sky with fireworks and adding to noise by choicest of firecrackers… the loner me , feels so left out. Yeah had been lonely but this is the first time when it is striking me so hard same way as when blood is let out … and am in pain, a terrible pain …

Next Diwali or next touch of this feeling might not be that painful and I hope that …. But the current one is just slicing me .. “ what’s the point of being through this ? “ , “ could I have avoided this ? “ , “ oh god! Have mercy , don’t pain me that much “ … “ am I through or is the degree of torment still left ? “ …

I am not answering these questions , and probably could not .. but am just not waking up to answer it .. am so much down with the pain ,, I know where it hurts, how it hurts, why it hurt but have surrendered to the inaction,, cant do much about it …

But then wait !! am I that deep in pain ? Definitely not , am probably enjoying what others are aspiring ..Freedom … treating myself at the best place.. this shows am not so helpless and I will fight back !!

Hope is a bastard. It doesn’t know which strand of DNA formulated it. Is it from the hopelessness all around or is from the hope that hopelessness all around, is at its tipping point.

Salsa fever grips . is it just a fad ?

2011-04-17T18:10:00.003+05:30

5 visits to Salsa schools in a lazy Sunday !! Depositing over Rs 1000 as token amount in 3 of them !! and 10 calls to schools teaching Social Dances !!! There should be some seriousness to the thought that strayed in my mind last night.. so am off set to create a Latin world within me .. I can already feel the blood of Incas throbbing in my viens .. Am I the Latin soul trapped in an Indian Body ? Or Do I look from Amazon too ? Well I guess the one in my mind screams that I belong to Rain Forest .. Don't I dance like Samba dancers?, don't I love soccer when Indians just cant get out of Cricket?, don't I love coffee than tea?, don't I look half African ? Hell yes !! Dios Mio !! I have been keeping my mind and thoughts in dark for so long , I swear by the mighty Amazon, I will bring justice.. and so I booked my next 8 Sundays and Saturdays to the jubilation of this new found discovery .. to the way we celebrate in Latin world, by Salsa, jive and Cha-Cha...

Latino Mundo ... In the process of creating my Latin world

Bliss of Staying in Delhi

2011-04-10T04:32:00.005+05:30

One country and 2 different worlds !! Delhi and Mumbai 2 vibrant mega cities of India and that is where the similarity ends. And people take time to adapt themselves if they move from one to another. My eyes almost glistened as I bid Mumbai adieu, at the Chatrapati Shivaji Airport .. with heavy heart and heavier luggage I plodded through the routine procedures and waited for the aircraft.. A blonde, in her late twenties, caught up conversation with me, from there to Delhi, chatting all the while, but I could hardly take myself out of the fact that I would hugely miss those vadapavs ( bread with smashed potatoes), local trains , the chatter, the night life, the incessant and unpredictable rains, Lonavala and the Ghats, and most importantly my buddies .....

I landed at Indira Gandhi Airport in Delhi and soon realized that as Shivaji would be name of every third road, airport, hospital . Indira-ji would be occupy the same pedestal in Delhi...

The first look outside Delhi was startling ... These weren't lanes, they were in fact mega highways from Mumbai standard, and the roads compared to Mumbai was smooth, looked lot deserted, the thinning traffic was quite bothering, instilling within the fear of being left alone .. and even though the vehicles plying were remarkably low, the animosity on road wasn't. Quite contrary to the brotherhood seen in Mumbai... there were honking, exchanging of stares that relayed message from " mind it " to " don't mess with me , am the king here" .....I reached my room at the hotel, tired and grieved and soon the day was all over .. Days went by now, Weeks passed and now its a month .. and as I discover Delhi .. I found that

a. It is the cultural capital internationally. Walk over to IGNCA, lalit kala academy, Habitat Center, and you could find a mini Sikkim , a mini Japan, a mini Germany or Brazil around.

b. Street Food is just awesome, could drive any one to finger licking.

c. Delhi is India's answer to Dubai, Singapore or Dallas in terms of public infrastructure.

d. If cops in Mumbai were greedy, the ones in Delhi are greedy and gangsters.

e. Delhi sleeps when bars in Mumbai open up.

You start conditioning yourself to sleep early because there is nothing else to do in those deserted, spectra wide roads, with abandoned food joints, with zero vehicle density, amidst the gangster cops... and this is one change that is slowly getting injected in me.. I am sleeping Early.

Footsteps on the shore

2011-03-05T16:15:00.000+05:30

Walking away leaving those steps behind
those frail impressions etched on sand
the clock ticks - the wave rushes to shore
wasnt strong to hold the wave - the impressions live no more

The waves are rough -scream incessantly looking for brawls
demand complete surrender of whatever it marches across
and though it might sweep over those frail impressions by night & day
they could not win it all- for they could not swipe the memories away

( Will miss Mumbai and amazing friends that I had made here... Sayo nara)

The sound of Broken Dreams

2011-02-26T22:50:00.003+05:30

Its over .. all over !!

Bombs and Blood all around ..

Shadows cast the ground ...

Am smoked, just keep collapsing at bay..

The picture of today painted yesterday..

looked so brighter

the hues were so merrier..

Darling its over .. its so all over !!

Promises which were sworn

are broken, and feelings are torn..

why you ditched and turned blind

confront my battered mind

I filled each moment with love it could just bear

and you swamped me with pain and tear

Its finally over, so much over !!

Mumbai Marathon( Jan-2011) - Different from rest and an awakening

2011-01-06T16:33:00.011+05:30

Now with the turn of the new year , with less of performance commitment on radar and with the weather getting merrier .. the Corporate Marathon fever is back hitting the streets of Mumbai ...The barometer of registration shoots up- some of them infact due to heavy coaxing from Peers. With each closing day, the volumes are turning up, for this star studded event. One thing is for sure at Stan Chart Marathon - there is lot of Glitter in SC marathon .. It in fact has turned into ‘Shadowing Celebrity ‘marathon. Just have a look at the regulars for this marathon from Anil Ambani to sizzling Bipasha Basu to her beau – John Abraham, to 50-50 Dolly, to one match player Atul Wassan,..... it covers all, really covers all shades of Celebrities.

Having participated in the earlier version of this marathon - I recollect the vibes around. The mood of most here is more of brushing shoulders with the CEO and make the most of Elevator ( sorry marathon ) pitch, more to do with reconnecting and linking with the honchos for a Board membership position, more of catching a glimpse , managing a talk while walk with the skimppier struggling stars, carving out an an occasion to get to dine with the Filmstar .. ...

Not that these are ugliest thing in world but these are definitely hollow to your claim to be part of delivering the intended message for the marathon. The voices out of those marathon were – who the f*ck cares about those Kenyans( those kaaliyas are morons and blind to the Camera , very unlikely to be the media magnets, hence no point being in their league.) The crowd has a point. Who remembers the winners of these marathon all that survives in this mayhem is the sweaty T-shirt of the Page3 regular.

But negative attracts the negative and leaders with such corrupted intentions percolate the same downwards. So the ex- CIO lusts to meet the CEO , the VP designs to meet this sick CIO, the GM keeps his balls ( eyes , and rest) fixed to the VP, the Manager hopes to make the most by shadowing the GM.. and so on .. The whole team is running on an intention still riveted to the office and negativity (building and reaping favoritisms, devising politics) .

Examine more and you would find the best place to keep your foot on ground , to retain your sanity and not let you be carried away in this wave of ‘run for office politics’ , is to be part of marathon , to contribute to it , to deliver the message and at same time staying away from these materialistic mongers .. Be the behind the screens person, this marathon and make a difference. Be the Volunteer and wish that Sanity and Chastity ( SC) returns to these kind of events.

The new year eve - budget limited ... Celebration unlimited

2011-01-01T22:21:00.004+05:30

Unplanned - Impromptu - new year celebration- "to derive the maximum out of lean budget" - 5 friends- various back ground - one common thread- " outcast" - stuff bags with pair of clothes and random stuff - which included Pain balm ( for no damn reasons) , Listerene but no toothpaste / brushes- hitch hiking - caught in traffic jam - give up hitch hiking mid way - totally unaware on where are we and how to continue - manage to understand the local language - arrange for a cab and pack ourselves in - a driver under the " influence", who would listen to nothing and cant keep his feet off the accelerator, cant stop boasting about girls he laid , cant stop even for a Pee !! , - half of the journey 4 guys in back and one in front are just holding on to their breath and their life , with each SUV roaring from the other side - our driver would make a point to just keep off from kissing that huge beast , from just scraping it, ..... half of the journey gone , roads are less crowded , its all dark , occasionally lit by a village or by a temple, .. the beauty unfolds, roads with coconut trees on either side , with mountain on one and sea on other side ... the road just divides mountain and sea .. best of 2 world at cost of one , the waves are roaring , announcing the tide, the cold wind from the mountains making their presence felt, .. and from the mountain to the sea is a strip of jungle, a thick jungle , the only insignificant thing coul be the Indica cruising in the patchy road of the jungle.... but fear has transformed to admiration , to the awe, to the serenity ... land at Kashid - our place of revellery for the new year eve- No accommodation - as no plans , lucky enough to get a room facing the beach, have homely food, pay a trifle for the feast , the whisky and beers are out ,, move to beach, light a bonfire , sometimes we pour kerosene sometimes whisky ... waves , whisky & wind a deadly combination, we laugh for no reasons , huddle , fight, run, jump, dance, kick, push ...and watch the handshake --- old year giving way to new, we jump merrily .. the old year is gone, who cares about the new year ... all we think about is the moment ... cant let it slip from hands, we keep drinking, jumping, dancing, laughing, ... lie down to see sky lit with stars , very bright stars .. and wind still roaring .. bonfire giving us just the needed warmth to not to freeze... the sand is white , the beach is clean and deserted ... miles of dark sea .. which keeps on growling, we fall asleep to be woken by other ... keep on sipping the whisky ..even the bonfire gets the doses of whisky some times... Its 3 in the night and we retire to room... It has been almost a year since we have been in that beach :)

Love or Hope ... who cares

2010-11-18T23:19:00.003+05:30

Love...... Love..... Love
Hope...... Hope ..... Hope

I walked a lone journey
unexplored and loaded with thorns
relentless efforts to keep plodding
sagas of pain nd failure unfold
and with no caring hand to hold

It was dark, unguided long road
sometimes leading to pit and some to cliff
legs now ache, sights fade
hear nothing but only the heart sinking, throat getting dry
sense desert, confidence shatters and world goes awry

Eyes begin to droop to weight of despair
when it is just 'over and out'
spark of hope fights the world of dark
tiny but the only rebellious piece
still fights on and returns my world of peace

Some say it was all love in that hope
Some all hope in that love

Love gets Hope

Hope gets Love

Beyond this who really cares

Obama's visit to India

2010-11-04T15:10:00.003+05:30

Obama Huseein Barrack
Please go Back
Please go Back

You come riding on waves of sympathy, with a grand vision and a belief " yes we can "
But all you could muster to do is to cuddle up and place an offshore ban
You might try all your fancy, biased and croooked policy
but we are on high , unstoppable like the waves of sea
You might hide in the corner of white house turning deaf but sporting that shameless smile, you have the worlds curse
You should have realised that you were a change but for worse

Obama Huseein Barrack
Please go Back
Please go Back

Forget about the world governance,and assuming the role of a super power
In all these years, USA did all things wrong and could never set the world to their order
And BTW, please realise the pride is gone and has been long since you raised the winnig toast
That position of super power long taken humbly and deservedly by the east

Obama Huseein Barrack
Please go Back
Please go Back

Dont you realise, we need you less than you need us ?
we want to shun you more than you think of doing us
we have already lost yoga and ayurveda to biased patents there
you are scheming to promote permanent UN seat for the Pakis instead of putting them where they are
The land, next door to us, brewing nothing except hate and skirmishes
and al these years you have been supporting their acts in inflicting us million bruises

I wish i could just let you wait even to meet the gentry, to greet your fake lectures with boo's
but benovalance runs deep and strong in our blood, too hard for us to turn around and be some one like you

so all I could do, is to plead and order
Obama Huseein Barrack
Please go Back
Please go Back

Poor Shayri 29th june

2010-06-29T22:59:00.004+05:30

This is due to emotional atyachaar of waiting for the Increment letter post evaluation

Roz Roz karein hum Letter ka intezaaar
Work load tolerate karlete hain .. aur hanste hue khaa lete hain maar
Isi umeed mein ki increment laga degi hamare beda paaar
Lekin jab aati hai who kambakth letter, dil ke tukde ho jaate hain hazaaar
Kyun majaak udate ho hum garibon ka baar baar ???

Roz Roz karein hum letter ka ab kyun intezaar ??
Jab sang ho VAT 69 , Bagpiper soda aur dost Chaar
Naukri mein resume daal diyaa hai ab ho jayenge sab sapne saakaar
Dil cheekhe “ aisi company ki humein ab nahi darkaar….
Humse hai duniya yehi hai lalkaar
Ab na karenge hum letter ka intezaar

Poor Shayri of the day

2010-05-03T17:59:00.000+05:30

Inspired by office torture

Kadwaa hai woh: na kare baath meethi

Kadwaa hai who: nah kare baath meethi

President hai who: Corp services ka Naam hai Rajan Sethi

Nirantar tadpaye woh… savere se sham aur sham se savere

Pareshaan ho jaate hain bechare Suman aur Shyam Bhamare

Compiled by anonymous

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Finding a way through

2010-05-01T01:05:00.001+05:30

the road is an obstacle... the obstacle is the road

finding a way through

2010-05-01T01:02:00.001+05:30

--
if u believe you can or if u believe you can't
Either ways you are right .

Freshly minted from Workshop of Idle Brain

2009-12-22T15:06:00.011+05:30

Shingles or Herpes Zoster as it is commonly known or rather not so commonly known is a painful thing.. more so if experienced first hand ..

Well am blessed to be 1/~50 adult in age range of 30 years , male who got this out of a BILLION people in the country !!! isnt that an achievement ??? Hmmm.. some people are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them .. Shingles is painful so it could probably explain " The Pain behind this Gain" .

As I bask in the new limelight ..it occurs to me now that this is the first time ... the very first time in my 5 long professional experience that I have capitalised on my sick leave !!

And how did Shingles bring me down ? One word answer ==> " Blitzkreig"
The longer one ===> The day before I realised I was P.O.W of Shingles, I was at my usual merrier form, with least respect and recognition to things in general and Shingles in particular. I was busied at office by a FULL DAY training following which I was doing the chasings for BOSS. So as it happens, The clock ticks and follow up list expands, doesnt matter that we are already strectching 3-4 hours after the office schedule. Nothing scary of that but this was Harbour Line of Mumbai- the areas where people go home earlier, the areas where street lights dim out sooner and the areas where the regular " auto - wallas " turn " Muggers " . Masculinity is me - It is not that I am afraid to confront the social evils and fight then singlehandedly like a super hero without being one, but then MBA graduate ( why to do it ) spoke louder than an Engineering Graduate ( How to do it) in me :: why to work on something and not get rewarded for it or why to not get rewarded if you work on something? I could use my talent to mug some one else rather than prevent myself being mugged. But currently thatz not in my radar of interest. So for sake of calling it a day and to sleep at my home - I took steps towards the railway station. As I waited for the next train due in 10 mins ( It never takes more than 10 mins to catch a train at Harbor line) , I was gearing up to Push, Kick , throw people and things out to make way for my foot to be inside the train, but then realisation dawned on me that its past 10 and people who do this are already out of train, sharing dinner with their family or teaching virtues of sacrifice and gentle behavior to their kids. I was as I always am - Correct . It was the least crowded trains I came across in a months time, less crowded to give me place for both my foot - The next challenge in this art of "commuting via train at Mumbai" is to get a place for your hands so that you are sure that your body reaches the destination in one piece and not that the next train brushing from opposite side carries a part of you. It was then - that moment of Truth - knocked. It knocked hard. I was not even able to raise my right hand and cling on to the edge of train. It was damn Painful, and it came to me at moment when I needed the arm much but then am a man with all solutions, so I oriented myself to use my left arm and switch my centre of gravity so that rest of all norms are followed for a safe travel . When I reached Vashi station, I was pushed down so no effort needed in getting out from the train but I realised that I cant sway my right arm and I was turning blind to the sensation in my arm pit and shoulder. I went home and gulped down whatever was stashed in the refrigirator and thought of encountering this villian - the first thing in morning. I woke up but to Pain, I found little redheads across my arm , shoulder all on one side and they were gates to HELL.

All these 5 days I have been in agony but it gave me time to unwind myself, to contemplate, to relish hospitality and to ramble about as I am doing now .. So dont shoot yourself with a Disprin when you reach here, thank GOD ( and hope ) that you are not suffering the pain, that one goes through in Shingles.

Bye-Bye mail at Reliance : Ooops I did it again .. a Poor song even when I depart

2009-11-19T16:22:00.001+05:30

Memories remain memories when you remember them :: So my farewell mail etched from one and half years of doing nothing good at reliance except sneaking out with bunch of friends always available on call, to carry out covet operations like extended breakfasts at nearby malls, matinee shows of all those movies which score less than 2/5, and ofcourse making the best use of office bulletin board... so here it goes
===================================================================
The waves were rough, the clouds were dark , and all we did was anchor, cuddle with fear and be together
but then we dissolved the differences; fought hopelessly, bruised, bled but emerged out stronger.
Now as the weather is getting calmer, and shore is getting closer, questions flounder
" will prosperity ruin us more than the devastation" " " did we just jump, to fall down deeper"

History is Amir Khan of GHAZNI, Hefty, Rich and lots of learning but less of retention
It has an undying mission but clouded with inchorency and digression
A Resolute short term goal, left helpless because of faded vision
So efforts are enormous but they cant pull one out coz are in different direction

The key is putting the jigsaw puzzle together, to see beyond boundaries and synergise
Its not how deep are we in; how high we need to climb, But a spirit relentless to rise
Persistence and a united front, have helped us win when we could have failed otherwise
and if this mail could just bring a smile and a breath of hope, it would be one of my most wonderful byes

===================================================================

Bye Bye Reliance ADAG

2009-10-22T14:39:00.004+05:30

As my tenure with Reliance ADAG approaches the end, the emotions wrapping around has shades similar when I left Tata Consultancy Services, in summer of 2007. Undeniably there are comparisons:

I joined both these organizations, from campus. So I carried the carefree attitude of a student and walked in the board room with a set of friends with whom you had shared late night Maggie or gulped mugs of coffee and shared stories before. There was a companionship and support structure with you when you enter the gates the new world. The platform where you were before joining the organization and set up you need to get geared to are same for all these campus hirees, so the degree and steps of adjustment are same, example living together again in same or near by apartments, the same mode of commute, the same period of shopping spree and lot others.

