Bright sunshine, misty shower, beautiful landscape

Lil brain exercise.

2005-10-10T13:53:00.000+05:30

One of the my most favorite puzzles.

There are 5 thieves and all 5 of them are "extremely intelligent and extremely greedy". They steal 200 gold coins. Now it is distribution time. The rules are

1 is junior to 2 who is junior to 3 and so on.

The seniormost suggests a distribution plan which is accepted if it is aye'd by atleast 50%. If not, he is shot dead and the next seniormost suggests a plan. So if 5 suggests a plan, it needs to be okayed by atleast 3 guys otherwise he will be shot dead. If 4 suggests a plan, atleast 2 should agree and so on.

So what is the final distribution?

2005-10-06T08:51:00.000+05:30

While going through the book by Jules Verne, "The journey to the centre of the Earth", I started looking up for information on Iceland on the net. And now I am absolutely in love with that place. It's in my list of places to visit in the next 5 years.

I could have put some pics here, but due credit should go to the photographer. And hence here is the link with some of the most beautiful photos of Iceland.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/locations/iceland.shtml

5 days @ home

2005-10-05T21:47:00.000+05:30

Last to last week, I had to take 5 days off, as I had fallen terribly sick. Cold, cough, fever, severe constipation were few of the symptoms. First 2 days I slept like a log and felt a whole lot better, though the symptoms had worsened. Third day I decided to pamper myself. And so I went ahead, bought myself a whole set of classics, bought a nice "real-looking" baby for my daughter which laughs like a real baby whenever it is disturbed or it senses vibrations. Ofcourse, between my daughter and my wife it is a real fight now since both have laid claim on being the surrogate mother of the baby. As for myself, well I loved reading Jules Verne "The journey to the centre of the Earth" from the lot. The fact that I could imagine myself as a part of all that was written and described, amazed me. Do not give it a miss.

The month in a nutshell

2005-10-04T21:17:00.000+05:30

Phew..... Finally.

It's just getting busy, busier and busiest.

Dropping my daughter to the school (love her goodbye kiss), getting ready for work, periodic check-ups of my only wife, her caterwaulish ways when she is confronted with food, my groans and moans when she says no to everything and there isnt a single edible thing left in the world that would make her say yes, and plenty for discomforts and sleepless nights... I have just found it very difficult to update my blog and visit the blogs I love to visit.

GG, I miss her humour and her inimitable style of writing.
Dcver, I love the diversity you bring in your blogs.
Piu Piu, thats the artist amongst us and has a unique point of view.
Viking, loved you in the pumpkin mess.

I hope I can visit your blogs soon enough.

What else???? Ummm Federer won the US Open and I am just becoming a bigger fan of his.
Real Madrid is winning in cockroach style.
Australia has lost the Ashes and I am waiting for the super series. This one is going to be exciting.
Indian cricket had a major scandal (whats new with that!!!!).

And I lost in the prelims of a quiz competition. I do not feel bad for losing, but definitely the fact that I had not prepared well will haunt me for a long time. I am going to work hard on this for the next year. Shame on me.

In a class of his own.

2005-09-09T12:22:00.000+05:30

Saw him, saw her,
there isnt quite anyone like Federer.

What does it take to beat Federer?

Ivanisevic's serve, Edberg's serve and volley, Courier's forehand, Agassi's return, Hewitt's spirit, Sampras's backhand down the line shots and the line umpires and the chair umpire on your side.

This unassuming guy has changed the complexion and meaning of a tournament. And the best part is each one of his opponents likes him. That's rare.

Way to go Federer!!!!

Wanted more hours in a day.

2005-09-08T15:29:00.000+05:30

Pregnant wife, school going kid, project deadlines...... 16 hours of one's time, in a day.

Pregnant wife, school going kid, project deadlines, US Open, Ashes series ..... 24 hours of one's time, in a day.

Pregnant wife, school going kid, project deadlines, US Open, Ashes series, India involved in a cricket series ...... 48 hours of one's time, in a day.

All of that and understanding an obfuscated algorithm written in a more obfuscated language by a professor in MIT....... timeless and priceless.

For everything else there is mastercard.

Thanks everyone :) I am back... hopefully.

On a break.

2005-08-23T08:27:00.000+05:30

I need a break from my internet life.

4-1 :O

2005-08-20T12:23:00.000+05:30

Read it a few days back.

Why do French women prefer English men?
Because they remain on top for 90 minutes and still come second.

That was before the friendly between the Danes and the English. And England lost 4-1. Mein Got. I know David Bechkam is pure hype. But 4-1???? I know that Denmark was 1992 European Cup champion, thanks largely due to their monster goal keeper, Peter Schmeichel. But 4-1 now????

Nothing gives me more joy than an Argentinian win over Brazil and nothing hurts me more than a bunch of suuperstars not living upto it.

Ppppppplease

2005-08-18T17:11:00.000+05:30

Ramayan and Mahabharat are two of the biggest epics in the world. I love reading them over and over again and naturally I have my favourite characters. In Ramayan it is Ram. In Mahabharat it is Karn. Born to an unwed princess, he was abandoned and found by a charioteer. He grows up to be an ace archer with all the knowledge of cosmic weapons. Time does a full circle and he is called names by his own brothers. Since he is not born to the warrior tribe, well no one knows about his secret, they deny him the right to compete in various competitions. So he is made a king by the rival of his brothers, who is shown to be on the wrong side of Karma. Time passes and the rivalry intensifies and a battle is inevitable. He was born with a couple of body armours that were impenetrable and his generousity was universally acclaimed. So, he is asked by the God-father of his main rival brother to give his armours, and knowing who it is and that giving it means he is no more impregnable, he gives it off. Just before the day he goes to fight, he is told by his real mother that he is in fact her son and he is really fighting his own brothers. He says that though this has weakened his resolve, he will still fight his brothers since his friend had made him one of the warrior tribe when his brothers were calling him names and when she chose to be a mute spectator all the while. He finally is killed by his rival brother when he is unarmed and his chariot gets stuck.
Well, it seems Shahrukh Khan is about to play the role of Karn in a new movie called "Mahabharat". I hope not.