Both of these organizations are conglomerates, so huge, so much so that, even a set of 200 campus hirees could get lost and its becomes difficult to be pin pointed, your group becomes your camouflage. One refers to you as MT ( Management Trainee) or GET ( Graduate Engineer Trainee) or simply Trainee. You are given space of time and comfort, nursed and treated with series of programs to help you assimilate to main stream.
The noise and color of excitement level, when 200+ invade offices straight from campus is so vibrant. The rest of world looks on with curious eyes and sometimes with eyes of interest.

So I move on to take the first step of my corporate life, to move from one organization to other rather than a campus. I think, Change is inevitable and 6 years after graduating from REC Trichy, it is too late an experience. As I leave Reliance, I look back to those times when I had been cribbing about the culture and work ethos, quite a similar way to which I had done at TCS, also the lack of opportunities and grooming but also losing a set of close buddies who made the journey look so beautiful and memorable.
But this is inevitable and confrontation is the best way forward, so “Keep walking - Move on “

"Missed me" - Song

2009-03-17T21:26:00.025+05:30

They say lose it to gain it ... same goes for love..
get bruised .. get the pains .. to relish the sweetness...
This poem is for those who miss their beloved ones and who are on their return path
for you always return back at least once to those you love..
********************************************************************************

Life is a cyclone
Minus you
I am all alone
without a glimpse of you

Seconds are spread across mile
If I cant find you
Jokes are without " the cute" smile
If I cant share that with you

Wish you cared
how much I missed you
Wish you wondered
how much I felt for you

World wont have been dear
Had it not been for you
I was a stranger in my mirror
But only for you

I always dreamt
I was beside you
I always thought
I walked along you

What was it that hurt
And I still cant blame you
What caused love fall apart
And I still dont wish to realise it was you

For you .. and it was only you ..
who awakened me to what was love

and then again it was you

who has filled my waiting eyes with love

Love ....

a sweet bitter thing called Love ..

a roller coaster ride called Love ...

Find it .. lose it .. and find it not to let it go....

and call it LOVE

Poor Song gets poorer

2009-03-06T19:02:00.006+05:30

Poor song for those who stay in house, lock them up, are stingy and just not like the vagabonds ( including me )
=================================================================
It is such a wicked thing to do
to spend your youth in home and loo

Arise , Awake Mr. Singh
and realise that life is to sing
to spread a smile
and walk a mile
than confine
and shrugg to dine

out and hard, coz you misthink
that it would stink
if you dont hoard money
for your dreams and honey

But do you realise
that these long life filled with years is small in size
so it should be filled with smiles and fun
and not with the tension gun

Dont be the busy bee
or the caged poddling of the pea
Kill the inner Lust
Get out, explore, and dont just rust

The RICHNESS of POVERTY !!

2009-02-23T23:01:00.009+05:30

So History has been created on 23rd February. Danny Boyle and Co. have finally placed Mumbai and " aapun ka story" in the world map and world of Oscars.

Prima facie brings just a shrug and " so -what " expressions but just have a look at the following glaring statistics:
800: is the number of movies produced per year in Bollywood( Hindi mainstream) alone. Coupled with these is similar number of movies produced in 10 other regional languages ( and most of the times, its the regional languages movie which spearhead and direct the next stage of cinematic evolution/revolution of Bollywood).
600: The number of Hollywood movies made in year 2006, 2007 ..
1896 A.D: Is the suggested year in which Indian film Industry was started (with an Advertisement in Times of India for a play). This definitely doesnt help us in highlighting that we are amateurs in Enetertainment Industry.
1906 A.D : Los Angeles predates Hollywood in setting up a studio.

Can we claim that we had more movies per year and been there longer ? If so just compare the number of Oscars belonging to each camp.. Its Hillarious... Its Sad....

We have been ZERO all the while.. And what gives us an Entry point is a movie made by Danny Boyle.. Well I dont have shades of Xenophobia but just cant evade this :--->" The much awaited Oscar for an Indian movie, based in an Indian story of Indians depicting the Indian background, and Indian mindset, about an Indian Television show and its interaction with Indian juntaa in an very Indian ecosystem ( the starcast and crew were all Indians), goes to some one who is on tourist visa while in India".

So... are we Indians so much deprived of Creativity or is it the other way round, Creativity eludes us ? While I cant comment on behalf of a billion people, but yes could ponder on what made this movie guide Bollywood from ages of Darkness and unknown to the glitz.

so what makes Slumdog special? Is it the Actors ? Is it the Director ? Is it the musician ? Is it the banner in which it was sold ? Every logic gets beaten up here ..
But if one looks from the business point of view one gets startling answers

Is it because the target segment for the movie ? Is it because the lives it touched? Is it because of the content of story which touches a billion life hence the motivation for them to have a look at it? Yes, to some extent. May be Hollywood has realised later but better, that Slumdog has tapped the yet untapped but a huge customer segment. So we could see more videshiz coming 2 Indian cities and making lives about us than selling their livestories, their history to us. Brand India clicks.. but then again why doesnt a movie from shelves of Karan Johar or Chopra banner, staged in Switzerland with an Indian cast ( and most of the time its our beloved, national heart throb Regular Badshah and Shahenshah) and crew ( including A.R.Rahman)succeed? Is it more than Brand India ??

Also heard this from some quarters that there is definitely a shade of sadism, running in the viens of the Oscar haunting crowd, who want to see more of dirty side of poverty, of mis rule, of anarchy, of being in dark ages in some third world country... And when you look at that along with the acceptance of movies like Water, Bandit Queen, Lagaan, you are forced to contemplate and toe the same lines of thought.. well then this is dangerous but again an opportunity. Its thus ironical that Poverty is Richness...... Jai Ho..

Stocks withers..... Love Blossoms ..

2009-01-10T16:15:00.006+05:30

The best part of year 2008 is that its over..

The year that saw catastrophes like 158 year old Investment Bank Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, once booming bank like northen rock left with begging bowl and some lucky ones like Bear Sterns humilated in their rescue by governmental efforts. It also saw commotions like ascent and then descent of oil prices, housing prices going south , spiralling Inflation just to stop at a bigger devil of stagflation and deflation, a dent in boominig economies like China and India ( layoffs, companies closing down) and even unrests like sponsored terror by Porkistan ( mumbai attacks). So in one word.. year 2008 ... should be forgettable and if remembered it was only for recession when everything was going wrong.. Well did everything went wrong ??

Yeah the Stocks withered and national stock exchanges had to be closed more often than usually done.. and office goers had the axe of uncertainity hanging right over their neck by silken twig..
well but infact that created an environment which bred love ...

Employees ..mostly with reference to Indian IT sector who had become more demanding and had very low breakeven point for attrition suddenly lost their mobility. The stickiness to job came not because they loved what they were doing inside but because they hated more to be outside... Inside even if you were a dog ,, you were paid and thats more than enough in these troubled times..

This meant that there were few faces fading away with resignation mails. this meant that for people like me .. the girls whom we (romeos) eye.. were in our radar for a longer time..
more time to eye.. more time to catch a glance... more time to spread a smile.. more time to recieve the forwn... more time to stare again . more time to spread a smile.. more time to wait for the smile back... more time for a coffee together ... more time to walk beside the lake .. more time to talk .. more time to come closer .. more time to be in the path to start the new life..

I discovered that MANkind knew this phillosophy right from their inception and started practising this as soon the recession blossomed.. so the recent months have seen lots of love birds in the campus and outside... more tied to each other for fear of not getting another than for love of each other.. Recession has done one great job .. it has created an environment to help ripen love..

Flavors of Uncertainty

2008-12-15T12:04:00.004+05:30

Generations after Generations, right from time man discovered (and not invented) fire and invented the use of stones to hurl at animals for protection and attack, have learnt , corrected, learnt. One of the learning has been in areas of Uncertainty.

For zillion long recorded years, we know, that the tussle between the domination of “Uncertainty” over “man’s refusal to be what he is, or to accept things as it is “, has become bloodier with each wave of assault.

So mankind, the ones that go to school and get good marks, believes that Uncertainty is ignorance and everything happens for a reason, and these mini clones of “ Einstein” formulate the problem. Dissect the formulae in known and unknown, and then conquer the road to unknown step by step.

But for hundreds of others, who get rebuked and labeled as dumb, fully agree that
“The only thing which is certain is Uncertainty”. And since last week I have been become more vehement supporter of this other camp. The newly injected momentum happens because of triggers of events that unraveled at office since last week.

December, 15th, 2008: According to popular belief “the most widespread disease is not Jihad but Monday Blues”. As I was still beating the Monday blues with the third cup of coffee, news walked in, at the café that MY BOSS HAS RESIGNED.

While lot of surveys says, that these news, bring smiles, for me the state of affairs, were contradictory. My Boss had been more of leader than a manager, who inculcated in me, and replicated in me, his unfettering enthusiasm, motivation, creativity, and absolute dedication towards work and team.

How could one predict this event? BOSS had been busy actively promoting the new projects, working on existing business plans and reinforcing the customer support since last day. He was in mid of discussion with me regarding initiatives close to his heart. And for past few weeks, he had been engrossed working late night, on an all important, IT strategy framed for the organization. Was it then the right time to quit? Was it then the right way to quit? Was then the Quit unplanned? Shouldn’t then the Quit have been known to people who would be affected by it?

I no longer needed the Coffee, now that I was awake and bleeding within. And it was then that the unremitting confrontation with uncertainty dawned upon me. It was so much unexpected and recursive spiral of a volley of further uncertainties, of different hues, crisscrossed, that I was lost in its translation, like a clear drop of water gets in a turbulent ocean.

SO while I munched the news that Boss could be putting down the papers, along with the now cold Coffee, a thought strayed my mind, of reasons that could have made this happen. Was it the BOSS of BOSS, was it the call from home which got louder, was it the lure of living abroad, was it the dirty politics that engulfed the board room here, was it the team which he lead, so many uncertainties, so many more questions and yet no answers…

There was a BITTER revelation that an uncertain, higher up in the authority, had been taken aback not by losses suffered to department but by recent spate of success, secured by my BOSS. How could you define those learned morons, then? Pathetic? Yes to some extent. But even pathetic has some stability. You expect pathetic from pathetic, but these bunch of graduates from top consulting companies, were fake, and had the shade of pathetic, camouflaged with suave-the depoliticized look.

It was SPICY to learn that further dissection of the issue revealed that the race for the post of next man to lead, was heating up among, friends of yesterday, and that their PR lobby was working round the clock, to devastate the other. So the last week saw lots of discourses, meeting the common folk program initiated by the level A managers, lots of fake smiles being showered, and scores of other signals which reflected sudden change of heart and character.

The sham week was overkill, and generated more confusion, questions, than ever before. All those happy memories that were long preserved were awoken by circumstances, and the uncertainties have turned them sour. Was there any “Team spirit” in real? Did the higher ups really live by the principle and values? Do they really lead? Do they have work ethos?

So I fiddle with these questions, and some day, I might get a chance to encounter the truth, but the whole week had driven me one short message” we don’t live around uncertainties, we live in it. “

Obama's speech on winning the election

2008-11-06T15:19:00.001+05:30

Hello, Chicago. If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.
A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain. Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton ... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years ... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady ... Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia ... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us ...to the new White House.
And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.
And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe ... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best _ the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.
To my chief strategist David Axelrod ... who's been a partner with me every step of the way. To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics ... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy ... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
"I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime, two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
"Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
OBAMA : There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years _ block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.
Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self - reliance and individual liberty and national unity. Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
For that's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons _ because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America _ the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE : Yes we can.
OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
AUDIENCE: Yes we can.
OBAMA : America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves _ if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Crime of being Inert

2008-10-31T20:48:00.003+05:30

Once upon a time, when Britishers ruled over India, there came in Indian political stage, a lean man with principles, not totally new to India, " Ahimsaaa". The principle along with the proponent charmed and mesmerised the generation then, and pulled Indians ( well most of them, others belonged to Muslim League), to strive for Independance.
20 long years of shedding own blood with smile on lips and inviting more bruises was ONE of the reason why Britishers Quit. But they Quit not without a price. Partition of India and raping the image of "akhand Bharaat" ( united India) with home grown terrorist ( Muslim League). The creation and thus existence of Pakistan and with that troubles to entire world( be it lynching in their own state of East pakistan, spreading terror in India and fueling/funding/supporting hatred in name of religion in the whole world).

"ahimsaaa" was a great mantraa but overly used by Indians since then. Remember Britishers quit India for reasons more than Ahmisaa. If you are still clueless go through pages of history of Europe during that period.

The phillosophy of "Ahimsaa" which allowed repeated harvesting of Hindu pride, wealth and life in villages of Bengal and Sindh didnt move the people at top of the helm, why should it do to Mr. Nehru, neither was his kin killed nor was his wealth usurped. I guess Mr.Nehru was cumming of accolades for being the guardian- the next avtaar of MK Gandhi.
So he allowed the minorities to prosper at cost of majorities and that has been the DNA of his legitimate / illegitimate /50-50 children so far.. and the political party of which he had been the flag bearer.

The recent bomb Blast in Assam was not a shock. The state has been allowed to breed home terrorist, thanks to faciliating porous border so that men in beard and skull caps could drive in with their scores of kids along with their dozens of wives, to the border districts and breed. For them there is nothing beyond religion, and it takes a maulvi or a video or even their holy book to know about Jihad as it is known today and do what they do today - " be merciless and bomb , your own country" . They realise that the action for them would be rewarded both at "jannat" and while they suffocate the Kaafirs here .. For they would get virgins to fuck around at "jannat" .. all thanks to Prophet for he could arrange the same.. and here in India, there are the politicians who would beg for their mercy and cry if a bullet is fired to them .. call it Batla house encounter in which one of their mujhahideens was killed, or even deciding whether to mr afzal who master minded the attack on seat of the democracy of india. These myopic votebank crazy politicians have a problem of Alzeihmer when they also find that nation lost a hero in form of "Mr sharma" from Delhi police n that encounter.. why shouldnt they.. for if mr.politician talks about that ... he not only loses votes from the immigrants but also the "muslim bhaais" of these immigrants.. so more encoragements to these acts of terror aka jihaad follows and therez more of welcomed migration towards India.. and the vicious cycle..

Only few things could possibly stop this now.. AWAKENING of the countrymen and RETALIATION..... two strong but needed action..

India needs freedom from Kashmir and not the vice versa

2008-08-23T10:39:00.005+05:30

The reaction to call of Bandh by Jammu for allotting just few plots of land for Amarnath Pilgrims ( so that they are safe and in less danger of being the perfect dartboard for Islamic Militants) came as burning and stomping of tricolor yesterday, chanting the "pro-azzadi " slogans in a more defiant and hoarser voice, the call for march to Muzzafarabad or aligning with Pakistan and of course turning a blind eye to all the benefits they enjoyed while being part of India.

In 60 years of their association with India - Kashmir and their people have enjoyed the following a) A Rule that no one could buy land in the " paradise" . But they could venture to any part of country, study, work, buy land and settle down.
b) 15 years ago when I was still at school - Rice @ Eastern part of India ( where Rice was cultivated) was available at price 3 times more than in Kashmir and it is still the same.
c) Almost at same time, the Islamic militants backed by Let and ISI from across the border, raped, looted, massacred and drove away their Hindu Brothers from the so called "Pure Land".
To diagnose the situation its essential to know the history of Kashmir. Centuries back it was a Hindu state which had large number of Hindu institutions and it was the way of life for the people there. At time of Ashoka, Buddhism got an official patronage and then Hindusim coexisted with Buddhism. The Buddhist touch could still be felt in areas of Ladhakh.

Then came the Islamic onslaught. Let it be known that Hinduism followed in Kashmir was inclined towards Shaivism ( a cult whose main religious deity was Lord Shiva) and they all belonged to same caste / jaati. So all the logic that Islam got accepted because it was away from caste system ( which is not true ) is erroneous. Islam got accepted mainly because of governance and slaughtering. The power of sword and doctrines. On one hand there were frequent raids by Islamic bandits, who forced the Hindus in kashmir to choose between pride, honor, peace, power versus religion/ belief . This was when few Hindus, started a new sect, called Khalsa( sikh sect) to protect Hindu women from being looted from the homes to harems. ( Pity the kashmiris we know now are fighting from that side which had inflicted these wounds on them)

Secondly, mughal emperors who were fascinated by the beauty of Land and used it as vacation spot, doctrined the infamous rule " No one could buy land in Kashmir other than Kashmiris " , acted as a catalyst to the mass conversion. The last powerful mughal emperor - Aurangzeb- was more vehement with Islamization of Kashmir. He imposed taxes on non believers ( Hindus, Buddhist) coz he believed any other definition of God or his teaching other than what Muhammad the prophet has spoken is heresy.
With British Rule( though visibly Kashmir was under Hindu Prince), things got stabilised. But then partition happened and rest is what we have been witnessing. There has hardly been a Kashmiri who has done India proud. But they have been great with bombing their own country men and demanding more and more. The time has come now, when we should leave them for good.

The ideal solution is , as Mulla from Jama Masjid says, yet another partition of India. Let us get an Independance from Kashmir but that should come at some cost. Let Kashmir take all muslims from India.

Lets have a fairer partition this time.

Random Judgement

2008-08-21T17:52:00.004+05:30

The only thing that is predictable is unpredictableness - this could well sum the jist that

Randomness reins and rules

Right from the genesis of world, where determinism is facing a recognisation crisis -to the science that we know now as science - to the belief that tomorrow we would see the sun rise from east .. all events are unpredictable..
Clearly Aristotle would have believed that Earth is Flat , only to be proved wrong by the Rennaisance age rebel thinkers , who denounced the Catholic belief and declared " Earth is round" ..
Aristotle and Greek phillosophers voices were ebbed only to be revived but by economist of todays who proclaim that with Globalisation Earth is Flat.. so we are at what we were .. but we have been in a roller coster ride more like a sine wave ...
this is the power of science and human limitation .. we are and all our thoughts are so much UNPREDICTABLE ..
What else is predictable ?? Lets examine their truthness and sanctity ..
Google "predictable" and you would land up in the POP band from Australia with similar name rather than events which could be classified remotely as PREDICTABLE ..
so why is then the Fuss over how things should be tomorrow leave alone talks of when one is 60 or so ??
Why cant the idea of living in present and learning from past be the sufficient qualifying conditions ???