Ad1

2005-08-16T23:52:00.000+05:30

Ad1, originally uploaded by Nature's very own.

Now without a dictionary or a book.

As we grow old, we grow foolish ;)

59 years of Independence

2005-08-16T13:26:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, 15th August, was India's indpendence day. Perhaps independence of all sorts, is every person's birthright and also a responsibility in a way. But I also think, what if British had never come to rule us.

What if, indeed? For then, there would have been no India. There would have been small states ruled by Kings and monarchs, running as per their whims and fancies and common person would have struggled. There would not have been any rails (perhaps not needed also since the states are pretty small), no modern education, caste system still in place officially, because unofficially India is still divided by castes and sub-castes and religions.

So yes, Thank God, the English ruled us, though they had no right to do that.

P.S. : 15th August, 1947 India won its freedom at the stroke of midnight. And my mother-in-law was born at that stroke of midnight. I really, wonder if India should have won it's freedom at all ;)

And a very belated Happy Independence Day to all the Pakistani's. They celebrate their independence on 14th August, 1947.

The first three colours represent the Indian flag. And the last one is the colour of the Pakistan's national flag.

Whispers of time - An untold story.

2005-08-14T12:05:00.000+05:30

As I walked down the dusty path, in an almost barren land, sun simmering overhead, I located the building with the huge wall compound that was my destination. There was an unmistakable presence. A few goats and cows were either grazing, whatever little they could or lying in the small shelter of the shadow of the compound wall. The wall reflected the past glory of the occupants and as I neared the entrance, I could feel the unmistakable presence.

"You must have come here to know about him", I heard an unexpected voice ask me.

Startled I turned to my left, nodded my head in agreement.

"What do you know about him?", it asked me again.

"Nothing much really", I looked at the thick cover of dust which had enveloped the owner of the voice. "There is not much to gather information about him, I guess."

"Yes, there isnt. Unfortunately, a tale which could have inspired millions, a tale of love, a tale of passion and a tale of patriotism, was chronicled only by the oppressor. Do you know why he was killed?"

"I have an idea. It was because he had started the revolt, refusing to bite the grease cartridge for the rifle. Isnt it?"

"If it has to be told in one line, that is the reason. But do you really believe, that such a thing could lead to a revolt?"

"Why not? Indian brahmins, back then, were supposed to be very particular about it all. So yes."

I heard it laugh. "You really think it is all that black and white, don't you? There is more to it. Would you like to know? It is a long story and I can not offer you tea or anything else."

I nodded, "I am fine, thank you. Please do tell."

And then started the story of love, of betrayal, of sacrifice, of heroism and above all of patriotism. When it was over, the sun had almost set, and the clouds were overcast. I had goosepimples all over. Overcome with emotions, I asked, "And you have mutely witnessed it all?"

"Yes. That is what I am supposed to do. I can only hear, I can only see, I can only be passive. I can only shed a tear when someone wants to listen it from me. Thanks for listening out", said the stone before going back to its familiar deaf role, into a mute sleep, the state it had been in for I don't know how many centuries, leaving me there thinking about the story of that man called Mangal Pandey, the story of the person who ignited India's first freedom struggle in 1857 which the British historians merely termed a "Sepoy mutiny."

In the sands of times, it is but one story never told to the generations that followed.

The road less travelled.

2005-08-11T13:09:00.000+05:30

Driving is a pain in India. When I had started driving, I was as bad and as irresponsible as any other driver in India. I can not even recall how I got my driver's license. All I know is that I was asked by my Dad to be at a particular place at a particular time. Without being asked a single question and without being asked to drive at all, I got my license. I drove with gay abandon. To me, it was fun and no other thrill, except adventure sports, could have come near.

Then I went to US. I came to know that one needs to pass a written test first before appearing for the road test. I studied the small booklet that was freely distributed in the office of the motor vehicles something something. I became aware of the rules and what "right of way" means for the first time in my life. I realised honking is a bad habit and that driving is indeed a privilege but others have that privilege too. In a sense, it was a new beginning for me.

Now I am a responsible driver. And in India, that's a bad thing. Well, as they say be a Roman in Rome. And when I find only myself not breaking the rules by not driving in the opposite direction on a one-way road (its a very common sight), or waiting on an empty road for the signal to turn green, I do feel like a fool sometimes. It's been 3 years and I have no idea how long can I persist with vehicles behind me honking when the signal is red and the road is empty.

I hope it does. Two wrongs do not make it a right.

Of onions and pakodas

2005-08-10T18:25:00.000+05:30

Okay, onions and pakodas made me nostalgic. This one is a rated post. Adult supervision strictly adviced ;).

I had a colleague and my best buddy in my office in Portland, Me. I will call him NY. He is from a country in West Africa. There are several anecdotes that come to my mind but I will share two.