Well one Accounting Genius says .. that predictable things exist and they are ones which are PRACTICAL .. :) so the obvious question would be then what is PRACTICAL ??
simple .. things which are predictable !!! ( hair pulling definitions )

So you see all those who keep on barking on why some are not predictable could take a lesson on how he/ she is in state of oblivion ...

Ever confused ...
Suman

POOR Song ( a tribute to all those fellas who should never pen a poem)

2008-08-10T23:30:00.005+05:30

We all are poets .. the question is how good..
but as usual .. I damn care about the other million peoples wishes and do what it needs to be done .. do what I think should be done .. so here is the poem dedicated to me :)

Penned it when I was on a terrific academic form ( scoring lowest marks) at college
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I am going nowhere, lost in the thoughts and lost in translation
the winds blowing so strong feels that am loosing the ground
with shaky feet I tread on the road so desolate with faces all frowned
the vision gets blurred with every hour,the beats get dimmer faster than I could hold
I shout I scream and cry for the guidance
the voice still seems to get lost in hollowness enveloped
scarred to tread myslefwith chains so heavy wrapped around and lofty spirits forced to ground
pulling me inwards softly whispers the voices aloud
I cry and now I know this is not the way I want things to end
So i bury myself while the rest are dancing around
and then come out loud and strong
promise myself that i would sort the things and break apart from the mound
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
sounds crazy but it always has to be crazy to make it look apart

Alumni meet: Meeting in PRESENT with the PAST to decide the FUTURE

2008-08-08T10:00:00.006+05:30

Being at cross roads of Time is always interesting .. like dreaming about how things would change at your graduation day at the first day in your college , or how YOUR kids would look like when you have just started dating your ( or some one else) girl friend .. or for that matter enjoying the deja-vu when you watch kids playing in rain and wished that you could return to the careless world , long to drive the time machine in reverse gear and be with same set of friends.....Sadly Science has taken a back seat in this case.. its all the mind game when it comes to meeting the time at its various stages..

so trying to brush the crap aside.. Last week ( well almost the last ) , we had this Alumni meet
" thrown" at us.. The first impression when we got the news from the 2nd (.. wait .. 3rd .. no no .. 4th )hand about Alumni meet @ SPJCM @ mumbai was Unplanned, Rushed in and a meeting befitting the underworld for it was so much hidden and less known about..

Call it being jobless and almost useless after my office hours, call it the lust for free booze, call it the meet to know profs in a decorumless environment and call it meet to meet some special bunch of old friends who bore the torture at campus with me for a year ... it was all that

Plus I was not at home cooking (thatz the most sensible thing I do after work) making some one else's dinner one more time pathetic...

So Steeeled was I in for the meet that the pouring super rains could not deter me ..at same time .. one of my good hearted friends was kind enough 2 let me hop in along with him in his car for the meet.. After this event .. Almost evry odd obstacle fell apart..

I need not worry about the turn out at the event for I had atleast a company of 4 ( that many ppl were in the car), no more worries on ruining my new shoes in rain or hopping around cabs/trains/buses to reach the place.

At the end, I felt, the meet would have been worth even with these obstacles. The meet was plain .. devoid of glitz which normally accompanies Alumni meet .. less of borrowed/imported good looking girls on stage( in fact there was no stage .. the room was small ..akin to what we see in TV .. the ideal meeting room for Revolutionaries.. small .. chairs all around .. and less of windows or glassy doors). The only thing that would widen your lips was the sight of Carlsberg.
But the fun was more than that .. I reconnected with my old friends.. friends who were limited to few lines on chat windows.. .friends boxed in adress book .. whom I never called just because I didnt knew what to talk .. friends who were around while I was hunting for them in all scientific manners.. The meetz focus revolved around future of college and how alumni could do and should do things.. it was quite a realisation ( and special thanks to Carlsberg for that) to find that indeed I had done a Time machine ride..

Being with old friends, now , to talk about our future..
What a Cross Road Sirjiii !!!

Fear Factor @ LeT- A definite Flop

2008-08-03T17:41:00.002+05:30

July 25, Bangalore blast followed by July 26, deadly serial bombing at Ahmedabad should have, as per intention, reduced the rush and traffic across the country, but what might make the terror minds look helpless is that we, Indians, are so resilient. We always come back stronger and act defiant to your thinking. Something wrong with your thinkin stupid Arabistanis( I have named those South Asians who have given their hearts, heads and bumps to Arabia, they are proud of being associated with nefarious thoughts of men from those place, who make them and their thinking, governed by dikats originating from sandy dunes of Arab world).

The terror attacks were carried out by Indians on India, to devastate their own country men with whom they have shared a table in some restaurant, or walked under their umbrellas when it rained or were waved and greeted by kids when they might have zoomed off across some small towns or villages.

And while the blood that they spat across the “aam aadmis” concerns of security, there were fresh threats ( although some were adolescent hoaxes) of continued attacks “ any where any place any time”, should have put any individual at back foot. Basically what the “religious and pure war(jihad) governed by wishes of GOD, declared by some individual in caves of Arabia in 6th century, and monopolized by him and who ever else self declared himself to be ulema, thought that lives, even innocent ones ( a 6month old torso was found shredded in the blast), are the right of them, and their doctrines. Any undoing or any scope of divergent thought should thus be condemned by means violent or super violent ways.

The aim was thus to terrorize people so much so that Thoughts are not free, and becomes remote controlled by bearded, illiterate, cavemen of our times living in Pakistan.

One of the prominent tribe that has emerged out of this infamy is government sponsored organization called LeT ( Lashkar e toiba), itz definitely a lashkar but thatz it. An organization, which brain washes gullible youth in name of Allah, which is reputed for cases of sodomy and promotes reaping of “izzat” of kaafirs ( one remembers them for their scared rape of hindu women at Kashmir), and which insists “hindus, jews, Christians, Sikhs and even few Muslims like Ahmadiyas, need to hear them, need to follow their rules, else their right to live and smile should thus be snatched.
so what sustains and feeds this jaundiced tribe ??
While the faceless government of Pakistan had always been denying their links with the terror organization though they did the same when Kargil happened and when Indian mission in Kabul was bombed (there is official unbiased evidence of same), they are the support system for this filthy group of people. Cash, Hashish, Arms, Information and human bombs are facilitated by the central command of Pakistan, the task left to these Let is to just hunt for moles in India.

Sadly, India has them in millions. They are either products of their heritage which are settled across the border, or impostors who pose as pseudo secularist or some misdirected teachings at madrassas or they are just the product of nothingness.

These are the real ammunition and these are which helping terror penetrate, and become more and more deadlier, more and more fearful and common.
These are creating new episodes in terrorism. Brain washed and blinded they are clueless even when they are blowing themselves up in schools and malls. If this has to stop, it will stop with cutting the supply of these ammunition to foreign hands.

If terrorism ever gets a punch down knock it will come from India because India has naturally supported diversity in endless years of civilization and so one channel thought would simply never do, simply never gain ground.

Add to this agonies of India, we simply cant sit down and repent. We are progressive. We might live or not live to see the other day, or we might not be even able to comment on same when we board the next train/bus/ flight, but what we know for sure is that in home to millions, these activities are so minute, it would only take “ koi aapna like jaichand or mir zaffar” to make us surrender, and we know we are strong enough not to let that recur.

Independent and united India, will thus be the tight slap across Taliban and Let and all illegitimate sister organizations. What we should therefore ensure is that common man or aam admi should join the fight against terror. To suffocate the brains of those who are looking for something evil and hideous.

Vande maatram
And Jai Hind.

Piss off

2008-07-04T14:13:00.002+05:30

The other night i was still in a 3 hour long meeting and could not leave the board room coz business means business but then there are something of unquestioned priority. A call of nature ( pissing off) is just one of them. tried to capture my feelings when submission to that evoked poetic feelings within me.
=================================================================
So Strong you cant thrust
Emotions gets metamorphosised
The body sinks and relives
With pulses of sanity paralysed

Eager to lose
To let it go from you
Coz losing now means winning
Wininng yourself for you

Heads scream out
Thoughts catch fire
Buckle seems unbearable and
Actions go haywire

At the end when it wins over
For surely it will, you die or breathe
The storm inside exults out
Dishonoring you with the tiny watery wreath

=======================================================
doesnt rhyme , sound great but who bothers about it when you are in that state.

Another Terror struck and still government is numb - It happens only in India

2008-05-14T18:43:00.002+05:30

well 13th May should be a wake up call for the Indians , who have comforted themselves with the thought that the only disturbing elements across the border is on the west of us... Long debated and long known but supressed fact that million Bangladeshis staying illegaly and more hidden in the country is a serious national threat ..

Be it Delhi , Mumbai or Lucknow these ( bangladeshis) populate with an intensity that would rival the cockroaches and pests.. and yeah they are that kind..
If one looks at the list of refugees being sheltered in India, Bangs are the only leeches. We have had the Tibeteans who have assimilated with our cultural fabric and our strength , the nepalese who protect our households , its only the bnags who earn here in India doing all the odd jobs , and who shamelessly support activities which bring calamity to the nation ... little wonder that their sins are answered by the yearly cyclones that ravage and rape their lands ... and we still give them the needed medical aid and help..
HuJI should be delighted that we have leaders at helm of affairs who invite , patronise and lick the boots of Bangs coz they are major votebank now .. The credit for this goes to the Left government ( which ofcourse is never right) led by Mr. Jyoti Basu and now equally capable Mr. Buddhadev Battacharya ....

Wish we could pack these guys in train and dump them back to place where they belong,,

GMBA at SPJCM – The VROOM MBA

2008-04-17T21:12:00.002+05:30

10 months.

10 months it all took to change the career path, the suffix hunted by men/women in their quarters or so to look for something sizzling and better in their professional life, to get into more business oriented debates in Monday morning (than changing a piece of code , at an outsourcing hub), yeah it just took 10 months to earn a MBA degree.

So now as I stand in the trails of time and look back I find tectonic shift from what I was. And I might not have done that in style. I was the last to get clearance from our dean to leave the campus officially, but that's a lesser acknowledged credit.

I am surprised by pace of GMBA and the ferocity through which we went through – truly it had been a rigorous and enlightening program. At same time I feel that we could shape the program better in ways more than one.

I would love to see the following changes in GMBA

The College Board has intellectuals but it would be good to have people from industry, example CEO / CFO / Regional Head in it. These people from industry would be a cushion in case the placements get a shock as we did last time.

Also these people should be spread out, from offices in India, Singapore, Kula Lampur, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sydney
We could start even with smaller companies but ensure that placements are distributed. The more it is, the less it is polarized, and lesser is impact of shocks in industry.
The college lacks a synergy between two batches spread across either sides of India. There should be a time, may be 7 days when we should have interaction with one another. Why can't we organize an event over the web – to stimulate collaboration?
We lack an event, which would enhance our reputation across different colleges. Events like MeX-Z should be promoted in a bigger scale.
Have more interaction with colleges in Singapore and Dubai – may be monthly event where in we pull in participation from both these cities to our college.
Organize a social program through our college. A community service based program to gain appreciation of locals. We have done nothing for locals so far.
Have more international faculty and students- Students from Malaysia , Philippines , Indonesia, SAARC countries could absorb placements in Dubai which come in volumes and get rejected by lot many of us since most of us feel culturally unfit for that place. Also this would spur placements from South Asia region.
Have more diversity among students and observe group dynamics.
Maintain strong alumni contacts
Have more practicality in courses. Instead of teaching Supply Chain management over slides and letting us know more about crates and trolleys, students could get more knowledge if an industry visit is made to offices of Cosco and PSA.

The sweet sour moments

2008-04-02T19:27:00.003+05:30

For last few days I had been trying to feed my eyes a little more, capturing the soon to be history for me .. I want to relive these moments again when I "think about it" some day in future ... for these are precious. I am going to miss the people around me, with whom I had this "fight for and fight with" relationship , but most importantly tied together for 10 months of HELL ( well I would call it a easy MBA some day in future.. but when you go through that process , it was like ajourney through the Black Hole).

And now as I see these days sweeping by calenedars, I am afraid to lose the company I had in the campus. I would miss the classes, the antics that were played, the huge bunch of friends who accpeted my antics with smile.. I would surely miss the abuses that were showered upon me, they were such a part of my life.. I would miss to hear 5 or 6 voices screaming at me .. but who really missed the same bugging antics of mine when I was down ..

I would miss the assignment pace and the bondage that we shared when we were part of group.. We might have been the best of enemies but I was amazed to see voices of support from the same block when I was in their team..Isnt that cute ??

I wont be scampering and pulling some onez hair at a cafetria, at the Reliance office , nor would I have the liberty of forcing people to appreciate my deadly PJ's...

On the same breath, the volley of assignments would no longer ruin my smile and I hope not to digg for metal pieces to pay for the bill at resturants.....

I could only capture the footprints of these times and wish to have a look and reflect upon some time soon

Itz HOLI again , so Grasses are Blue and Skies are Green :)

2008-03-23T23:33:00.006+05:30

March 23, 2008: It was the same piercing sun rays which stung me up from slumber and I grumbled, moaned, cuddled, balled, kicked and then jumped out of bed. This was the way it had been happening since last few days as we had a week off here at SPJCM.

I just looked up to those murderous sun rays, but it was welcoming. Things at least looked different today. The rains were uninvited, unwelcome and dampening ( woww, what else could you expect out of them) since they had been ruling here for couple of weeks. It took time for me to realize that this was not the morning but after noon and today was Sunday when the canteen has something special – The chicken Biryani.

I wasted no time and botherations, so I headed straight for a shower and was all ready to have my lunch which I had been skipping so often these days. I “escalated” down ….and “ferraried” to canteen when the world suddenly turned “red” for me. Moments later, I got to know that I have been hit by, the very first, dose of “gulaal”. It was HOLI !!! and it was being celebrated here in Singapore. I was dragged to its epicenter. Small by looks, but deceptive, it was a 20X10 foot and dug 6 feet down, this place looked a miniature Coliseum where gladiators would fight in ancient Rome.
But this was no Rome, it was India far away from its shores. The mood looked “HOLI-sh” aka “Vagabond-ish”. The stage was decorated with mud, sweets, "pakoraas","thandaai”( Indian sweet drink) and most importantly buoyant familiar unfamiliar( no one looked the same as they were looking then) faces.

The mood was upswing, so I was tossed and brought down into the mud, a gorgeous welcome indeed. So I was now baptized HOLI reveler with mud all across and I was one of their men. This was the beginning, what followed later was group madness, with most of us getting engrossed in hysterical laughing and enjoying the mud bashing, occasionally intervened by sweets and “thandaai”. I remember the last time I had HOLI in Mumbai, and I was not able to remember much, blame the “thandaai”:) . This one was memorable too. The mirth was catchy and soon we saw crowd submitting to the madness, Well BONDING was working overtime and I saw in the ensuing madness to escape to the saner world. Hearts down—I was still immersed in thought- it would be tough to uproot again but as they say “The grief of separation is inseparable”, I am sure this HOLI would be tough to forget as had been the earlier ones.

Mirage of Nostalgia ?

2008-03-20T23:05:00.004+05:30

Like it or not .. I could now hear the footsteps of nostalgia approaching towards me ..

I huddle, I close my eyes.. pretend to avoid it

I remember the older times to over ride the recent past - and its nostalgia

I run away from it - looking for times ahead to come ..

But however hard I try the noise seems to get louder and louder and then intrudes my space

Yeah the nostalgia has finally made in roads .. etched my memories... well i never expected or rather wanted this last year to do more than what it is promised.

The last year ( was it even a year ?) has witnessed a flury of events.. the journey seems to be littered by memories you cant just brush aside..Here are few of them

The annealing of close buddies

This is interesting : I forgot getting ECNR done and get this NIRVANA when am at the Q to board the plane to Dubai - had to rush to get it done- book tickets and travel to Dubai all alone

The airport at Dubai - the first look at it and you are floored .. but am not even enjoying it since I am absorbed in deciding whether to go to hostel or to college - remember am all alone in the journey

Land in the hostel only to find that my room has been swapped

Wake my roomies at unearthly 4 in morning then rush for college at 7 in morning

The induction and intorduction was pathetically boring and I was really distressed

The first brush with what was going to last forever - the " herd mentality" on way we did our readings and also on how we tackled assignments

The uninvited class representatives

The marketing assignments where we did less and less with more and more

The funny quizzes

The frenzy of cheating

The birthday bumps

The monoolized market of ghasitaram is brought to an end by Skylers and then series of new caterers and then all collapse

The eateries nearby

The barren land of Dubai with man made beauties

The SGP - a truly global one -- did the business entry plan for a company based in malaysia in dubai market with indian team members and chinese mentor( who was based in singapore)

The torture en-route to collegge ( am talking about the bus ride) - the problem with timings, drivers, schedules, numbers and accomadation

The best part of Dubai - meeting a fellow indian/pakistani cab driver and travelling along with him

The other half of story begins in singapore -- for IT its more likely to be over then

For IT - singapore was never a part of curicullum - we hardly had classes

The "firaang" prof and how we shamelesslly cheated - then stood by our rogue gang to beat the existence of honesty

ERP vs BPR -- The biggest confusion.. who is who ? Some one blurted out answers of ERP for a BPR question

Something like IT strategy dawned to us and we could go nothing beyong mugging up details

The placement nausea --the preparations for the same .. LOSE LOSE situation

The placement week -- horrors maginified

The final YES

Coming back to form

Safari- Zoo- Sentosa- Reverse bungee and list is still populating ........

Talking motivation is cheap, because supply exeeds demand

2008-03-10T20:41:00.002+05:30

Motivation is the most widely exploited and abused noun in the B school Campus. "Motivation can help you scale the greatness...." , " Motivation is the savior for companies filing chapter 11" .. "Motivation differentiates men from boys".... and on and on..

We see this word popping out of the unprepared teachers and ,fillers or nervous punch liners, for students who are, jostled up from their day dreaming, to answer any random question/debate being discussed in class. Surprisingly there has been no element of surprise in these magic word laden , weary sentences ,being applauded all the time.