NY is very fond of popcorns and used to get a popcorn packet every now and then from the vending machine in the office. And I hated the smell of the butter inside the microwave. I used to feel nauseated and I told him to either have it in the canteen or stop eating it. The mean guy that he is, he said no. Infact his consumption of it went up a little. And I could do nothing much about it. Worse he used to sit in the adjoining cubicle. I used to borrow my manager's skin lotion that she always carried, rub it on my palms and put my palms close to my nose to avoid the horrible smell.

One day, I carried a vegetable burger from home as breakfast and had put a little more onion into it than is normal. So when I opened the box, this time his nose went up. After a few minutes, while I was eating it, he came to me and asked me if I could avoid the onions. Now I dont like onions. Not at all. But that time, there was nothing I loved more. And then it became a daily routine and the consumption of onions went up a lot. After a few days NY told me, "Ok man, I stop eating popcorn in da office, you stop bringin dat shit to da office."

Well, was there anything else I wanted that day ;)

Now the second incident. Let me introduce the characters.

NY - My colleague and project mate, who used to sit in the adjoining cubicle.
K - Around 45-50 year old manager of another project, used to sit opposite NY. She is very much interested in Indian culture, food, anything Indian.
NB - An Indian colleague, reporting to K, who was on a short visit to US. NY and NB were smoking partners. He used to sit in another wing.

Now NY had done his graduation from NY (New York) and his roommates were all Indians, infact all Punjabis. So he knew all the dirty, rotten words in Hindi.

NB had visted the Portland office a couple of times earlier and since he was a Punjabi and a smoker, he got on well with NY. All those words that NY did not know earlier, NB used to teach him. Well together, they were the perverts that only they can be.

So one afternoon, after returning from a smoke session, NY on his way back to his cubicle was singing, "%$##& ka pakoda", "%$##& ka pakoda". KA = IS ( "%$##& ka pakoda = "%$##& 's pakoda)

This was fine really, since no one knew Hindi there, except well.... K was very much interested in Indian culture and food. As I said earlier, anything Indian. She knew what a pakoda was. And so she stopped NY and asked him, "What is that pakoda, I have never heard of it!!".

Now NY, was dumbfounded. He realised he is in trouble. He tried to persuade K. "Nothing really." And I loved it. I started laughing. NY looked at me, and it was both, a request and a warning. K insisted, "What is "%$##& ka pakoda"? " I laughed more. NY looked more uneasy.

"K never mind. Its nothing really."

I laughed more. K, and she is such a innocent old woman, insisted more. Now this really went on for about a minute or two.

And I was in splits. Finally, NY said, "K you do not want to know."

"No really, tell me", said K without taking the hint.

"Okay ask NB. He told me about it."

And talk of timing. NB just appeared there with a document in his hand to ask a few questions to K.

NB : K, I have a some doubts. (Indians ask doubts, not questions.)
K: Later NB, first tell me what is a "%$##& ka pakoda". I have never EATEN it.

Damn I was absolutely uncontrollable then.

NB (with a straight face, and a side glance to NY) : What's that, I have never heard of it?
K: But NY told me that you told him about it.
NB (swearing in Hindi at NY): No I really have no idea.

Oh boy it went on and on. And finally, they managed to convince K that it's not something she really would like to know.

And I got plenty of the best medicine.

Well NB swore that he would never teach anything ever again to NY.
And NY? Well he was always more concious after a smoke on his way back to his cubicle.

Rain - A view from my office.

2005-08-10T11:13:00.000+05:30

Rain - A view from my office., originally uploaded by Nature's very own.

Yesterday, it rained hard. Lovely weather. Perfect time for Ginger Tea and Pakodas.

Pakodas, ummm I have no idea how to describe them. Pakodass are stuffings of potatoes/onions in gram flour, is it!!!! I am not very sure what its called in English.

Salon bliss

2005-08-09T08:59:00.000+05:30

I was in a hurry.

And it was a case of once bitten twice shy too.

Oh I forgot to mention, I needed a quick shave. Here is a brief recap and the history behind it.
http://naturesveryown.blogspot.com/2005_06_01_naturesveryown_archive.html

So, I decided to go to a new salon today. Morning 8 o'clock. No customer inside it. Ahh this is my lucky day.

So I step in, and am confronted by this HUGE, pitch dark guy. Now this has nothing to do with the colour of a person, but it sure was a scary sight. But I tell myself, "Anoop calm your nerves." He is just a barber.
"Yes, with a knife that can slit your throat", said my alter ego.

So he offered me a seat and held my head and asked, "Hair cut?"

I got worried. I hate long hair on me and that effectively means that I go for a hair cut twice in a month. One can never find a hair more than an inch long on my head. So I was sufficiently scared. Its one thing trying to calm yourself down, when you see a HUGE man and quite another when the HUGE man is as blind, in mind (I was hoping he was not blind blind, though I could hardly make out), as he was.

"Sssshave...", I tried hard to sound straight and fearless.

This guy does a few things, asks me if I would like to use foam or cream. All the time his demeanour bordered on ......... well he looked to me, sufficiently monomaniac, well... perhaps a psychopath.

Anyway, when it was over, I asked him the amount and he mumbled something.

I could not make out what he said and I had no courage to ask him again. So I gave him a Rs 50 note, and he started clearing the table.

"Surely it can not be Rs 50", I told myself. But I could not bring myself to ask him that.

I stood the ground like a male Lion, who has just lost his pride and his territory to another more strong Lion, but who still wants something back.

Slowly I saw him walking towards me. He better not ask me, "What do you want?"