I had watched this word with mysticism, awestruck, as much as ( quoting Siddhu) " A kid in topless bar" , and could not fathom the hollowness ( read depth) of this impostor ( I mean the word " Motivation")

So, I am here at one of the most conflicting events in the GMBA history. After months and months of imposed laziness, ( we had holidays for more than 3 months now), the IT batch is being dictated to be caged in 4 walls ( and of course leaky stingy ceiling) of LC1 and LC2 for rigorous 10 hour/day class ..and this is the time when I am missing the word , I am used to hear so much, but never beleived in its credetials or even itz existence. Yes, you guessed it right... its the word "Motivation" . And as all staunchest of atheist ditch their camp in bad times to turn to "till then non existent--- GOD" , I am also loooking for the divine MOTIVATION.... to help me break from the shackles of laziness to the rigor possesed by the Finance Batch- who claim to be busy in classes 24 * 365 .

But however hard i might try to pray for it ...the "darshaan" of MOTIVATION has not been there ...and the wait continues ....

Koffee with Suman

2008-03-07T18:08:00.000+05:30

There is something mystic in Koffee - no its not the aroma or the taste or the brand by which it sells - its the history that envelopes it. Time and again - this bitter berry has been in limelight for instigating and provoking thoughts which have stopped time - made a mark and then allowed the almighty time to roll on.
Look back and you would find incidents like

1. The shutting down of Coffee shop at College street in Calcutta because it was turning out to be an amalgamation for rebellion . This coffee joint was hanuted by
Subhash Bose, Rabindranath Tagore and revolutionaries.
2. This place turned out to be churning out eminent writers and poets, when it reopened. Satyajit Ray, Manna Dey, Mrinal Sen, Aparna Sen got most of their inspirations while idlying on the chairs and sipping coffee over here
3. Bob Dylan started his career by singing in the Coffee shop

all these are just the tip of iceberg of what talks and thoughts around a Koffee table have done.
I might be sounding a advocate for Koffeee but there is something in the caffeine content which stimulates the grey cells or is it the relaxation of the other wise busy nerve endings - when we patiently relish the cup of coffee that has made the difference ?
So much so that in some corner of world - Koffee precedes deals and plans , as an instance in Arab world - one has to have the bitter Koffee which they call "gahwa" before inking a deal and denying the same would offend the host.
During the Civil war - Koffee was the breakfast, lunch and dinner - for Union Army , so much so that the soldiers would often chew these beans because they didnt have time to boil water and their rations were all blocked by the Confedarate Army.

There is some charm about Koffee -a tinge of rebellion. Am not sure if I am concluding this because I found coffee shops as meeting point for rebels or that the history over coffee is higlighted by wars that followed over it. But am not alone in this thought process. This seemingly innocent drink was banned several times - mostly because it was perceived to incite rebellion.
It was banned by Ethopian Church and also the Ottoman empire.

But we could relate these acts to more of frustation , where they could only punish coffee when they could not get hold of the rebels. So its more of a regressive behavior, akin to the way in which some toddlers start hitting themselves when denied of their demands.

But one thing that I could not help noticing was that coffee has become a great leveller and so are coffee shops. Imagine being at a typical coffee shop and you could end up sharing the table with a Jew, hindu, muslim or christian, talking on various subjects. And this has been the genesis of thoughts that we have been talking about.

Surely there is lot of storm brewing over the coffee cup.

A great Day has arrived......

2008-03-02T19:07:00.006+05:30

I havent waited more anxiously for this day ever
At same time I wasnt sure if the day would grace me .. I was waiting for it like sailors long to see the land .. like the parched earth, which is assaulted by the hot summer sun , waits for the first showers...

And some one rightly said, you get it when you need it most.
The placement week had started and I had been preparing for that week since a year . The night outs , the snatching of hours from sleep for studies, the immersion in books than in boo*s, the abstinenance, the focus kept alive amidst the volley of distractions all around.... all of these were with one purpose to be what I intended to be - on one lonely winter night back in 2006.

The goal of graduating from a B school and realising the same by getting into a job carved out for the activities that i went through during the process, was stronger and it grew more stronger day by day

So when the day dawned and calender read 25th February, I was all agog. I began the day by sleeping .. coz TCS - the company of my dreams awaited me in the morning and I was bracing to be at my best.... The preparations were the best I could muster ... and nothing now could improvise it .. I missed few mock exams and interviews .. blame them for (---- no we pick up this topic some time later ---)

So as I cuddled myself in the arms of sleep - I was already into it when i was awoken by some one pushing me hard enough to jostle me up from the slumber and throw me from the bed..
Seems YES bank had something to offer for me .. i turned around and found that history read
25th March: 01: 30 A.M

The drama went on for quite some time and then i decided I would not get what I had been waiting for, though the reward of turning away from TCS and accpeting YES bank offer , was outstandingly lucrative ...

so I said NO to YES bank and then went back to sleep... woke up .. the day was bright... reflecting my hope and I was so impatient to get into TCS that I rushed to the interview sooner than needed.. Was 2nd one in order to be interviewed. and then hell broke looose..

TCS was unwilling to accept a TCSer -I was the one who had been weaving his dreams along with TATA'S vision and had been giving his best all the time at the school just to make it a better more competative corporation ..

But then fate and more than that Mr. Ameya @ TCS played foul and I was not picked up ...
A shock encompassing mental and spiritual domains .... I could not answer the "why " of it ... even after hours of introspection ...

4 days went by -- whirlwind and slowest at same time .. Could not seep into my own self -- was detached and smile seemed to evaporate from my face ... Appeared for few companies -- Reliance being one of them,,,,,,

But the placement week was about to end .. and nothing had paid off ...
The doors were closed for CTS, CEB, HCL, Wipro, Satyam and am still counting ....
The results of Reliance was not out and sometime I was toying with the idea of joining the Infy BPO...
But then as the day ended on 29th Feb .. the spirit inside me was all soaked... it was spineless and was seething for mercy and hope ..
Hope was the key word.. it was not visible and vibrant but gave the strength to keep me in sane limits .. the voice to fight and keep the momentum on was alive ...
Nonethless one could not but surrender to the gloom --- the friendly concerns were there but little could they do to revive me ...

I slept like a log on the week end (29th Feb ) and then woke up ... zombied with the idea to go to PSA to have some decent food .. and I was at downstairs waiting for the group to assemble when the news for which I had a hopeless and seemingly endless wait, happened ..
I had been selected by Reliance and in a moment the me - was back in form ...
The wait, despair, hopelessness, fear was so much laughable .. but I knew when you are in .. you dont seem to realise the same ..

This was the most deseparate moments of my life and has taught me one great principle " Never ever to set a journey with out a plan and back iup .. Adventure and Thrill are sometimes less wanted and career path is one such journey where I would now let my head rule rather than heart " --- The lonely winter night of 2006 had injected in me a huge drive to move on and reach a lofty target -- but how and why was never planned , and I was wild enough to set for in the journey ---- " Will I do it the next time ??? " No says my head and heart ( and it is very rare to see them in unision ) but who knows what would they dictate some day later ....

Also memories, I believe, is like Vision.The nearer they are the larger they seem. So this moment migth go down as the most memorable/ most challenging times I faced/ most waited moments/ most cherishable moments.. soon to be dwarfed by something which happens in future.. The event in future might not be as grand as this is .. but certainly the proximity would give it an inflated look .. so till that moment arrives .. let the aura remain ...

Is the Phoenix Dead ?

2008-02-07T20:13:00.000+05:30

Itz long since I spoke .. silenced by muzzle of pre conceived notions on actions I do or rather I am supposed to be doing ( when my thought process might not have strayed in those narrow lanes - they have carved out for me ). I had given up to their clamorous voice though inside me wanted to break free and roar out, what I went within. But then its over - coz the more you bend - the more people would crush you under their heels, just to make them appear taller and yes they were very much using my mental corpse as a pedestal to their pompousness and hollow pride.

Then it dawned upon me - that it was just not worth it - it didn’t solve my purpose or the groups purpose in a long run. My life had SPJCM had just started taking the colors of happiness and somehow I was trading my pain of being separated from close buddies at TCS to the new place. Suddenly the strange faces started hovering around, meeting them over the coffee cup or sharing the lunch plate or immersing in pain and smiles... suddenly things started becoming rosier..

That you become more - that you become known - to yet another soul in the world is always a nice feeling and here I was among sea of people. I started casting away the serious- professional image to some one more friendly and personal. Thought that they are my own- a corner of their thoughts are for me - who would understand me or make an attempt to understand me , get guided and guide me, spread few smiles and be a part of me ( more than the list in orkut or myface or linkedin) and for some time the things around me, bolstered my points. But then again I was wrong.

It all started with an anonymous mail, intended to spread more smiles than pain, but it was from some corner of brain which was never mine. I was branded of course but I decided to ignore the same but with a smile for giving them a reason to smile and drain from them ( even if a grain worth) worries and pain. The innocent smiles diffused from innocence and friendly to being indifferent to being irritated to being obnoxious. All thanks to trail of mails which grew more scandalous- uglier one after other.

So it was yet another night, when the crooked mind, the unknown was in action while rest of the sane world was sleeping and he did something which people only with no other better things to do in life and psychos could have pondered about. It created ripples and sadly they were all directed to me. All thanks to the mentality of some who judge only by preconceived thoughts born out of
fuzzy logic + grapevine + ratings they set for glamour + $%@#%^%#$^%$$% ...

I am not sure what they think of - and how they think of --- least of my botherations....
Least of my botherations??? No .,,, at least what followed after the mail .. I would not believe in that. For it was such a madness which ensued... The sea was against me .. I was washed with dirty accusations, dripped in views and and flooded with skewed categorizations - all for nothing I had role in....

And the ramblings grew, mushrooming from unimagined corners, hoarser, caustic and from people whom some time back I had thought were those who are a part of me .. Would listen to me ... the silence was demanding.. it was time to shut up and be in a shell, least u hurt them who were still dear to u.. time to vaporize the miles ...and stich lips to pacify their grins...and so I lay myself dead... a corpse whom u could walk over and step over to reach the place u want to ..

It was all right, It was all okay ... but then it was too much ,, when you are still blamed on and on,... it was probably too much of the assault or something in me which faded the images that I had created for them, that I woke up and have decided to speak up.. to be what i was .. and not be what they had boxed me in ...

Amidst all these torrid times, I realised it later, I stood not alone ,, there were cushions, supporting souls and I thank them for it was them who made me realise I was not alone .Yes I could fight back- I had started being deaf to myself -being dead within and it was in this paralysis of reasoning that I had forced myself into, that my nouvea friends injected in me a rejuvination.

so bbye bbye corpse and sorry chaps ( for those who want me to be the punching bag) I would be spoiling your expectations....... coz " I am back " and Like it or not " I m back here to be what I am and want to be " .....

Burma - a New begining in making ?

2007-10-01T06:16:00.000+05:30

Google “Heroin capitals of world” and the very first results you would come across would be Myanmar. This is an irony in itself, considering that Burma is cradle of many civilizations in the region. A peek into where Burma might have gone wrong in time line would show that the period from 1960’s might have been the most aggressive and most disturbing phenomenon of the country, when coup overturn the power and glued themselves to seats of power. And the junta is not showing any signs to give up the seat in any time soon. But this might be the very darkest phase, before Renaissance strikes Burma and September 24, 2007 might just go on to become the spark, led by barefooted, armless monks that lit this fire of Revolution.

The protest had been so strong almost eclipsing all other movements since the 1988 pro democracy uprising, and has already created ripples in the deeply religious Burmese society. Not that these protest, often violent, have been limited during the uneasy military government rule. But most of these protests have not been recognized as a national level one except of course, those under the dynamic leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She has been in home arrest since 1989, but still continues to be the hope of democracy for Burma.

And though none could scale the degree to which she represents the face of Burma, the present protest by monks could just trigger the wave of unrest in the nation. In this part of world, religion is the thing which binds and evokes people. Almost 90% of Burmese practice Buddhism and it is the main stay. The resistance of monks has been a strong tradition in Burma. The liberation from British rule was mostly due to the strong role of monks in struggle for liberation and so was the collapse of Mongol rule.

But there is more than religion which is driving the animosity against governing bodies now. Burma is transformed to a nation, from the golden land not so long back , to crippling economy, a nation neck deep in corruption and where suddenly the world has been polarized into 2 sections, those having contacts with the ruling junta and those without it. Needless to say, those who don’t have any contact with the junta, are the sufferers. A common man has to survive paying bribes or end up being locked in numerous torture cells or Labor camps of Military Intelligence (MI).The number of political prisoners is estimated to be around 1800 or even 5 times more than that. The last uprising (in year 1988) was crushed by massacring 3000-5000 peaceful unarmed protestors.

But the fresh protest by the monks doesn’t seem to die down at such an ease. More so when international organizations like UN which had been mum over such a long period (right from 1962) have woken up to the brutal fact that human rights has ended up just being words. The UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is scheduled to meet the military leaders some time soon( in hours when I am writing this post). Some nations have gone a further length in showcasing their resentment with the regime. France has asked its oil majors to withdraw operations from the region, USA has denied the travel visas to the rulers, Japan has cancelled all its aid (partly also because one of the persons killed in the shootout happened to be a Japanese reporter).Also the number of Burmese gathering momentum for this cause has been swelling over past few years. The economic and political sanctions coupled by civil war like scenario is surely the signal for an end to regime, either by themselves or from external force.

So may be the coming days will see a new beginning and a new history in making, for the once glorious golden land, Burma.

The charisma of ZERO

2007-08-20T02:40:00.001+05:30

Being Pushed-Forced-shoved-trapped into an educational system which tries in all possible ways to tickle and bolster the mathematical genius within, at same time raising eyebrows and selective pruning of anything that remotely resembles non scientific, I have never ever looked to ZERO with suspicion. I had fully accepted that lots of things that we know now ,are due to fact that ZERO is in place and that, its discovery was Revolutionary. I had also learnt that ZERO and its twin- WHEEL were the greatest gift by India to the scientific world. To add to this ZERO was discovered some 17000 years ago and finds ample references in the Upanishads and Sutras.

But this was alsothe very curse in disguise- the power of being omnipresent was over shadowed by the utilisation of ZERO being taken for granted.Over the years naturally I had completely turned oblivion to the existence of this marvelous whole number (but not a natural number). And as if this usurping of right of ZERO was being watched by the supreme body from some corner in the universe, it decided to program events around me to wake me up to acknowledge the importance of ZERO.

2 long(very long) months of the new avatar as student and that too pursuing a MBA program has taught me that world is also filled with people who are not engineers or who are working in fields like Stocks, Mutual funds and Banks. These guys/ gals belonged to a different galaxy all together( the world of majors from Finance and Banking) and nothing revealed the scholastic dissimilarity among us than when we were in Finance classes. These financial sessions typically saw lots of actions from IT people ( actions included various patterns of nodding and swaying heads.. more to drive the sleep fast catching us than in agreement or disagreement with course contents). The very first financial introspection I derived from these sessions was this: If there is a short break between two consecutive sessions of Finance, then there was a “consumer surplus” for commodities like Tea and Coffee.

The tragedy was torture didn’t die down with classes or group assignments, but proliferated into Quizzes and Re-Tests and Term Exams. The Quizzes is the Rudest out of the lot, coz
a) One is reduced to a position in which his retinas have the liberty to focus only in the area mapped by his laptop screen (sometimes an A4 sheet).
b) All options seem to be equally correct or equally wrong unlike BS or OB where I could spot at least one option which don’t seem right (I just forgot to mention that most of the times this was the right option.)
c) The class average was hijacked by Finance Guys so I could share my score only with very few people in class who had parallel abilities.

But it was this very score in FM which made me special. It was like any other day over these 2 months, woke up to find a rush for wash room, a short trip to it, followed by gathering ourselves for the classes, then boarding the bus, the torture of forcing ourselves to information being pumped from the radio in the Bus and the feeling of being greeted by hot drowsy breeze as soon as I boarded the bus and pounded my way to LC3.

But it was not meant to be an ordinary day, it was supposed to create History right? So we had this second Quiz of FM and I jumped into the mega battle in Black Board. I thought I had honed the abilities of Telepathy and devised the strategy of identifying pattern of answers for given set of questions being bombarded serially. The strategy was simple: The next option I would mark(out of 4) would be – (Number of classmates still writing the exam to my Left / Total number of class mates earlier in the class) * ( Time in minutes now / 60) * 4

This theorem had started paying me huge Dividends, and I had started firmly adhering and preaching this. I finished the Quiz before time and was a very happy man, but then decided to check back my score. I knew judging myself from history that my score would either be a 3 or 2 out of 8,10,20,30… The web page reloaded and I clicked the View Grades section. The sight was special in my life time and though I might have set numerous records; this was something which I never had opportunity to focus upon till now. I had been introduced (rather re-introduced) to concept of ZERO. There lay in my grades section, my score, a big ZERO, so much different from the rest, a limitation in itself, an extreme, a feat less covered by other mortals, a number so fascinating that it can turn even millions to itself when multiplied by it. For some time I was lifeless and the idea of coffee to wake up seemed to vaporize (and with it my other postulate) but then as I was staring blankly at the score, I gained the nirvana – Clairvoyants are god sent to rescue the oppressed. In a world which values the 10z more than 9z, but still neglects and undermines the value of ZERO hanging right to 1 of 10, I would by action and example, salvage this Greatest Discovery made by human kind – the number ZERO.

Moonwalking the thought process

2007-08-10T16:14:00.000+05:30

Something happened this week – which were remotely linked to the world, I thought and constructed regarding a B- school, and that too in a one year program. It was holiday for the whole week!

And while I was shuttling myself with detachment and attachment to world around me, a thought occurred to me – I was bothered about the objective which had stirred me to join the business school. And though the clarity had lost its shine over some time, I knew that the primary focus was to learn, teach and learn (in that order) with the people at the school. But what was this learning all about? Are we supposed to mimic thought process of people who changed the world like Strategies devised by Steve Jobs to make an attempt of the unthinkable then – Breaking the monopoly Microsoft, or immortalize Peter Ducker and give him the control to our decisions?

Clearly the idea at B school was not education, but a process which involved reverse learning and looking back at things which have already occurred ( by way of case studies), examining them and dissecting the issues into sub issues and then finding the overall solution for it.

I believe that the B school should be more known for its environment than considering students, faculty, ranking, alumni and dynamicity of curriculum in general. Censoring of ideas or quantifying them would actually mould the way we approach issues. Example whenever we look for marketing – rather than chanting the nice to hear words like CCDS (Create Communicate Deliver Sustain) can we not begin by Communicating then Creating Value or even begin by Analyzing hidden demand for products and then estimate how the product could be sustained, and then Create. Lots of permutation and combination of these parameters, if we even begin start thinking! Or rather moon walking the thought process.

A brush with Guest Lecture session- The ordeal/experience at B-School Continues

2007-07-19T02:02:00.000+05:30

Forced on you or stemmed from your own bubbling will or a mix of both---Desperate for it or shunning away from it or just surf through it…. Whatever you do, you just can’t deny the existence of it – The existence of Guest Lecture session.

So I was now in the process of getting nirvana 3rd time on row from 3rd Guest Lecturer (gl) and I was looking forward to this session with lots of vigor. But blame this classes and study group which extends their territory without fail and proliferates to the greatest possibble extent,I was sapped of the energy I needed to break even in this session. So I was cat walked towards,the Leadership Hall minus my thrill and excitement level and no wonder was transported to the literary world as soon as I took a place there. Thus began this process of penning this article . A word of caution before we embark upon the exhausted thought process. This had been conceived out of sapped wits, so please fasten your seat belts, as we dive into a world full of care and time to stand and stare(borrowed from the poen Leisure by William Henry Devis.

Suddenly my eyes are becoming heavy and seems my senses are ditching me, the din around this GL session seems to bother me no more, infact this helps me camoflauge and chance to unwind my random thoughts,..

Suddenly the relation between thought process, idea, feeling and people around me forces me to think that parallel world might need a research to be proven, a research much more advanced than we could comprehend in these times, but surely we might be living in two different worlds connected by same emotional domains. Confused!! It was meant to be, for its never so easy to preach. But lemme try.
What I mean is that me at Dubai in 6.00 PM, some one in NUS, Singapore at same time, some other fellow in INSEAD , France at that point of time might be having a GL session and would be living in the same quotient and mix of feelings as me – a feeling of detachment from the surrounding and contemplating on what is happening with themselves – what they are gaining and what are they sacrificing.
I wish I could devlop means to transmit emotions in that thread and connect to like minded (sorry similar emotional turbulence) people as we connect to each other having a number in the telecom world.

What we do in telecom world specifically CDMA world is that we send signals in a particualr frequency, add some code to it and transmit it...the reciever just needs to decode it and listen to it in same frequency...

similar process in emotional level could make life so better for most of us who have hard time finding the right kind of people to gel to .

But the stage at which this gets feasible seems to be not right this time. So , lets Move to thought process 2.

Thought Process 2:
There is a unique similarity which appears through out the GL sessions- and that is the Subject. The gl needs to be either a consultant professor .. and mix of these. While am not denying that they do carry loads of insight but what about choosing different set of people for making these sessions lively and refreshing.
Why not ask the Captain of South Africa Cricket team to teach us a lesson on two of team spirit? – the mantra which spurred them to chase the mammoth team against the invincible “the Australian cricket team” , and win it on the last ball. Why not ask Daya Nayak to teach us how to keep working what you think right amidst pressures from all directions? and how not to lose focus and hold on to resilience from Lance Armstrong? We might have committed the crime of keeping the learning enclosed in the world we are preparing to be in or are in – the world of stock markets and process re-engineering, when we know for sure, that there are lot many attributes and factors, on which this world is hinged on. But am not in the PR committee…. so why not delve into thought process 3 !!

Thought Process 3:
What will these GL sessions and how much will this impact us over the course of time. I formulated this logic.Ohh the gl seems to be wrapping up the session, so would be dropping the pencil now and scan for the zone in the hall from where i could dart my way to the bus, waiting to carry us to the hostel.

The First Milestone

2007-07-02T13:55:00.000+05:30

2 weeks into the Business School and nervous system already feeling the rush of adrenalin over and over again.

12 Quizzes, 5 Assignments, roughly the same number of workshops and classes extending for 8 hours a day..Sometimes pouring into Monday‘s and late nights …..I am really amazed by what one could perform when placed in a situation where there is one and only one option left. It was just the transition was so huge over such a small period ( I quit TCS just 2 days before I took a flight to S.p.jain Dubai). It was like waking me up from a pleasant slumber, putting me in a flight without the time for buckling up my seat belt and left to feel the intensity of change in momentum.

But I admire myself and so would most of my friends out here, since we took care of the situation and did things as demanded. Now we are getting used to the hectic (this would be an understatement)life here. We prepare for 30 page- chapter quiz – almost daily on the bus to school and something in us, makes us do as good or as bad as the rest of lot. Is it the idea of teaching us to excel – when thrown against unreasonable deadlines?

We already completed Organizational Behavior (OB), Financial Accounting and Communication classes and they were enlightening and fun. Life had been hectic and loaded with studies, but that hasn’t yet deterred us from indulging in fun. The cruises and shopping spree have become the luxury and so we are hell bent on making the most of it. The cultural event was a show case to identify the budding singers and star performers, also a nice platform to interact and network with the alumni. But not to forget – is the typical Mumbaiya attitude towards life at hostel – Live Life coz you live once. But most of the times, when we are immersed in the lighter moments, we have been suddenly jostled out of the merry making by Kathy’s mail in the middle of night –Promising us more classes, assignments and quizzes – the next day.

As an instance the FA assignment was hoarded with us for long, when we suddenly reality deflated the spirits. Soon we would get the acts together, regain the compose, collect and brainstorm with friends, discuss assignments over the hoarsest of home made coffee realizing that all the while the rest of world has slept, went to deep slumber and woke up to new day and we were still fighting to give our best for the best presentation . And when I look back at this with eyes drooping to need of sleep and body – mind aching for the urge to take rest, deep down there is an unusual pleasant feeling rising within. Wasn’t this – the life I had ordered? I find myself like Robert Frost did, walking on the road of Life when I suddenly came across a junction, where I had 2 options .

A) Road usually travelled by others, comfortable zone and less of risks. Getting promoted for nothingness and just because I consumed the time seating at that location .Waiting for things to happen around.

And b) the other was a road less travelled, brimming with lots of challenges and unknown risks.

But I had the urge to not to get lost in crowd and be exemplary and I chose the road less travelled. And now I am on that trail, the mission to be what I thought I want to be , I know I want to be and I believe I must be.

Brakes on The road to Success:

2007-06-21T19:30:00.001+05:30

I really feel like the dog in the pic now :-( .. Am in such a HUGE mess

First day and the first taste of problem! And that too which demanded me to take a return cab from check in to no where. I was at check in counter when, I found out that I need to have ECNR status updated before I could fly to Emirates.

This was more of shock to me since; I had travelled USA and came back only last year without issues. So I was lost at the right time to take off and had to say bye- bye to my perspective batch mates … What a tragedy and what a wrong way to make a start for the journey towards my MBA degree!!

The next 3 hours were the most grueling one in recent times since I was under the fear that I have been los t in NO MAN’s land. Had to tussle with the greedy bunches of agents at Emigration office, getting a ticket for Dubai ; filtering out the possibilities based on cost and time of arrival and arranging for pick up at Dubai International Airport.
Now, as I take some time off watching the rains splashing across the streets of Mumbai, there is only one thought rocking me on and on. This was the most disliked way to start something but I can’t help this. I am sure whatever happened today was scripted by GOD to give me lesson even before I plunge into the hugely talked about program.

Jai Shri Ram!

Things I will carry as I leave TCS

2007-06-11T17:10:00.000+05:30

Skeletons out of the cup board now :-) and just wanted to share these few things which I learnt at TCS

Dream Big - Make a start atleast .. then tread on to that highly impossible path with commitment and intelligence and surely you will get the things done.

when I joined TCS , we used to listen to lofty aims of TCS being in Global top 10 in 2010, and made a fun out of it... 4 years down the line we are almost close and we stil have 3 more years to go.

If you find every day as Friday at the office - smell an alarm.

Though fun is integral part of work, never over indulge it ..If you do it dont let your BOSS know it. And working for the amount you are being paid is doing justice to it .If you find most of the people in your team do find week days as an extension of week ends .. it means that either the team is on bench or producing something which doesnt affect/bother hence value much to others.It 's then time to shift to fifth gear and look for other avenues. Keep on Learning. The punch line of TCS had been " a learning organisation " before the "Experience Certainity " one.

You CAN make a difference to the organisation and if you can't then don't waste your time- If you are serious in bringing some changes even to mamoth organisation, you still can bring it despite your profile !!

Companies like GE already have laid precedent for it. But at TCS, the glass ceiling still exist in some quarters, the leaders should look into this. The MATC should think of associates as human rather than im-mobile entities, who are supposed to be tied to one project/ place and not given the freedom to choose the project or place(TCS boasts of offices in all major cities of India) they want to be.

Do something for society . We owe a lot to society and nature . I liked TCS mostly for I was proud to say I was from TCS than saying I am from Infosys or IBM since TCS has done a lot for the society and done it in a hush - hush manner.

Be it "Maitree" or "CSR" activities, I enjoyed teaching at a blind school and doing my bit for tigers which face the threat of being wiped out from the Indian map.

Make LOVE not WAR. This principle holds good at bed room and board room.

I will miss TCS because I got so much love in here and made sweet relationship.

This list is just a glimpse of what all I learnt and want to carry from TCS. 3 and 1/2 years is pretty long time.. and I see a different personality in the mirror from what it was when I was at college.

Thanks TCS for every thing ..

Last day in TCS

2007-06-11T15:16:00.000+05:30

Today is the day I had been waiting for when I joined in and when i was pushed to corner by heartless tormentors, who sucked dry my confidence at the slightest chance of it.

But as I leave the orgaisation, it pains me some where to be minus those wonderful friends I made at office and the liberty to play pranks as if we still belonged to an era of college.

I will miss TCS and NORTEL .. but life has to go on and so I am moving forward to jump start my career.

Dubito ergo cogito; cogito ergo sum(I doubt, therefore I think; I think therefore I am)

2007-04-14T19:58:00.000+05:30

I have been a huge fan of Hinduism not because I was born Hindu, but as I grew up, I realized that I was blessed to be a part of that ocean of knowledge, which has been promoting exercise of intellect for centuries, which has not only been providing solace to some one lost in the dilemma of “Karma” versus “Maya” but shaping up the world and allowing peaceful existence with others but most importantly ruling yet not dominating the world. Buddhism is of course the brain child of a Hindu prince, who is even considered to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and all the intelligence that Western world seems to derive from the Buddhist monks in China or Japan, owe it to the scriptures mostly unwritten but hugely understood, here in India.

But I am not fighting for Hindu Dominance at this stage. The world is already divided in this issue. And I would be more of a villain in my pseudo secular country, if I say that half (read most) of the world’s problem is due to one FORCE (not religion) which is nascent (compare a 1000 years with something which has no beginning), was born in caves of Arabia, in a mind which was certainly thinking more about spreading their belief with sword rather than convincing the lost ones and which sees nothing beyond hijacking free will, belief and thought. But at this point, I don’t have the intention of bleeding and insulting the myopic “intellectuals” and “The Indian media”, which vehemently aids this FORCE, even if that means playing with national and social security.

I was talking about lots of sense (I am not using the word Science here since Science would be too low word for It.) in the belief of Hinduism. I was particularly attracted by the essentiality of knowledge of GOD, SOUL and COSMOS, preached in Hinduism and the hunger to know more on these has what actually propelled me to question and find answers for lots of things which till date remain unexplained and make mockery of human evolution and development.

Time and again I cross roads with knowing more about the science of “Bio Space” or “Bio –Parallel World” and you might not find this word in dictionary yet, coz the English world still needs to learn a lot from us –The Indians.

To me, science mostly Western Science (who are skeptic on labeling Ayurveda as Science), has done little on knowing the world within and world outside. Forget the very basic question of human existence; let’s question how the world was formed? The concept of BIG BANG is just waiting to be dumped like “Aristotelian theory of gravity” or “Flat Earth Theory”.

To know how BIG BANG is challenged read this article from their very own Scientific American:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=1&articleID=0009F0CA-C523-1213-852383414B7F0147

There can be no denying fact that Trillions of dollars spent on robots and Space vehicles though have done commendable job have not done enough to answer other popular questions. One screaming among them is “Are we alone in the universe? “. But I want to stretch this question a little more and ask “Are we real? “or “Are we programmed? And being ruled by some other force which we might have not comprehended”, as depicted in the highly popular movie – The Matrix (Read Hinduism reloaded).

I would like to approach this issue with my limited knowledge (being fully aware that much of my views would need correction in some stage. But nonetheless let’s try to make a bold attempt to know the unknown.) by asking some set of sub –questions
a) Why do I think Aliens exist?
b) Why do I think they are more advanced than us?
Why do you think they are already watching us?
c) And why the possibility that they are ruling us, seems not so strange?

A) Why do I think we are not alone in universe or Do Aliens Exist?
These are two similar sounding questions but lot different.

According to Ecology: the definition of alien is (adj.): An organism, especially a plant or animal that occurs in or is naturalized in a region to which it is not native. By this logic, we still have aliens in the ocean floor – a lot of them in ionosphere and may be in the moon surface or mars.
We have to just start discovering them with more powerful sensors and intelligence.

Are we alone in universe? Actually might mean looking beyond the world we inhabit (and presently leading it to point of incorrigible destruction.). My reasons to believe aliens exist are as follows
1. If life developed on Earth because of Water – then by that logic since water has been discovered in unimaginable volumes in interstellar space we might chance to see life developing or life flourishing some where in our own milky way. Even Mars and Moon have water in large volumes.

2.The ruins of Pyramid, the scientific advancement mentioned for lost world of Atlantis, Peruvian civilization and engineering marvels from past - support the view that aliens earlier had visited us when human civilization was in cradles and built these trophies for us.

3.The last but most important reason is Drake’s Equation which is very genuine. Out of the limitless space and trillions of galaxies spread, does Earth seem to be the only one planet where life would exist when parallelism is so much apparent in the universe? Also If splitting of stars into planets and sub planets could lead to formation of Earth then life is being generated in some light years right now.

B) Why do I think they are more advanced than us?

1. Simply, because we have stories or facts which state that UFO’s have reached us and we still haven’t been knocking at their doors.

2. And do you know there is lesser known fact that Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin sensed aliens watching them when they landed on moon. Read this:
http://www.ufocasebook.com/moon.html

3. For a nanosecond assume that we are not alone in the universe. How long did we take to reach space and human cloning after invention of computers? Hardly a decade, isn’t it?
Imagine if Parallel world exist or some world which has races more intelligent than us or which were formed before us. They would have taken the same amount of time. In gist they might be in a platform much more advanced than us.

The Question of why we haven’t met them is yet another different topic which I might pick up some days later (I am on process of reading about the WOW signal and Issac Asimov.)
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/E/extraterrestrial_intelligence.html

Now we come to final Question
C) Are we real or just part of the program being run by other entities which see our brains as we see the Pentium or AMD processors running our computers?

My reasons:

1. If sense is what we see, hear and touch then they could be stimulated by computers, so what we see, hear, talk and feel might have been because of bio chemical interactions or Artificial intelligence, programmed behavior or interaction of all these fields.

2. There is no science which cold refute the logic that we are not real.

3. Some unexplained behaviors like Ghost limbs, déjà vu or being driven by unexplained power which our minds still can’t comprehend.

And yeah while writing this very document, my computer got restarted automatically and then when I tried again the windows were not responding, then again some later I got a call from wrong number, which proves that I am not being that paranoid and the agents want this article to be censored. But something in me is what they can never command and that is my conscience which also moulds the thought process, for thoughts are always born free and will be unfetterd unless you want them to be otherwise. Oh, how true was Rene Desecrates - “I think therefore I am”.

Some interesting facts !!

2007-04-06T14:01:00.000+05:30

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DID YOU KNOW~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the reasons marijuana is illegal today because cotton growers in the 30s lobbied against hemp farmers-they saw it as competition. Itis not chemically addictive as is nicotine, alcohol, or caffeine.

=========================GRAFITTI ===============================

People have one thing in common: they are all different.
A bore is someone who deprives you of solitude without providing youwith company
I either want less corruption, or more chances to participate in it.
Flattery is hearing from others the things you have already thoughtabout yourself.
The probability of someone watching you is proportional to thestupidity of your action.

==========================FUNNY quotes FROM famous===============================

"Traditionally, most of Australia's imports come from overseas."-- Keppel Enderbery
"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."-- former U.S.. President Bill Clinton,
"The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guylike Norman Einstein."-- Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.
"I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix."-- former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle
"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's theimpurities in our air and water that are doing it."-- former U.S. Vice President Al Gore
"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime ratesin the country,"-- Marion Barry, Mayor of Washington, D.C.
"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part ofyour life,"-- Brooke Shields, during an interview to become Spokesperson for theFederal Anti-smoking Campaign.

=========================MANAGEMENT LESSONS===============================

Lesson Number One

A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow, and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" The crow answered "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it. Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

_______________________________________________________________________

Lesson Number Two

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love tobe able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but Ihaven't got the energy.""Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fortnight, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree. Management Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

________________________________________________________________________

Lesson Number Three

When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The Brain said, "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions." The feet said, "We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the Feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that asshole should be the Boss, so the motion was passed. All the other parts did all the work while the Boss just sat and passed out the shit! Management Lesson: You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.

_________________________________________________________________________

Lesson Number Four

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold, the bird froze and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the f rozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy and soon began to sing for joy.A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung and promptly dug him out and ate him! Management Lessons: 1) Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy. 2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. 3) And when you're in deep shit, keep your mouth shut!

====================Some more Ramblings ============================

I became a professional fisherman, but discovered that I couldn't live on my net incomeI found being an electrician interesting, but the work was shockingI got a job as a historian but I realized there was no future in itI studied a long time to become a doctor, but I didn't have the patientsMy first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned because I couldn't concentrateI worked in a muffler factory but that was exhaustingI worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axI was a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it. It was a so-so job

==================English is a funny language ===========================

There is no egg in eggplant or ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple...Is cheese the plural of choose?If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?In what language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital?Ship by truck, and send cargo by ship?Have noses that run and feet that smell?Park on driveways and drive on parkways? Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese?One index, two indices? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?When a house burns up, it burns down. You fill in a form by filling it out, and an alarm clock goes off by going on.When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it?.English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France. How can 'slim chance and a fat chance' be the same, while ' wise man and a wise guy' are opposites?

buttter-pun ke din

2007-04-03T14:39:00.000+05:30

Acutely observed and rendered with insight and biting wit, Butter Chicken in Ludhiana is a contemporary classic

A little over a decade ago, Pankaj Mishra travelled through the small towns of India and found they had shed their sleepy, half-apologetic air; brash and ostentatious, kitschy and clamorous, here was an India in transition. A convent-educated young woman from Jhansi aspiring to be a beauty queen; a rich young man in Gujarat speaking casually of murdering Muslims; Naxalites in Bihar trying to foment revolution; small shopkeepers planning a vacation in London ---

Mishra captured, with irony and humour, a people rushing headlong to their tryst with modernity. 'Butter Chicken in Ludhiana is a marvellous travel book about small-town India, where the village and the city, the folk and the kitsch, and the comic and the violent threaten to converge' Ashis Nandy ‘A love-letter to the real republic. No other book defines as clearly, and with such troubled irony, our last decade of change’ Amitava Kumar

Book DetailsPublication Date 19/01/2007 ISBN 9780330444125 Dimensions 197mm x 130mm Weight 0.291 kg Pages 320
Author
About Pankaj Mishra
Pankaj Mishra was born in North India, and currently works at TCS. The author likes to spend his leisure time in the loo listening to natural sounds.