I took an aggressive posture. He passed me, went to the reception desk, handed me over, "Rs 30".

But the market rate is "Rs35." why is this guy charging me only Rs 20?

Oh well, now as I think of it, I must have scared the shit out of him.

Amit1

2005-08-08T18:39:00.001+05:30

Amit1, originally uploaded by Nature's very own.

Amitabh Bachchan.

A glimpse of India.

2005-08-08T17:22:00.000+05:30

For those not from England, Australia and erstwhile English colonies, cricket is a game which looks like baseball, and is played in two modes. The shorter mode, is played over 9 hours. The longer version, and the real cricket, is played over 5 days. Amazing right?

Well, yesterday an awesome test was played between England and Australia. And it will go down as one of the 3 best tests I have ever witnessed. The rivalry between England and Australia in the "Ashes" test series is matched only by the rivalry between India and Pakistan encounters and frankly, it crosses all the limits of decency and logic. Cricket is religion in India and cricketers alonside actors, the demi-Gods.

If an Indian is not watching cricket, he is watching a movie, and if he is not watching a movie either, he is dead. Out of 800+ movies that India churns out every year, 99% is crap. From the remaining 1%, some are good, some are very good, and once in a blue moon, a great movie comes out. This year, has seen a refreshing change. 3 movies, downright commercial, came without a song. The common thread was Amitabh Bachchan. Those who do not know him, he is the God of all gods in India. A tremendous actor, he is hugely popular in the third world countries and in African countries. For instance, in Egypt, you get a discount if you are an Indian because you are from HIS country. Militants, and Amitabh is not a muslim, free journalists in Afganistan and Iraq because they are from HIS country or they know him as journalists. Part of the reason why I say, BBC/CNN reporters have no idea of the ground situation in Iraq/afganistan.

Food, Indians love it. Eat to please self, dress to please others. Well I do not know about the other part, Eating part is followed to the hilt.

D3

2005-08-06T13:32:00.000+05:30

D3, originally uploaded by Nature's very own.

My daughter, 8 months old. Taken in Portland, Maine in 2000.

как дела ?

2005-08-06T12:30:00.000+05:30

I have a soft corner for Russians. Not the Russian governments of the past, but Russians, the common people. I had a Russian girl friend in school and another Russian (now Polish) girl friend after High school. I have learnt many things from the Russians, have played football with them, learnt chess from them on one of those Russian chess computers, learnt how to make Russian salad while my mum learnt making Russian chocolates and many other dishes.

So whenever I hear anything bad about Russia, I feel bad. Another submarine, though thankfully not as big and as dangerous as Kursk is lying at the bottom of the ocean and US, Japan have rushed the recovery vehicles. I hope there is no loss of life this time.

I hope the answer to my question "как дела ?" is "Very Good".

Time and management.

2005-08-04T23:14:00.000+05:30

My headache has returned to haunt me. Time to visit my opthalmologist I guess.

My wife is pregnant and if everything goes on well, the new born will crash land on this Earth, sometime next March. As is usual in pregnancy, she has become very selective about what she wants to eat.

My daughter has viral fever and LRTI.

My manager is leaving for US this weekend and I need to finish some design issues before that.

Awesome.... Reminds me of a dialogue from "My Cousin Vinny."

LETS SEE WHAT ELSE CAN WE PILE ON TOP OF THIS.

Oh plenty Anoop. Plenty. Think of the parent of a physically or mentally challenged child and the rigours he/she has to go through, think of the countless Somalians where the infant death rate is higher than the literacy rate of India. There are so many miserable conditions that I have not faced and more importantly, I would rather not face.

Well, this is only about time management.

90, hundred thousand

2005-08-02T17:45:00.000+05:30

"Can you count upto 90, hundred thousand?"

"Yes, I can."

"Please count."

"Well it will take a very long time. And I have no idea how long."

Frankly I have no idea where did my 5 year old daughter pick that number up. But if there is one number that one can find her talking about these days, it is "90, hundred thousand".

Would I not love to test Sherlock Holmes now over this little mystery?

Any idea what could that number possibly represent?

2005-08-01T08:58:00.000+05:30

First of all, GG and PP (lol isnt that rhyming so well), thanks a lot. :)

A quick update. I had some problem with my head. Wasnt a brain tumour, though that would have been a good news in that it would have laid my doubts to rest on whether or not I have brains. Anyway, so for 8 days, I could not sit infront of a computer because the headache would kill me. So I kept my interaction with the digital idiot box to the minimum.

Elsewhere in India, specially Mumbai, rains have devastated lives of millions. 37 inches of rain in a single day. That's a world record. And it followed with the complete destruction of India's biggest oil platform in Bombay High. It had caught fire after another vessel collided with it due to a high tide. Now I have personal memories attached with that platform. My father used to work there and I have been there, out in the middle of the sea, standing on the helipad, feeling on the top of the world. And that structure is no more.

But life has to move on.

P.S. -- Figment of imagination, now I would love to be that. ;)

CHAURAASTA

2005-07-20T22:39:00.000+05:30

We had to go to a temple, well.. yes, that's right. You see my wife does believe in God. So stop giving me those looks.

Now in India, you don't have those wonderful maps and directions that one can get on the internet in US. So making a memory map of the place from what our friends told us, we started sometime in the afternoon (Now this is an old incident but something reminded me of it today and hence).