I rap - My first fully faltoo rap

2007-03-31T18:21:00.001+05:30

Yeah Sweetie; my love failed me
Yeah sweetie; you failed me,

And as I say these words with smile in my face
Heart knows I cant dare to look at the mirror, see the devastated face.
but why bother on it again
cos nothing can bring back those moments again
I loved and cared to see you smile
but you were more bothered on else that while

Yeah sweetie; my love failed me
(Ohh yeah Ohhh yeah )
Yeah sweetie; you failed me
(Ohh yeah;Ohhh yeah )
there was time when nothing else seemed better than you ;
why and what for I was thinking like that I had no clue.
The world seemed so small and sweet;
but I didnt knew I was being fooled and was heading to defeat;

Yeah sweetie; my love failed me
(Ohh yeah Ohhh yeah)
Yeah sweetie; you failed me
(ohh yeah Ohh yeah)

But now that you stabbed me thru
and shrugged me to bleed thru and thru
and as i lay dying for that sweet hand to reach me
I realised what undeserving love has preached me

Yeah sweetie; its you who has failed
(Ohhh yeah Ohh yeah )
Yeah sweetie; its you who has stumbled
and though you bled me and shunned me I could see for sure that you know you who now has failed(ohh yeah Ohh yeeah )

High Hopes

2007-03-24T12:02:00.001+05:30

Parallel planes of thought

Mumblings to myself

2007-03-17T16:56:00.000+05:30

Blue skies above and I want nothing else to trasport me from this world to my thought land. There are times when one needs to look or rather stare at limitless entities to reflect upon themselves. Lost in myself at unearthly hours ( 3 AM), staring blankly at the landascape of mumbai, I had been thinking ( which is rather rare ) over the regular doses of intoxication that where I have gone ? Flashbacking those memory lanes where I started treading as a toddler to the young man, I am now. Miles to go ahead and have to run at an urgent pace, this very thought sends shivers down my spine. Are we living ? or are we consuming ourselves so that we leave no time for ourselves and have no existence when the light in us goes off.
Have we got time to ponder on the questions which are so simple yet complex. who am I ? Am I sounding more like those boring monks? Possibly yes and may be am bit reluctant to accept the fact that some thing still is ****** in me.Connection with ulitmate truth is avoidable some times but not when you are left alone and forced to do thinking.The world crushes some one who deviates from the customs and it is hard to resign to that fate.Resignation is not the answer and it is the tumultous time that most of the time, one remembers when looking back.Events till now though uninspiring havent really affected me or my emotional( why I m saying this ? )sphere, but yeah it has time and again sparked and intruded thoughts into my rationale.I surely want to end this right away coz the more I spend time with myself, the more frightening I become of me.But some day they both have to sit together and decide who is the one that should listen and who is the one that should do the talking.Some day one of these guys has to stand up and declare " I was so wrong and you were so right".Its called SPLIT WITHIN and I know this could be controlled but not always. Till I meet this phase again, Good bye and Take care.

30th December, 2006: The Day Saddam was officially HANGED.

2006-12-30T14:56:00.000+05:30

Last night was no different than any other Friday evening.I came from office at 8 p.m, couple of same faces poured in, we boozed and shamelessly chocked ourseleves with chicken, danced and then surrendered to sleep.

Everything was running smooth till I was woken up to the merciless sunlight splashing across my eyes. It was sharp 8:30 A.M, quite early for me to wake up but it was not an ordinary day, so perhaps guided by some mystic power, I very sheepishly tuned the TV to reach for CNN than VH1 and found jostling news “Saddam Hussein Hanged to Death”.

I had fully woken up by now, finding it hard to stomach the fact that the dictator is finally dead. But what followed across different set of news channels was myriad of reports, feelings and sentiments across the world. While CNN was very prompt to highlight the “celebration” among “shias” in Michigan, the Indian channels called up “Imams” and “Moslems across Hyderabad and Lucknow” they even called up “Mahesh Bhatt” and asked for his feelings on same.
And quite puzzling was they called up to know views from the Marxists- why didn't they first call up the president or the prime minister or cabinet ministers rather than feeding the people with news from only one section of society?
Let's forget this , lets not waste time and thoughts on Marxists- who have been the biggest villian for India and Indians( I am exempting Bangladeshis here ,LOL ).
It is exciting to watch that public have access to views crossing borders and beliefs,which was missing at times when I was growing up. We were all hooked to DD-1 and the AIR for news.

Saddam was officially Dead today, His hanging was just a ritual, the despot had lost all his masculinity the day he was pulled up from his hole.At this point of time when Pakistan is expressing solidarity with the Baathist voices “warning of more terror attacks against US and non-Muslim interests”, it is terrible to keep oneself mute and watch silently more painful terror strikes and counter-strikes. 3 aspects are crucial for understanding the situation now and action there after.

First and foremost,Saddam no doubt had been wronged, he could have been tried by international court rather than that set by puppet regime, and should have been hanged openly rather than in darkness. The entire fashion of trial, sentence and execution carried away at a pace and stealthily had added suspicion to people’s mind. This is one of the mistakes which would not only jeopardise the achievements of peace keeping force at Iraq but also pose danger for secular(sorry Moolahyam singh yadav would say "un-Islamic " )interests. Any legal system of world ( except India, here we think hundred times before allowing Afzal to be hanged, who is the mastermind of Terror Attacks in Parliament or allow Abu Salem, the dreaded gangster who robbed many lives by executing Bomb blasts, to contend for election), would have found him guilty and have him awarded harsher punishment.

Secondly and the only brighter side of story is that,the world has one less “Dictator”. Saddam, a despotic leader who was hated more by his own people than others,got the perfect justice for his tyrannical "mis rule " that existed on the Arab land for two decades. Did IBN7 or Sahara channel forgot to highlight the modern Hitler’s atrocities against the “Kurds”, His war against Iran and incursion in Kuwait? Why does he still deserve sympathy from Imams or Moslem world? That’s an interesting question, which leads us to the final aspect.

Pakistan and “imams” across South Asia, see Saddam’s Execution as a platform to add momentum to terror campaign. They are labeling the execution as “Anti Islamic “just to ignite more young minds against anything which doesn't follow the protocols laid out by the "Taliban". The startegy is to pull the gullible youth to their dreaded madrasas or terror camps, feed them with more manipulated facts, brainwash them to make them another Afzal or Dhiren Barot.

The last point is the most crucial after effects of the execution.I would suggest Sahara and NDTV to consider this before thrusting the microphone to the “maulvis” who see nothing beyond religion for it is their bread and butter, the hatred which incites more hatred and thus the vicious cycle gives them the opportunity to be in focus and enjoy the importance.Lets not fall victim to the wanderers,lets be more vigilant in coming days to thrash the people bent on following their crazy,unbent,blind and merciless campaigns against humanity. Osama and millions like him out in pakistan and hidden in our countries survive on terror , lets snatch this very life system away from them.

It’s a New Year and New start.

2006-12-27T13:52:00.000+05:30

Let’s not make a fuss about things that have been incorrigibly wrong this year and before. Lying before us is the New Year; take it whatever way one wishes to. One could cry over spilt-drunk milk or “still chant that magical mantra – which is essentially the life of many people like me in a country – stated to be superpower – but which breeds corruption, polluted thoughts oozing from the grayed yet myopic power mongers of the Indian state.

Let’s also not complain about millions of “ Priyanka Matoo” who cling to the chastity of judicial equality, who still believe and breathe that “Justice will be delivered without taking in consideration of rank” and yes cases like “ Sanjay Dutt “ are an exception because there were hundred who failed to realize the enormity of problems he caused and prayed for him.
Let’s also forget that it is scary to think, plan and act for the nation for you might cross your ways with the road mafia, a naxalite or a local goon having the blessing of some politician.

So we look towards a new Beginning, getting inspired by Lakshmi Mitaal, the TATA’s ,Sunita Williams, Sania mirza (who said women can’t be the face of nation ?) and Baba Ramdev.

Let’s resolve to do our part for India – doesn’t matter who you are. Make India an emblem, a model for the rest of countries to follow. I am sure being the youngest and most talented nation we already have an advantage. Nation Building is now or never.Pip in with your contibution a little as making yourself better without the cost of other is just an example.
Have that Brotherhood and don’t let thoughts across the border Rule you. Identify who you really are “Are you an Indian or an Arab or an American or no one? “. Be patriotic.Can you promise to wear the tricolor badge on December 12 or August 15 ?

“Does Jihad mean more to you than helping a blind cross the street, or robbing the smiles and parents of an innocent kid whose father commutes to office in a train just to save money to go home with a candy for him?

Does terror mean chaining your mental capacity to introspect about the lives of people whom you grew up with or shared the seat next to him in a crowded bus or shared the tea while watching cricket on TV?.
I tell this to myself more than to any1 else. Can India strive this year to become not only the youngest nation but also a cheerful and healthy nation. Invest your time and spirit for your mental and physical health. Cultivate good thoughts. Laugh a lot, make others laugh even if that means playing a prank on yourself.
Wake up Indians; don’t forget that your ancestors contributed to make the nation which you are living in. Let’s not fall apart to invasion as we did in 1000 AD which teared apart the nation into pieces,becoming the slaves to foreign powers allowing us to not only to be transported to Afghanistan or Africa but infusing their idelogies as well. The greatest mistake is not immigrating my friends, the sin lies in immigrating belief and injecting anti national thoughts.

When the foreign powers razed the grounds last time, some were unprepared, some invited the problem and some fought it bravely till the last breathe. We can’t reverse the social and political changes brought about by the previous onslaughts but surely can defend ourselves this time.I would love to bring smile to one kid evryday be it handing him a choclate or sharing a joke with him.

I would love to get on to broader side of my role by not being mumb to injustice even If I realise I am not the victim or that the WAR would be long before results start coming in.

It is not prophet or Ram that will help India, it is YOU who will. I have resolved myself to be good to all Indians, make India livable and make every one of us proud.What about you ?

The Brahmi Script

2006-12-23T12:01:00.000+05:30

This is the Brahmi vowel and the below 1 is brahmi consonants.

Wanted to preserve this script till I find a language processing software for same .
Said to be the origin of major languages in the world .. could not help stroing it.

Raising the Dead

2006-11-15T23:29:00.001+05:30

Steven Spielberg stupendous direction and Michael Crichton’s touch of reality to his fiction has to make a movie mesmerizing. But “The Lost world – Jurassic park “not only did catch attention of movie goers and movie haters (like me), it also invaded the labs of scientific community creating a ruckus. Jurassic park has lived beyond the theatres and shows. The life of the script is based on how Dinosaurs- the extinct huge animals - are conceived in some lab back yard and peeps into consequences that lay in store of that action. The movie echoed “Extinction is not permanent”.

Recently there was news about re-living yet another extinct species .Yeah you are right it’s the mammoth. As in the movie –Jurassic Park- the strategy seemed to be identical.

Collect the DNA material of mammoth.
Sequencing the DNA to get the genomic code.
Using the genome code to create chromosomes.
Finding the closest relative to the extinct creature.
Getting the Egg from the female relative.
Ir-radiating the DNA in the female relative egg.
Injecting the DNA of extinct species into the female egg.
Surrogating the egg in the female relative body.

The Paleontologist sadly, failed at the very first step. The hope of getting fresh and undamaged soft tissues of mammoth, which was caved in by the ice, was shattered when they extracted nothing better than decayed bones. The possibility of recovering DNA strands from the chunk of the icy soil containing the mammoth carcass is remotely possible. Another possibility highlighted by the movie itself was to search for the DNA strand in some insect. But unlike the movie, till date there has been no technological advance to extract the mammoth or dinosaur’s DNA from the insect’s DNA. So, the chances of seeing mammoth or a Dino will be a dream for some time.

Moving to the next step “DNA sequencing “. Though research is zooming in these fields in “Applied Bio systems” and “Sorenson Development” lab’s, pin pointing the genome from strands of DNA, given the permutation and combination of these strands is painful both in terms of money, resources and time. And if we are lucky it might give birth to some other organism rather than what we are setting out for, which is irony. Only a chance in billion will stand out representing the correct genome from the assembling of DNA strands.

Once this vague, illusionary step is done, we move on to mapping the extinct species to some close relative which still breathes. In case of mammoth it “should be “elephant.
Scientists suggest an Asian would be a better one. But are elephants the closest relative to Mammoth? Probably yes, probably no. There has been uncountable number of times when reports of huge animal’s like elephants being seen were voiced from jungles of Africa some half century back. With time they too might have gone. What could be interesting is to discover and find these creatures being labeled the closest relative to mammoth?
Even if we are right in stating that Mammoth and elephants are next to one another in the species list, the real hurdle begins after ir-radiating the female elephant egg and then injecting the strand of chromosome in the egg , but what about surrogating ? Neither the structure nor the gestation characteristics of elephants could accommodate with that of the mammoth.

Dark as it might seem, I am still hopeful that with more involvement of IT in biotechnology could solve most of the problems. The strength of IT in storing, modifying and collecting biological data like DNA sequence and protein structures could enhance the computational analysis and ease the genome comparisons. Advancement in in-vitro fertilization is already taking place and creation of climate suiting the extinct animals or even using sophisticated tissue culture could help the mammoth adapt to changed habitats (This was done for American chestnut blight). All these hypothetical steps
“Could“ realize the possibility of seeing mammoth roaming back again in the vast lands of Siberia. What really matters is –Should we?

The Light of other Days

2006-07-29T03:08:00.000+05:30

Nothing but memory remains.My life at NIT trichy .

Reminiscence - NIT Trichy

Is the Sword of Damocles hanging over Mumbaikars’ heads?

2006-07-20T22:08:00.000+05:30

If statistics reflect truth ,then do we still need to be in doubt that mumbai is not in Danger ?
Ghatkopar Blast,December 6,2002 :Two persons were killed and 28 injured in a blast in a BEST bus parked outside Ghatkopar railway station (on the west side), the reverberations of which were felt on platform no 1 and shattered the window panes of a train.
Vile parle Blast ,Jan 28,2003: One woman was killed and 25 persons injured on Monday evening in a blast near Vile Parle station in suburban Mumbai.
Mulund Blast ,March 14,2003:At least ten commuters, including four women, were killed and 70 injured in an explosion near the first class ladies compartment of a local train in Mumbai.
Gateway of india Blast ,Aug 25,2003 :At least 48 people were killed and 150 injured in two blasts in south Mumbai -- one near the Gateway of India and the other at Zaveri Bazaar in busy Kalbadevi area -- on Monday afternoon.

These are just the data for a 9 month record in mumbai much before the ,seemingly ,waiting to happen catastrophe of 7/11.

In todays world ,where unhappy people have a media to communicate among themselves and collaborate and where each part of world is acessible ,both to people or their ideology ,the potent of resentment often in violent form has become universal .So be it an apartment complex in Buenos Aires housed mostly by a particular community or a london sub urb or for that matter pentagon complex or a peaceful locality at Malad. Nothing seems to evade the eye of destruction .And quite often when the motive of such human tragedy is brought about need not necessarily stop to kill people but do a greater degree of damage , by terrorising giovernment ,people or community ,Its next to impossible to make not a country but even a city safe .

Mumbai has special charm for trouble makers now .Its symbolic .It's the nerve centre and sentiment of people might dictate the sentiment of nation . The threat to mumbai ,the financial capital of india is more so now because any instititute ,organisation ,government ,country or individual who want to cripple or stunt econoimic growth of india need not search for any other city .

The major threat number 1 is from Home grown Terrorist as was evident by recent series of bomb blast. We had been having the home grown terrorist for almost 2 decades .The term however was coined by American security agents very lately .So even when USA was unknown to terms like jihad and massaccre ,we had JKLF ,khalistan liberation force,ULFA and so on .We failed to contain the same in Kashmir. We suceeded in Punjab though not completely.We are keeping fingers crossed on ULFA and NE terror organisations.The Kashmir problem now has become so cancerous spreading to such an extent that these so called revolutianries strike the cities of India at their own free will and choice. To add to this are organisations like SIMI ,which are fed by some crooked ,myopic politicians who see nothing beyond votes.Organisations like SIMI ,feeding on ideologies of religion and harboured by religious institutes , have blind followers who could do anything under command .The politicians share a symbioticrelationship with these organisations .And any threat to theor existence is quickly seen by these heavily selfish individuals as threatto their existence.A record on number of times official threat and shutdown of SIMI offices being turned down by some government is just an indication of the degree of collaboration they share.Not to forget here is the role of cosmetic media who look upon any injustice to these utterly inhumane organisation as an enchroachment on HUMAN RIGHTS .

The second nature of Home grown Terrorist is unfitting to their term but still the potential Threat .Its from the million bangladeshis and hundreds of pakistanis getting invisible after they reach india .Statistics show that more than half the terrorist killed are foreigners .some are even afghans fresh from fields of Taliban . India has been home to people across border since ages .We had the nepalese and tibeteans and the burmese and lankans but the degree of trouble caused by the bangladeshis and pakistanis are unmatachable .Areas like Mahim ,in mumbai is home to these bangladeshis and they too have been active participants and often the agents of terror.Pruning them from our soil and sealing the borders should be enforced immediately.Shutdown the jihad facotry aka the vote bank at borders of Tripura ,West Brngal and Assam.

The other danger lurking mumbai is from the Naxals .Already a menance in neighbouring states and loaded with sophisticated weapons with official recognisation in 2 states.They have their own set of communication and media which camoflouges in the urban areas now .The freshly minted youth from colleges are hypnotised by the distorted facts and shown the path to violence ,as a means to achieve so called equality and justice.This would be the hardest to control .