I like driving and I like it so much that I don't mind "not clarifying" the directions even if I feel I am lost (which reminds me of a wild goose chase incident at 3 a.m. in Connecticut and NY). And it was not as if I had an appointment with someone. So we drove and drove and drove thinking we would hit the temple road somewhere. Now I am a patient of patience but not my wife. She was getting restless and she had expressed that in no uncertain terms. Hell I thought I would need to ask UN to intervene, but knowing the effectiveness, rather the lack of it, I decided to postpone all the SOS calls. We had already travelled 20 miles on the highway and when all that was in front of us was a long, long, very long stretch of road, my wife gave me a long, long, very long stare. So menacing was it that I did a Matrix style car U turn and stopped at the first sight of intelligent life sign. On inquiring, we came to know that we had come many miles away in the perpendicular direction. I tried not to look at my wife. The fear of her, well that's the closest I have come to believing in God and it was a very selfish motive I agree but.....

So finally, we hit the right road after many miles and many minutes of driving. But we still had to take many turns and this time I wanted to confirm the exact turn. So I stopped the car and asked a vendor on the roadside and he asked me to turn left at the next CHAURAASTA(crossroads, chau for 4 and raasta for road). I looked at my wife now hoping to get the pat. Do I sound like the pup? Anyway, we drove again. We went and went and went and the crossroads were nowhere to be seen. This time I was getting restless because I, being a science student, firmly believe in Newton's third law. Anyway, we looked at each other for a moment and I turned the car. Whoever said a picture is worth a thousand words!!! Here silence was saying things Nostredamus could not have predicted and Shakespeare could not have described.
On turning back, again we asked a nice soul for the directions. He told us to look for a CHAURAASTA and take a right turn there. Atleast that was very comforting. Left on the crossroads from one direction equals right on the crossroads from the opposite direction.

Again we kept on going looking for that mirage CHAURAASTA that eluded us the first time. Till we reached the same first vendor. Now, I have no words to describe you my innermost thoughts and feelings. Have you seen those gigantic pistons in the movie "titanic" and heard the sounds they make?

Anyway this time we asked yet another person and he asked us to look for the CHAURAASTA again and left turn it was again. Exasperated, and cursing myself over how could I miss a CHAURAASTA, I continued what I love doing, the drive. Except this one time, I was trying to keep the pressure right on my soul instead of the breaks. Well, again we missed it and again we returned back. Then it struck me. This time while inquiring, I asked the man, "are there three roads that converge at that CHAURAASTA or four?" Now it might sound like a stupid question but it was not. The guy replied "three". I felt like strangling all the previous noble souls. It was a T junction I was supposed to look for, not crossroads.

You see, here in Hyderabad, people speak a variant of Hindi and Urdu mix. And any junction which has more 3 or more roads converging is called a CHAURAASTA, which in North India, and for North Indians, strictly means "crossroads".

Bastards

2005-07-20T14:51:00.000+05:30

Main Entry: rape
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): raped; rap·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin rapere1
a archaic : to seize and take away by force b : DESPOIL
2 : to commit rape on

Can anybody possibly define what rape means to a woman? Is it mere violation of a person? Is it just a physical suffering that a rape victim has to go through? It is a whole lot more than just those things. Since I am a man, I can perhaps never understand the trauma behind it, the mental scars that fail to heal even with time, the constant fear one has to live with. To live with a feeling that you have been violated despite all your resistance, that in itself is a very scary thought.

Well Delhi is not just the capital of India, it is the RAPE capital of India. You only have to google for "Rape" and "Delhi" to get a feel of the numbers I am talking about.

Here is a news item you can read....
Woman gangraped in moving carJuly 20, 2005 13:58 ISTA 22-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped on Wednesday in a movingcar in southwest Delhi.The victim was abducted from Mayapuri area and allegedly raped by fourmen in the vehicle. No arrests have been made, police sources said.A few months back, a Delhi University student was abducted from DhaulaKuan area and gang-raped in a moving car.Three of four accused in that case are yet to be apprehended.

Taste buds

2005-07-19T00:59:00.000+05:30

What is/are your favorite cuisine(s)?
And what do you like the most? (As in Sushi, Fajitas, Burritos, Mashed Potatoes, Rice, Daal, Curry...)

Of man, his convictions and his actions

2005-07-19T00:25:00.000+05:30

To correct a wrong, sometimes one needs to do a wrong.

There is this ex-colleague of mine, a gem of a person, who is exceptionally brilliant. 3 years back we had joined the same company, on 1st April 2002, and none of us knows till this day who made a fool of who, the company made a fool of us or did we make a fool of the company? The thing is, there wasnt much work coming. Oh, no, the company was not closing down. It's a very big company, which I will let you figure out. It's responsible for your telephone bills generation, AT&T, Sprint etc... in US, BT in England... and many more. But the work was monotonous and not very frequent. So for almost 2 years, I was on an extended picnic. I used to say, "I am highest paid call centre guy in India," because I was getting handsome salary for just talking to the clients, AT & T wireless, and coordinating with my team. Ofcourse it impacted me negatively in the sense, my technical skills were completely rusted. So I decided to move on. For 6 months I worked at another mid-size company where I realized I was wrong all along. I had thought no other company could be quite as bad as my previous company but this company proved me wrong. And so I changed yet again. Now I am not a frequent job changer. I don't believe in it. But I had to. And now I am in my dream job. Now this company is another big company which has a datawarehousing product and I am in the product development R & D center. Technically very satisfying.