To contain their damage in mumbai is not possible unless the governing authority in mumbai is more vigilant and separated from the rest of state .monitor the entry to city .Mumbai gives 1/6th of revenue to country .Its time it gets the due.Mumbai should screen people coming and settling here .Having visas for this city should be given a second thought .The earlier chain of bomb blast in mumbai was carried out by underworld ,product of unemployed youth ,who just happened to be in city to catch their dream .The important thing however ,is thatthe bomb blast then was orcharested by secret agents of our neighbouring country.Visa form of entry to city will block both these chances .

Mumbai is infact the favourite spot to create terror .To subdues the buoyancy in the city however hard ,god forbid ,will come to halt if these kind of events recur.Its not at all possible to screen each and every bag of commuters here or install monitoring devices at some of the spots or increasing police force.What needs to be done is to adress the root cause of it .
The Intellignece failure ,quite often ,the excuse by government after such an horrible episode needs to become the strength.the various ,decentralised intelligence agencies should start wroking together .RAW and IB have a long way to go now .Mumbai police should synch iteself with latest gizmos and resources to seal this city from further July 11 . Set up moles in the enemy's hole."Smoke out " the agencies motivated to cause trouble for India.Dismantle by diplomacy or by force or by our own secret agents ,the terrorist infrastrucutre across the border.Because we should remember there is nothing beyond the country.And however media may turn blind to on purpose or is cosmetic the war is already on.And drastic steps now only can see mumbai as a safe zone in coming years.

This time

2006-07-17T10:25:00.000+05:30

Found the words of John Mellencamp ,so touching ..
=======================================================================
I've had a lot of girls in my life
They never meant that much to me
A good time was always had by all
But those good times, they were fleeting memories
I used to lie to them and then I'd kiss 'em
But I kept them an arm's length away
Well, hey man, now you know me
And look how silly I been acting today
CHORUS
This time I really think I'm in love, I'm in love
This time I think I'm reall in love
This time I really think I'm in love, I'm in love
This time I think I'm really in love
I used to roll down the window
And let the tape deck blow
And look at the honey that I was holding that night
I'd say, "Hey girl, you're the one,"
And then I'd laugh when I'd take her home
You got your arms around my shoulders
You got my soul confused with my heart
You were too smart to believe all those tired lines
And I was too dumb to know what had started
I hope you don't lose that innocent laughter
I hope time doesn't take that away
CHORUS

The only difference is John put things so easier ..Euphemisms in his lyrics ..Missed that in my case...
___________________ represents things never happened to me

____________________ synchs with me

Welcome Rain !!

2006-06-18T11:37:00.000+05:30

I believed GOD had turned DEAF to me for a long time ..but when the first rain drops hit Dallas , there was no one more happier than me

The temperatures had been soaring
I being too hot
The AC under total anarchy and
my being banned from being nude

I had no choice but to kneel down and spread my arms to GOD and ask for DIVINE INTERVENTION .

By sheer coincidence ,it rained at 3 in night.. the time when I am awake , I tried hard to control myself ,but the heart overtook my wits , and I parked my CAR and came out to greet the RAIN.

I danced to the music rocking in my soul and the sweet smell of earth just added to the ambience I needed .No one was there except my FRIEND ---the DARKNESS. And while me and DARKNESS were rejoincing in the rain doing SAMBA ,the sweet ,timid showers gently rubbed across my face and as I was playing with this ...they became stronger and stronger and then completely drenched me.

Ohhh ,I should have once again realised the boundaries !!
The clothes were dripping with water and I had to take some of them off to not to degrade and spoil my car more . I was already shivering and had to close the windows and put on the AC but i was still flying high with the fresh encounter with rain .
I got drenched with purpose after quite a long time ..the last i remember I met Mrs RAIN was in Mumbai was when it was at its best .All life had come to stop and quite a major headline puller during that time . Quite unlike of this one .

Death Sentence or Lifer

2006-05-14T10:35:00.000+05:30

The media these days are all brimmed with the news and views on "Should death by lethal injection be continued " .The real question ,I feel ,should have been "Death sentence or not ?"
Death sentence is sad to say still practised in the free country like USA .
The issue is controversial ,emotional , humane but mostly unescapable .however If i be allowed to make my stand ,I would rather,abolish death sentence and substitute the same with LIFER .

Sure,that the subject in many cases had done henious crimes of robbing life ,values ,honour and priceless or unrevertable changes in victims or it close family members life .But snatching a precious gift like LIFE just for the reason that the subject has done so makes no sense .Two wrongs dont make a right .The constitution becomes equal dirty as the man/woman in the dock .

Another reason for my support for LIFER is that ,it is no way less punishment than electrocution , standing on line of fire ,gallows or lethal injection .One who has been awarded LIFER goes through the pain ,self guilt ,isolation ,monotony of prison life ,the sense of being watched all the time ,sense of not having freedom all the moments for the rest of his life .
The "satisfaction " of kins of victims is "respected" . Imagine a life in 7X10X12 dungeon all the life with limited means of choice on food ,clothing ,way of life and being dictated all the time .If death sentence ,terrorises any 1 from commiting crime ,LIFER should do most of it .

But the most important reason ,why I believe LIFER should make way for death sentence in Constitution books is that ,it can be reverted .There had many instances where judgements have been biased ,manipulated or wronged because of lack of evidence or improper evidence .Death sentence in these cases leaves the theory of justice paralysed .

Scattered nascent thoughts

2006-04-24T09:00:00.000+05:30

As I lay in my bed ,tossing and turning around , laden with sparks of unchained thoughts (not ideas)and incoherent ,like me (Thoughts maketh a man ) .I started focussing on only one ,in this darkness .
COLOUR
It has made life "colorful" .It has divided people.It has been the sole reason for world not being bipolar .I mean world divided into 2 parts .Black and White .
I can't bear the life of being color blind now ,as i had tasted (sorry for the correct incorrect english usage ) one with color.
Its a scientifically proven fact that some animal ,like Bull ,are color blind .So the very notion that they get attracted or rather irritated by RED color is baseless.They understand and are disturbed by the movement and other stimulli though .
Color ,has partioned the world .I am brown .The country to our north (like China ,korea) have yellow colored people .The irish are also called red heads ,not only because they have bundles of anger contained within them ,but because their hairs are so .Blondes ,naturall or artificial ,would have never been in news if there would have been no color .
Apart from skin and hair ,eyes also are colored .
Anna Kournikva ,my ex ,had blue eyes .Blue eyes are common to Aryans ,so found mostly in Persians ,Europeans .Infact many Europeans are born with blue eyes but they change the color with time (I was always born with brown eye and still retain it ) .
Majority of people in world are born with brown eyes . I remember ,I did change my eye color once .When i was thrashed by my papa once ,I got a black eye .Black eye are common among indian subcontinent and africa ,though am not sure ,if they are regularily thrashed by their papa.
Elizabeth Taylor has violet eyes ,another rare variety of eye color .
Am planning to get rid of specs and adopt a tricolor contact lens(saffron ,white ,green variety..for those who cant see the middle color here ,its white .. ).
Men for generations have been falsely accused of being color blind.
You would find ,the greatest painters,had been all men.I know
what is RED ,what is GREEN ,what is BLUE ,what is YELLOW ,what is BROWN and what is CRIMSON .Its only that I mismatch names with them .But that doesn't mean am color blind .Its just like I know what is house ,I just go to different house every night .
But I dont always juxtapose colors with subject .I know SUN is RED when near horizon .It is like that because it is farthest to earth at that time ,RED scatters least and hence it is that light which reaches our eye .This is also called Rayleigh Scattering .
Violet ,Blue are acattered most by Nitrogen and Oxygen ,the principal constituents of our atmosphere ,hence this is the color that appears on our sky during day time .
The fact that RED scaterrs least ,is the reson ,why it is employed in traffic signalling .Danger is forcasted by this color .Blood in humans are RED ,one color ,doesnt matter what race/country/religion/status/sex/how many times sex/sanity/time zone/political party to which we belong .Even the Indian politicians have blood and its red in color .I would just love to see it outside their veins .
I dont like RED as much as BLUE .It has been a natural choice to me .Most of my shirts and pants are BLUE ,light BLUE ,lighter BLUE or lightest BLUE .I guess most smart people love BLUE color .The primary colors(you cant make these colors out of the rest ) are BLUE ,RED and YELLOW. Yellow is sign of melanchony ,RED is too violent ,What remains is the Koolest one .
I share my favorite color with color of Sikh religion .Most of the widely followed religions of world are divided in colors .Hindus is to saffron as Islam is to Green or Red is to Tibbetean Buddhism as White is to Christanity or Black is to Pagan .
Blue is also the national color of Israel .The only time ,when i wont be in blue is when am in Russia.
By the way ,Indian Cricket team has borrowed this thought from me and they are sucessful ,off the field though.The invaluable lapis lazuli is blue ,IBM is blue ,oceans are blue ,parrots are blue ,lions are blue ,elephants are blue ,you are blue ,i am blue ....ohhh !!! sorry i think monday blue is catching me ,so signing off this post with smiles and wishes to all ....

The Hair Cut

2006-03-31T07:33:00.000+05:30

And as I lay ,amidst the rubble ,my shoulder length long dark silky hair,strewn on floor ,with celebrations around ,I could not stop the strong sense of deja-vu.Lately I had begun to get this feeling that the event is going to generate lot many cheers across friendly faces. This was my second hair cut in around 365 days and the very first since I came to USA (which is around 6 months ).Not that I had cultivated growing hair as my hobby or I was being TALIBANised ,but this hidden quality in me was nurtured and discovered by my laziness in year 2004 ,when everything other than my hair was un-progressive.And thus the growing hair supported the theory "Laziness is mother of all Invention ". Sorry I am wandering from point .
So ,growing hair covered my excuse for being lazy and being stingy,to being trendy.Lately the art of keeping or rather unkept long hairs have bounced back as fashion(Bollywood Actors ,Tom Cruise ..),as has Tatoo-ing.To be honest long flowing hair among men ,have always been "In". Modern people who mattered most and changed or impacted the world,by sheer co-incidence or whatever kept long hair .Be it Rock/Pop stars like Deff Leppard or Beatles or social activist like John Lenon or the reverred Albert einstien or the charismatic "Che-Guevra" all have one thing in common ....Wild unkept long hair .Sorry I am wandering from point .
So,I was at Saloon in McCallum Blvd ,and having my first hair cut after 7 months .I grew to phillosophical thought "the grief of separation is inseparable".I vividly remember ,7 months back ,how i was forced to get my mane trimmed on instance of my father ,the only guy ,who sends a shiver down my spine .Ouch !! the barber had miscaluculated her moves,but I am safe .The reflection on her face is obvious .I had hanuted the saloon 3 or 4 times but just to escort some of my friends and turned her request to get a hair cut many a times.Today was her day.Actually I was not always alone in my struggle to keep long hair.Some of my comrades gave up their battle either to their girl friends or to this barber .But I had walked alone. The hair cover didnt make me better looking rather more monstorous ,but i was stoic.Teenaged boys across the world ,grew upto ,growing long hair to declare their first step in making themselves heard that they are grown.This is their first step to declare themselves as independent,rebel ,breaking the prevalent trends and customs.Sorry I am wandering from point.
And as I was part and witness to reaping of those preserved and maintained fibres ,I felt that all the shampooing ,oiling (no gels),combing and tieing the hair was so futile .My Ruin did bring cheer in familar faces .There was applause all around .This had but just triggered the very fire in me .I will "Come Back ".

A rainy Week end among sunny weekdays in Dallas

2006-03-21T10:43:00.001+05:30

It was another much awaited week end which came after so sunny week days .Was looking forward to some fun on Saturday when Rain gods smiled ,and said " Next time ..baby " .But spirits are hard to be imprisoned .Strolled out in the unfair weather with my camera ..and took snaps while driving .managed to pick some of these scenes

The Indian Politicians

2006-03-21T10:41:00.000+05:30

Indian Economy -- Like a phoneix from ashes

2006-03-05T09:23:00.001+05:30

The world stares at economy of India now .Itz on the news of every country and industry and on which it has not been ,make haste . Be it IT or Automobiles or Pharmacy ..India is making its road .Touch wood !!!
Lets discuss something on it ...
The Road to Glory

India was land in peace ,wealth and contended till the western nations discovered it.The Britishers with the grace of Industrial Revolution came ,saw and conquered it .After 200 long years of exploitation ,loot ,mayheam ,blood shed left the nation shattered ,in pieces ,in riots and as grossly underdevloped .The britishers had tried to loot away anything they could take to england and if not they destroyed it .The growth rate rose from -16 % to 3% to now 7%

Shape of Things to come
India's battle with China

Global IT outsourcing was estimated to be around $39.6 billion in 2004 India’s share amounting to nearly $17.2 billion while China garnered nearly $1.9 billion of the outsourcing revenues.

The Chinese Government and the IT service providers are working at various levels to compete with the dominant Indian participants in the global IT outsourcing market. India with its 44.0 percent share of IT outsourcing projects is considerably ahead of China in the global outsourcing market but this gap in revenues is estimated to reduce soon as China leverages on its advantages. Towards this end, the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, visited several Indian IT outsourcing hubs such as Bangalore and also visited the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in 2004. The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Wu Dawei, was quoted as saying "The Premier Wen would like to know more about the experience of India in developing science and technology." Some of the key success factors of an IT outsourcing destination have been: Abundance of technically skillful labor force Low cost workforce Quality of service Regulatory environment Robustness of infrastructure Knowledge of English Time zone attractiveness India has had tremendous advantage in most of these factors with around 813,000 knowledge professionals being employed in the IT software and ITES BPO sectors during the years 2003 and 2004. More than 65 IT companies achieved SEI CMM Level 5 assessment at the end of 2003 and many more companies are expected to follow. China shares many of India's advantages in the outsourcing market such as cheap labor costs and favorable government policies. However, the Chinese lack English language skills and the expertise in western business practices. The Indian Government has gained from years of investment in IT education and from lenient policies toward the IT industry. While the Chinese IT companies are increasingly bidding for international outsourcing projects, they are also leveraging on their proximity to markets such as Japan and South Korea, where they have an advantage both due to the geography and language. Nevertheless, China has to still gain expertise in project management as well as achieve economies of scale before it can compete with countries such as India in the global outsourcing market. Indian firms are increasingly setting up operations in China in order to capitalize on the future prospects that the country might offer in IT outsourcing. As of June 2005, nearly 18 Indian companies had operations in China and had a workforce of nearly 2000, with investments estimated to be nearly $ 50 million. By the end of 2005, Indian companies are expected to expand their Chinese operations as well as double their employee base in China. Frost & Sullivan’s recent report on the ‘Chinese Information Technology Industry’ analyzes the trends affecting the industry in view of the political policy and cultural environment as prevalent in China. Some of the trends in favor of Chinese expansion in the outsourcing market are the liberalization of government regulations, the growing middle class, large-scale investments in technical education, a vibrant economy, and the availability of cheap labor force. However, China needs to build its workforce capabilities in terms of English language proficiency and project management skills in order to emerge as a viable alternative to India in the global outsourcing market. Moreover, both China and India will also have to deal with the mounting competition from other low cost countries such as Russia, Philippines, Ireland, and Israel. >>

Indias pros :
*Respect for capital
China has very active central and local governments directing economic activity. It has taken the legacy of its planned economic system and modified it to suit the new environment, which it claims is "market driven."
*Respect for intellectual property

*Sound banking and monetary system
One out of two loans in China is probably bad. India, on the other hand, has net NPLs [non-performing loans] in its banking system of 3.5%. China's bad loan problem is a legacy of its state-directed lending practices. Interest rates are completely controlled by the PboC, and the big four banks that control over 95% of banking assets have no credit scoring or credit risk based pricing mechanisms in place. It's unbelievable. India on the other hand has a vibrant domestic credit market with an active corporate and government bond market and interest rate and credit derivative markets. Indian interest rates are market determined, and the banking system definitely knows how to price credit. China's asset markets are very similar to the Japanese. They are very heavily leveraged and are primarily fueled by property speculation. The Chinese property market coupled with its leveraged and insolvent banking system is a very big accident waiting to happen. India has no such issues.

*Entrepreneurship and profit motivation

*Goverment and its role

The goverment in india sadly hasnt done much for finance .Politicians are one big suckers in the system
and we cant do without them .The Laloos ,mulayams ,paswans are there in every city interfering in every one's
life and business .Corruption is rampant .Extract hard earned money from common folks and make inferior bridges
,roads .We cant change this politicians overnight ,what we can do is that youth should join it and clean it .
They should take up politics ,which now is in chaos ,and help in nation building .

2006-02-16T10:42:00.001+05:30

The Lakeside views
photographer: suman

2006-02-16T10:42:00.000+05:30

lakeside views
photographer: suman

2006-02-16T10:40:00.000+05:30

lakeside views
photographer: suman

2006-02-16T10:39:00.000+05:30

Reflections of NORTEL ..reviviing ..once part of bell labs now going alone
photographer: suman

2006-02-16T10:37:00.002+05:30

The Lakeside view
photographer: suman

2006-02-16T10:37:00.001+05:30

the glamorous NORTEL
photographer: suman

2006-02-16T10:37:00.000+05:30

what a beauty ..!!!
photographer: suman

2006-02-16T10:34:00.000+05:30

with my car
photographer: suman

2006-02-16T10:32:00.000+05:30

My Office
photographer: suman

2006-02-16T10:30:00.000+05:30

Office part 2
photographer: suman

The office

2006-02-12T06:15:00.000+05:30

Second roomie in usa

2006-01-23T02:09:00.000+05:30

The first roomie in usa

2006-01-23T02:04:00.000+05:30

Blessing others

2006-01-23T01:22:00.000+05:30

Dont know what to do !!

2006-01-23T01:19:00.000+05:30

Hmmm itz raining HEAVILY outside and i have to rush to DFW airport to pick some one up .

The Clash of Titans

2006-01-20T00:54:00.000+05:30

The "FUN" with James Bond

2005-12-31T12:05:00.000+05:30

James Bond ..Licensed to Kill ...NOT NOT SEVEN ...

Its so fun to watch the james bond movie ..you laugh at the idiotism of Ian Fleming ,who conceived the idea ..you scoff at the actor who is james bond ..co its so far from reality and potrays heavy biasing ..England the tyranical state can never be wrong and Russia along with Cuba,china ,India ,you name any other state other than ofcourse USA is always wrong ...