So this friend of mine, my junior, is still with the same old company and now he has decided to move too. I forwarded his resume here and he had an interview today. As I said, he is simply a brilliant chap. But the problem is that he a bit like Mycroft Holmes, the elder brother of Sherlock, who had better reasoning abilities but was never curious enough to verify them. So this guy actually hates when someone asks him to code in the interviews. And I must say he is right. If one wants a candidate to code in an interview, one should provide a computer as well to the candidate. Now he has written a file system himself, and how difficult that is would depend on how much is one comfortable with the computers. Let me just say that he is amongst the rare 2% of the software programmers who know a thing or two about file systems internals.

But he is a man of principles too. And that is really his undoing. He had actually rejected a promotion. Now how many guys do that? So today when my manager came back after taking his interview and told me he is kind of "OK", I actually wanted to scream, "he is better than either of us just that he has a problem with the kind of questions you have asked him."

But I also feel that he would love his job here and for that he needs to bend his rules just a little bit. Ofcourse, my respect for this wonderful man grows everytime I meet him. I hope he makes it. :)

Discovery blues

2005-07-18T14:16:00.000+05:30

I don't believe in God and yet when something tells me, someone is keeping a watch on me, someone I don't know, I feel it is true. Will come back to it in a while.

Very few people visit my site. GG, Dcver, Icy, Piu Piu, Vikings now. But there is someone who has been visiting my site for quite sometime now and has never left a comment. Now no big deal really, except that my office headquarters are in California and all the system admins sit in California. And this guy, he or a she, checks on my site from California. Now I know I am not a great writer, not even a good one. And modesty is not a virtue as Sherlock Holmes famously said.

So well, all I want to know my dear friend from California, if you are indeed from my company please let me know so that I dont publish stuff on my office life and my thoughts on me colleagues. ;)

Please, please, please, please do that. I am scared. :'( . Very scared. ;)

Here is your IP and other details.
California, Sunnyvale, United States lj2157.inktomisearch.com (68.142.249.167)

Anoop.

Edit ::: Khoda paahad, nikli chuhiya... thats the Hindi proverb for "Much ado about nothing"
Apparently this is a bot and has nailed my site... now I know why the stats of my sites have gone up so much more. I can talk all the rubbish on my colleagues now, YOOOOO HOOOOO.... ;)

Rowling on a roll.

2005-07-17T02:30:00.000+05:30

Harry Potter has sold over 100,000 copies in India.
Its priced at Rs 650. Thats about US $14.

Rs 65, 000, 000. US $ 1400, 000.

India continues to be the amazing country it was in my last post. People do things not because they know what they are doing and more importantly they like it but because "its a hot thing".

I havent read nor watched a single Harry Potter movie/book, so I won't be judgemental. It could be brilliant, it could be very good, it good be good, it could be average, it could be just tolerable, it could be crap, it could be anything really.
But I personally know people who like a thing only because its "hot and happening".

And, unfortunately, there is no dearth of such people in India.

Diversity, thy name is India.

2005-07-14T19:47:00.000+05:30

"Your lunch is not very different from what we eat!!"

Its funny, and actually amazing for I do not know of any other country where the food habits are so varied. India, I was taught, is a land of unity in diversity. The first thing or perhaps one of the first things that an Indian would ask another fellow Indian in the very first meeting is, "So where are you from?"

What is really interesting is that a person can be easily pinned to a state based on his language/dialect/lunch box, perhaps even looks. A name will almost always give away the state of a person.

"Ah Neil Armstrong. He must be from ....errrr.... Alabama? Arkansas? I dunno...."

Meet an Indian now.

"Mr. Krishnan. You must be from Tamil Nadu."
"Dr. Reddy. You must be from Andhra Pradesh."
"Patel Bhai, which town are you from in Gujarat?"
"Oye Singh Saab, where in Punjab?"

Yesterday while taking lunch, my project manager saw the contents of the lunch box and she said "Your lunch is not very different from what we eat!!"

Well indeed she was surprised. Because in India, you can tell the state of a man from the food he eats.

This is an amazing country. It really is.

Aye Blair.

2005-07-14T11:34:00.000+05:30

A news quote.

Affirming Britain's determination to crack down extremists, Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday said anti-terror laws would be tightened.
He said steps would be taken to fast-track deportation of radical Imams to prevent them from spreading the "evil and extreme ideology" based on a "perverted and poisonous misinterpretation of Islam."

Finally Blair has done or rather said, first right thing on dealing with Terrorism.

I love her

2005-07-12T14:35:00.000+05:30

It had drizzled the whole day and as the night got darker, it had become extremely cold. As I closed the main gate I heard a voice from under the stairs. Alert, I went near the stairs and I noticed her. She was crying. Hungry perhaps I thought. I gave her some bread which she ate very quietly, actually furiously. Next day when I went out to fetch the newspaper, she was there, outside my door, sitting on the newspaper, shivering. She had a beautiful face and lovely eyes. And through her eyes she looked at me almost as if asking, please take care of me. But she was a social outcast. Worse my landlords immediately became aware of her presence. I wanted to help her and I knew I had to do it very secretly. Passing her the food, make sure she is healthy and fit, its been 3 days now. And ever since I found that pup outside my house on Saturday night, the bond between us has only strengthened. Its a stray pup. So what? I love her.

She has become more confident in my presence, perhaps her mother has died, and I took her for a walk yesterday evening. She enjoyed it. I have to make her realise that its her territory and that she need not be afraid of anyone. I have no experience with animals(dogs in particular) because either my mother never wanted it or now my wife does not like them. But now my wife has also started liking her.

And as I move ahead, I will need all the help in the world. Any tips?

Not a bad job.

2005-07-09T10:12:00.000+05:30

I am an average guy, neither very intelligent nor extraordinarily dumb. I was never so ambitious as to pull others down or walk over others to get "there" nor was I disinterested in my career.

As I said, a normal next door guy. And so now after 7 years since I have started working, yesterday when I sat in my CTO's cabin discussing features to be imparted in the next release of the product, I got a sense of pride, perhaps some sense of achievement too. I know its perhaps not so big as I am making it out to be but yet the moments, the 7 years since I started my career, passed like a movie in my mind and I said to myself, "Anoop not a bad job."

I have the details you seek.

2005-07-07T16:52:00.000+05:30

Here are a few candid facts about me.

1.) I am rich, stinking rich actually. I have a swiss bank account and I have more than 29 million Euros. I keep my swiss account details in a simple text file.
2.) I have a very large collection of porn and membership of many adult sites. All the membership details are in a simple text file.
3.) I have multiple affairs with many famous and non-famous, even infamous celebrities. All the juicy details, private hidden videos, are stored across various web servers and all the details of those servers are in a simple text file.
4.) I know the secret of the Holy Grail as also I know the remains of the famous apple that started it all between Adam and Eve. All this also is in a simple text file.
5.) I have access to the latest technology from NASA and CIA and all the access keys are stored in a simple text file.
6.) I am a very close pal of Osama Bin Laden and I know where he is hiding. The frequency with which he changes his whereabouts, the frequency at which I talk to him over the radioshack, and all other such important details are in a simple text file.
7.) I have a definite proof of Alien life and trust me the alien females are more gorgeous than the most beautiful woman on earth. I have their contact details in a simple text file.
8.) I have the details on Lady Diana and details of what she thought of Prince Charles or for that matter her "chemistry" with Kennedy Jr. All those are also in a simple text file.
9.) I have much much much more. All that is listed in detail in a simple text file.

All those simple text files are stored in my gmail account.

Well there was a hacking attempt on my email (Gmail) account and I wonder what was it that the cracker was seeking? :-?

Just ask me any of the above mentioned things and I will gladly provide you with the information.

Anything else that you guys can think of?

Crackingly yours,
Anoop.

Brownie points

2005-07-07T14:42:00.000+05:30

Perception is not reality. Don't we all know that? And yet we get trapped in the viciousness of it. This morning a funny incident occured. A colleague of mine walked in at around 11 a.m.

Now to reach her cubicle one needs to walk past the room of the "Boss", the seniormost guy who looks after India operations. Now she is carrying her stuff and all and she does not want the "Boss" to know the fact that she came very late. So what does she do? She comes near my cubicle, puts all her stuff in her cubicle reaching across from over my side and then walks past the cabin of "Boss".

Why are Indians so scared of their bosses? I have no idea. I love my office and I like my colleagues because bottomline is they all are technically good. But I hate it when someone tries to score a few brownie points. Take this, two of my colleagues come back from the respective vacations and get a whole set of chocolates/sweets for the manager's daughter, which she politely refuses. My respect for her has increased after the two incidents.

Poor Man's Sherlock Holmes

2005-07-06T18:11:00.000+05:30

The more I read Hercule Poirot, the more I am convinced that he is a poor man's Sherlock Holmes. I have read all the adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (there are other stories from other writers too, hence.), many times over and ditto with Poirot. I know Agatha Christie has mentioned herself that she can not possibly emulate Sherlock Holmes. So why so much of a similarity? Why have Captain Hastings like Dr Watson? Why the invalidation? Why have Inspector Japp like Inspector Lestrade?

Was it a tribute to Sherlock Holmes? Or was it an attempt to better what Sherlock Holmes did?

Alas, one will never know!!!!!!

Mustard musings

2005-07-06T12:28:00.000+05:30

It all started here. http://sapodilla.blogspot.com/2005/06/atichoooo.html

(Read the comments too.)

So well, yesterday I was feeling miserable. Left office before lunch, went home, slept like a log. In the night I took the mustard oil treatment (read the comments of GG's above mentioned post.) and VOILA, today I feel so much better.

Someone afraid of the mustard oil treatment? Eh? ;)

Child is the father of man.

2005-07-05T10:48:00.000+05:30

"Mummy," my daughter slides across the bed to my wife while watching some song and dance routine from some Indian movie and whispers in her ear though there is no one else in the house, "I have a question".

"Yes?"

"Will I have to dance around like this after marriage too?"

High time Indian producers and directors thought about the stupidity of it all.

Second incident. This happened sometime early last year. I had gone to pick up my daughter from her school and had hid behind a bush. I could see her and her few classmates peeping through the window waiting for the final bell to go off.

In the afternoon after lunch, I asked her, so why were you looking out of the window? Were you looking for me?

"Yes, you were behind the bush, isnt it."

"Nope," I lied.

"Then how did you know I was looking out of the window?" pat came the question.

I was zapped. One of my proud daddy moments.

Dishum Dishum....

2005-07-04T16:32:00.000+05:30

Dishum..... Dishum... Dishum....

Those who are not familiar with Hindi movies, for that matter any Indian movie, this is the sound of a punch.

"You think I am not important eh? Lemme show ya...."

DISHUM......

And off went my head giving me my worst headache in recent memory.

"Tchhh Tchhh.... thats all you can do? You can be easily cured by a saridon.... lemme show ya wat I can do....."

DISHUM.........

My wrist started hurting so much I couldn't type.