And James can do anything that normal or super man can conceive of ..like he knows things to minutest details beneath the sea ..has knowledge of atomic powers more than a scientist who has spent life on it(Dr NO) ...knows about a gadget more than Q ..

Not only is james endowed with extraordinary powers ,brilliance ,handsomeness ..his enemies seem to get their pia matter ,shooting skills vaporised when they face the character of james ..like Golden gun or Octopussy ..

and girls just cant resist getting off clothes when they meet this man ..
The spike TV is flooding the days (holidays) with 007 movies and i just could not bear to watch one entire movie ...
btw this is the only useful info i collected

List of actors for james Bond movie
1)Sean connery
2)George Lazenby
3)Roger Moore
4)Timothy Dalton
5)Pierce Brosnan

6)Daniel Craig

Movies
1)Dr. No
2)From Russia With Love
3)Goldfinger
4)Thunderball
5)You Only Live Twice
6)On Her Majesty's Secret Service
7)Diamonds Are Forever
8)Live and Let Die
9)The Man with the Golden Gun
10)The Spy Who Loved Me
11)Moonraker
12)For Your Eyes Only
13)Octopussy
14)A View to a Kill
15)The Living Daylights
16)Licence to Kill
17)GoldenEye
18)Tomorrow Never Dies
19)The World is Not Enough
20)Die Another Day
21)Casino Royale (2006)

Would you like to Bother ??

On film, Bond drinks champagne 32 times, and 20 vodka martinis.
The last time Bond used cigarettes in film was in Licence to Kill.
The first actor to play Bond was American Barry Nelson
James Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, both of whom died in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges, when Bond was 11 years old. James went to live with his Aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, in Kent. Bond's family motto, which was later adopted by James Bond during "Operation Corona" in the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service is Orbis non sufficit (Latin for "The world is not enough.")
Every film, except Dr. No (1962) and "Thunderball" (1965), has the line: "James Bond will return. . ." or "James Bond will be back" during or after the final credits
Height of james Bond ...Sean connrey 6'3'' ,George Lazenby 6'2'',Roger moore 6'1'',Timothy Dalton 6',Pierce Brosnan 6'1''
James Bond's cars have included the Aston Martin DB5, DB7, the Lotus Esprit V8 Vantage, V12 Vanquish, the BMW Z3, 750iL, and Z8.
More about his CARS
Had it not been for th Q department ,,BOND would have been Dead long time back ...

Welsh actor Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn (Born: September 12, 1914 - Died: December 19, 1999) featured as gadget master Major Geoffrey Boothroyd – alias ‘Q’ in 17 of the 19 James Bond movies , spanning an incredible 36 years.

Long Live Austin Powers

Where do you go my LOVELY

2005-12-20T09:58:00.000+05:30

Spotted this chweet chweet innocent one in Colorado Trip .....

Very very Cute ..btw here is the lyrics for "where do you go my my lovely " ..One of the best products of No Mercy Band

Where do you go, my lovely
Where do you go
I wanna know, my lovely, I wanna know

Where do you go, oh oh eh oh
I wanna know, oh oh eh oh
Where do you go, oh oh eh oh...
I wanna know

You leave without a word, no message, no number
And now my head is pounding like rolling thunder
You left me with a heartache deep inside
Girl you should see me cry all night, and I wonder

Everybody says, what a shame, what is wrong
They don't like the game we play
Heard you're hanging round every night until dawn
I'm waiting for you night and day
[repeat 1]

You gotta break the silence, don't keep me waiting
Just like a river flowing to the sea
You're running back to me
Come hear what I'm saying

Where do you go, My Lovely
I wanna know

Where do you go, oh oh oh...
Where do you go, oh oh oh...
I wanna know
Where do you, where do you go?...

Save me...

Come back and dry the tears, I cried for you baby
You've gotta stop this heartache deep inside
You've gotta help me make it through the night safely
Come back and save me ....

Sania Mirza -The HERO

2005-12-13T10:03:00.000+05:30

In a country known better for game of politics and hype for cricket ,in a community governed by male zealots and male rules , in a society full of dirty playing and " all show no use " female cosmetic liberators,in a youth allured blindly to computers and computers ,Sania Mirza stands out like a CANDLE IN DARKNESS.

Much of the so called face of nation ,be it our filmstars /Miss Universe's ,creating ripples worldwide and in their life ,who are hollow and cant do without vulagrity ,in our already decayed so called "leaders of the largest democracy " ,or the worshipped fallen Cricket heroes ,Sania ,has laid ONE TIGHT SLAP ,on all these faces .

Here are some of the facts of this great Lady .

1) DOB:Nov 15 ,1986
2)Parents:Imran ,the father and Naseema,the mom
3)Born at :Mumbai
4)settled in :Hyderabad
5)Height :154 cm
6)Weight:??I didn't have a chance to carry her
7)Sania became the first Indian, male or female, to reach the third round of a Grand Slam event, and became an overnight celebrity in India
8)playing tennis at the age of six
9)started practicing under CK Bhupati, Mahesh Bhupati's father and first started playing tennis at the Nizam club in Hyderabad
10)learnt the professional game at Sinnet Tennis Academy in Secunderabad then
learnt the professional game at Ace Tennis Academy in the USA
11)her first international tournament : 1999 where ?JAKARTA
12)score in class 10:63 %
13) favourite Actors: Brad Pitt and Hugh Grant
14)school: Nazar School
15)Brand ambassador for "Save the Girl Child " programme

The Winter Of 2005

2005-12-04T05:42:00.000+05:30

It was thanksgiving of 2005 and I had just landed a foreign nation in my 24 years of life . I had just came to usa ,a month back and as if this wasnt much an owe to me .I was in a group which made a quick decison to go to Colorado ,on Thanksgiving.

Back home in India ,I never knew any festival of this kind existed .But Holidays are always welcome .

So I was going to CO ,never knowing what a land would it be which has snowfall ,tales of Cow boys ,the Red indians ,mexicans ,Indians ...Colorado River ...
the Organised Highways Of USA ...and my eyes saw them all .hungry for those sites for long .For more pics See http://www.sumanmishra.photosite.com/Colorado/

Beautiful Blog

2005-08-20T17:50:00.000+05:30

I stumbled upon this blog ..only to discover the beauty of asthetics . Hats off to one for being so gifted .

Musings of the Day ...

2005-08-20T16:59:00.000+05:30

As I lay around in the warmest place on earth ....(no not home ..for i have been out of that for 6 years ...not even my room ...where i lie down only to sleep ..but my cubicle at OFFICE ...)..and yet another week end to kill ...I return back to my adolescence and enjoy the
BIRD WATCHING

If one looks into history ,facts about birds ...itz clear that some species of birds like Passenger Pigeon which were once the most numerous numerous bird on planet has been wiped out from the world .Same with Dodo and more than 128 more species .....
Countries like Indonesia and Brazil ,once the home to rare species of birds have become the endangerment capital of the world .

Here are some more Highlights

There are over 9,900 known species of birds. Since 1500 A.D., 128 have become extinct, plus a further 22 species that must be considered hypothetical. 103 species have become extinct since 1800 A.D.

One in eight of the remaining species, 1,183 bird species (or 12%), have a real risk of becoming extinct in the next 100 years.

182 species are Critical, meaning that they have only a 50% chance of surviving over the next 10 years (or three generations).

321 species are considered Endangered, meaning that they have only a 20% chance of surviving the next 20 years (or five generations).

680 species are considered Vulnerable, meaning that the probability of extinction in the wild is greater than 10% in the next 100 years.

An additional 727 species are Near-Threatened, meaning they do not quite meet the criteria for the previous three categories

YET another YETI

2005-07-23T15:16:00.000+05:30

The ancient hindu scriptutres ..Ramayana ,Mahabharata mentioned about this yet mythical creature vividly long back (Hindu Religion is more than 5000 years old ) ..so does the jain texts and so does the folklore (tagged so by western media till date ) of Nepal ,India and Tibet . Itz called by different names .In the forests and plains of Siberia and China these are called Alma ,Sasquatch in South America seems to be the half brother of YETI in Asia and why to forget Yowie in Australia .

YETI is not discovered and we are still clueless but this is my views on it.
YETI might be a gigantic snowman /ape .We can find that evry species we see ,today has or had a giant look alike .Like tigers for cats ,mammoth for elephants , Neanderthals for human, Dinosaurs for Lizards ,so why not YETI for apes ?
Well some proof /counter proof of it now .....

In 1889, a British army major named L. A. Waddell found large footprints in the snow in northeastern Himalayas.

In 1925, an expedition led by a Greek photographer N. A. Tombazi noticed a human-like creature about 300 yards away. The creature disappeared before Tombazi could take a picture.
In 1951, an expedition found a track on the Menlung Glacier between Tibet and Nepal, at an altitude of 6000 meters. The footprints they saw were 33 cm by 45 cm and were made by a foot which has 5 toes of which the inner toes were larger than the others. The heel was flat and exceptionally broad. The track itself appeared to be fresh so the footprints were not enlarged by melting snow. This was clearly shown by the many photographs they took. Although there were many doubts about these photographs, if they were believed to be true at all. But those who did belief were certain that was not made by any known animal.

British mountaineers Eric Shipton and Michael Ward took some of the best pictures of "the footprints of the Yeti" in 1951. Each footprint were thirteen to eighteen inches long.

In another expedition by Sir Edmund Hillary, the first ever to climb the Mount Everest. He funded this expedition himself, for he and his guide Tenzing Norgay had seen footprints of a Yeti on a previous expedition. Unfortunately, his expedition was as unsuccessful as those who had gone before. However, he brought back with him a borrowed artifact: the upper half of the skull of a Yeti. This scalp came from the Khumjung Gompa (monastery) in Nepal where it is kept as a relic. It is some 300 years old, 20 cm high and has a circumference of 65 cm. Scientists said it belonged to a serow (mountain goat) which lives in eastern Asia.

The theory that YETI exists ,is confined mainly to finding of skulls ,footprints ,hairs,and foolklore or reports during expeditions or rarely by some sections of press This got a SCIENTIFIC support in 1954 when Dutch zoologist Bernard Huevelmans put forward the theory of Gigantopithecus,in Paris. Gigantopithecus is an ancestor of the giant ape, first identified in the fossil record by Dutch paleontologist Ralph von Koenigswald (or von Koenigwald) when he found a tooth in a Chinese apothecary shop in 1934 that he believed belonged to a giant ape tall that lived around half a million years ago.Bernard stated that Gigantopithecus, unable to compete with anatomically modern humans, took to remote mountainous regions to survive and that it is a modern descendant of the huge ape-like creatures that are now called Yeti. Unfortunately for this theory, Gigantopithecus doesn't match the average reported height of Yetis'; Yetis average five feet tall, while the Gigantopithecus theoretically averages eight to ten feet

Black hole

2005-07-12T13:36:00.000+05:30

History of Black hole

The concept of an object from which light could not escape (e.g., black hole) was originally proposed by Pierre Simon Laplace in 1795. Using Newton's Theory of Gravity, Laplace calculated that if an object were compressed into a small enough radius, then the escape velocity of that object would be faster than the speed of light

Detect the Black Hole

There are many black holes scattered across the universe and the "reputed " astrononmical institutes have reported to have detected them ...
This report is from NASA

Using NASA's the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite, the scientists claim to have seen space being warped, as expected. They detected bright hotspots in small regions of an energetic disk of material that swirls into the black hole, approaches the speed of light, and is superheated.

The Black Holes are scattered across the universe ..reports of it being seen in other universe was cited by astronomers
The new research looked at a galaxy called NGC 3516, which is thought to harbor a supermassive black hole in its core, which contains the mass of billions of Suns. Gas in this central region glows in X-ray radiation as it is heated to temperatures in the millions of degrees under the force of the black hole's extreme gravity.

The Making of a Black Hole

Black holes are thought to form from stars or other massive objects if and when they collapse from their own gravity to form an object whose density is infinite: in other words, a singularity. During most of a star's lifetime, nuclear fusion in the core generates electromagnetic radiation, including photons, the particles of light. This radiation exerts an outward pressure that exactly balances the inward pull of gravity caused by the star's mass.
As the nuclear fuel is exhausted, the outward forces of radiation diminish, allowing the gravitation to compress the star inward. The contraction of the core causes its temperature to rise and allows remaining nuclear material to be used as fuel. The star is saved from further collapse -- but only for a while.
Eventually, all possible nuclear fuel is used up and the core collapses. How far it collapses, into what kind of object, and at what rate, is determined by the star's final mass and the remaining outward pressure that the burnt-up nuclear residue (largely iron) can muster. If the star is sufficiently massive or compressible, it may collapse to a black hole. If it is less massive or made of stiffer material, its fate is different: it may become a white dwarf or a neutron star.

Black Holes The Good ,The Bad ..and the Ugly ...

They are not in our good Books
coz it sucks evrything in its vicinity.The gravity of a black hole is the same as the gravity of a star with the same mass. For instance, if the sun suddenly became a black hole (couldn't happen, but just for instance), Earth would continue to orbit the black sun as usual. The danger is that if you get too close to the black hole, like only a few miles away, the gravity would be extremely strong and it would be hard to escape.

This bring us to another intersting question

How close can something get to a black hole before it is sucked in? Could it suck in another black hole?

That depends on how much matter has been pulled into the black hole. The more matter, the stronger the gravity (just like everything else). It also depends on how something is moving near the hole. A planet could be in orbit around the black hole and not be pulled in. For instance, suppose the sun suddenly became a black hole (couldn't happen, but just suppose). It has the same amount of matter, so it has the same gravity. All the planets would continue to orbit it. It just would get pretty dark!!!
If a black hole were inside a cloud of gas, the gas near it would probably be pulled in. Well, since the hole then has more matter, it has more gravity. So it can pull in more gas. More gas, more gravity. Or maybe it's in a cluster of stars and some stars fall in. The hole could start growing. If there were a smaller black hole nearby, it could get pulled in too.

The Earth has revolved one more time !!

2005-06-26T20:37:00.000+05:30

Can't stop appreciating the work of that ENERGY which has been so persisitently doing this work for zillion zillion of years .The revolving of earth on itz axis, itz "parikrama" around the sun ,the change in shapes of moon ,the time periods of commets ,the monsoon ,the seasons....All these great work being done in so unpretentious way ..I mean who has got so much stuff in him to do these great works silently ,for years and still continue to do that .MARVELLOUS ...
And me,though am part of the same elements have been bored in such a young age .Feeling vaccum ..
Have been resoning out why one feels the EMPTINESS ... even when he is in a crowd ..No not crowd for crowd may smell unfamilarity ,sense of hardness and indifference . This feeling of being nothing occurs even when he is among well wishers and when he is partying around ,he is F***ing enjoying his life in booze ,music ,disc ,good food ,money ,pleasant happening company .....Does loneliness mean more than what it is meant ?? Probably so ..i believe this loneliness is a state when you dont have vision in life ,when you are stagnant ,when you dont exercise and stretch your pia matters .. have no purpose . Life ,human life is blessed thing ,and one should utilize it 200 % .Do something which will make u immortal ,which consumes your valuable time only to return something more .Am restless .But where should I divert my actions ??May be i will jump into some activty for my country men ,for kids for humankind .But what ??? Thatz a question which I have been pondering all these years .What am I capable of doing ,which will benefit the less blessed ??....
And I have spent one more day ,on this beutiful planet ,in music (what else ...But for a change I heard Hindi songs today ) and movies.Heard Sonu Nigam (for those who are unknown to him ,he is a melodious Indian singer ...). Listen him ,doesnt matter if you cant undesrtand lyrics .The dimension of music doesnt need words ,itz not restricted to zones .
I also watched "The Good,the Bad and the Ugly " ..Very Fundoo kindaa movie and especially the music and Clint Eastwood .The movie which is mother of so many movies ...
And I watched "Bridge on Rivefr Kwai " too .Itz a treat to heart .
And tomorrow is the day I hate most .Tomorrow I have the maximum work load .Doing a highly prioritised activity ,and all eyeballs on some one carrying the image of "more wronged than being wrong " ,through out the day ....u have all reaons for panicking .But I have burried aside all hollow criticisms.I will give my best tomorrow...I know I can do it ....So chill
And now bye bye ..my BLOG ...
GOOD Night

Nathuram Godse ...The Hero ??

2005-06-08T15:27:00.000+05:30

Mahatma Gandhi ...Lets drop that controversial "mahatma" tag out of some onez name who is also responsible for the Partition of India ...who was equally used to fun and revellery in his youth as others ,who has only blind followers who have been parroting his name ,for votes and power and ......
Lets hear now ,one who assaisinated him(NATHURAM GODSE) .If Gandhi lived by his principles ,this fellow died for his.
Want to know about Nathuram ...Read this link http://ngodse.tripod.com/

The First One

2005-06-05T12:41:00.000+05:30

Hmmm ...How to start .I have never followed the Rules,Trends..So why d first post should be an exception .I started the blog ,just for sake of having a world in the web.Reduced to a corner in the cubicle @office on sunday minus work.I could think nothing better than this .Week days I engross myself in work and week ends are really ferocious coz i have to think what all I need to do .Am very much energetic but have been reduced to island these days ..looking for friends ,and some company.
I am enjoying music .My best companion .I tried my hands @guitar but was too impatient to continue it further.Basically ,I have an absolutely unreformed impatience .I have acheived over it only once ,when i watched Ben hur .I am very good at Caricature ..so have just tried the same at my white board.The subject being my boss ,who is kind enough to let me practise these on her.
The other interest in my life being Nature,and am pained to see it in this dying state .Itz bleeding and we are responsible for it .I surely want do something for it just looking for the right medium.
Right now,I m hearing the song ...Coming Back to Life (Pink Floyd) ...it touches me cause of the parallelism. I love It must have been love (roxette) on similar note .Itz very hard to mend a broken heart ,more so when the infidelity has been done by some one whom you rank it higher than any 1 else .But thatz life. The following lyrics from Cher just haunt me

What am I supposed to do
Sit around and wait for you
And I can't do that
There's no turning back
I need time to move on
I need love to feel strong
'Cause I've had time to think it through
And maybe I'm too good for you Ohh Oh

Its already 13:30 and havent had my breakfast..so got to go 2 Canteen and hunt for food .
All the events happening around me ,though not that plesant have brought in some good thing .
It has given me an oppurtunity to not get lost ,in something less mediocre.Planning to try for GMAT .Will give my best to it .

I would like 2 dedicate this post to the1 who told me that I should have a blog.

Btw the pic above is 1 taken undersea ..plz defer resembling it 2 smthng else :=)