"Now tat is juz a showoff. Tat is nuthin. It can be cured by a spray.... lemme show ya wat I can do......"

DISHUM........

And my stomach hurt so bad, I could not sit, I could not sit even to drive back home.

"Well tat ain't impressive mister. I can hurt more."

DISHUM........

"Me head came back with a venegance."

"I can cause more pain. Watch now"

DISHUM.......

"My wrist started hurting so much I had to wrap an ace bandage around my wrist.

"And you thought I was being as intense as I can be? Take this."

DISHUM DISHUM DISHUM......

I could not eat anything for 2 days surviving on liquid diet.

The war of the world was definitely not started by this human. And I was the worst sufferer. Finally when I felt a little better last evening, I watched a movie.

This morning when I got up....

DISHUM...... DISHUM...... DISHUM.......DISHUM...... DISHUM...... DISHUM.......DISHUM...... DISHUM...... DISHUM.......DISHUM...... DISHUM...... DISHUM.......DISHUM...... DISHUM...... DISHUM.......

I have caught cold.

I have my advice of mustard oil with me. I know the recipes of honey, lime, ginger etc.... Anything else guys?

P.S.:- Wonder if I will watch Steven Speilberg's "War of the worlds" at all :-?

Male chauvinism

2005-06-30T02:27:00.000+05:30

Behind every confused driver there is a woman.

Debate this.

Urgentina........

2005-06-30T01:03:00.000+05:30

2 goals in the first 16 minutes.... Argentina down by 2 goals by the first half.....

PATEHTIC.... ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC....

I have switched off the TV in disgust... Argentina is 3 down.

IH-3 or perhaps a time for Indian Muslims to wake up.

2005-06-29T22:12:00.000+05:30

Top 5 things for which I am absolutely convinced that a man should be hanged after being tortured in the worst possible way,

1.) Rape
2.) Rape
3.) Rape
4.) Rape
5.) Rape

Take this, a woman is raped by her father-in-law. The Muslim personal law board, says now that she has had intercourse (nevermind the rape) with the father of her husband, she becomes the mother of her husband and hence she can not continue living with her present husband.

I have no words to describe this preposterous stuff. But thats not all. It gets even better... or worse....

The husband and the wife want to get over it and live together. The Muslim Personal Law Board steps in again and says they can not do it. And beat this.... A FATWA is issued.

For those who do not know what a Fatwa is .... just google. even Salman Rushdie has one on his head. Just made your google search easier.

Indian Muslim Personal Law Board needs a spanking. BIG TIME.

Letting it be.

2005-06-29T01:14:00.000+05:30

It had come to a point where he had to decide. She did not trust him enough and he could not, not love her. He wanted her to trust him and for that he needed to tell her that, talk to her but his self-respect (or was it ego) was not letting him. Was he tired of her insecurity? Should he have taken the lead for their sake or should he have let that be? It was not a question of her, it was a question of them. It was not a question of life, it was a question of living it. It was not a question of two souls trying to be one, it was a question of one soul being crushed into two.

He did not want her anywhere near his life. He wanted to include her in the making of his life.

....................... And he let it be.

Off my chest.

2005-06-28T23:26:00.000+05:30

I have had moments I am ashamed of. I am definitely better for them but if I could learn all that I did, without living those moments, I would happily trade them for anything.

I just wanted to say sorry to two persons who I know I have hurt a lot. It was not intentional but hurt is hurt....

Sorry.

The long and short of it.

2005-06-27T16:03:00.000+05:30

Beautiful weather!!!!

What was I doing this day last year?

Checking the calendar, it was a sunday. And back then I was in a terrible company doing a terrible job, working on the weekends. I must have been sitting in the office killing time.

What was I doing this day two years back?

It was a Friday. I have no recollection of it.

Though the last one that I can remember "this day that age" kind of a thing, is June of 1975. I was 3 months in my mother's womb playing happily, oblivious of this world :).

How time passes! We can account for each minute as it is passing by and when it has passed we forget it in a hurry. And as the months roll on and years pass by, we can not recount even the days. Time, so small and yet so big.

Pathetic football

2005-06-26T23:56:00.000+05:30

This can not get more ridiculous. Argentina, arguably the best football side in the world today, is struggling against Mexico. I agree they are not full strength and Crespo is not playing but ..... common... they have played a club level game so far. Only after the first goal by Mexico, did Argentina wake up.

Well its off to penalty shoot outs now and lets see what happens.

But this is ridiculous.

Edited : Well so Argentina has won it in sudden death. It would be exciting to see them take on Brazil.

Language barrier

2005-06-26T00:35:00.000+05:30

I was watching this Hindi movie Parineeta, when this question crossed my mind. What would be that one thing that one would miss the most because one did not know a particular language. For me it would be literature. There is so much of untranslated work in other languages that I would love to read. What a pity!!!

Tell me what is that one thing that you think you miss the most because you do not know a particular language?

Check mate

2005-06-22T22:50:00.000+05:30

Okay, I am on a high. I beat the GNU Chess in 44 moves. Well I know its not a big deal for many but for me..... Its WOW. Way to go......

Sitting in the office, I am supposed to be working ;) but hey I can afford a chess break, can't I?

The crap called Matrix.

2005-06-22T10:54:00.000+05:30

I liked matrix. I really did. But only for its special effects.

The plot of Matrix would be cool or high funda stuff to anyone who wants to look cool rather than is cool. As I often say, its like being a microsoft programmer versus being a linux/unix programmer. It has swept off a so many guys off their feet (and their mind) because the script writers made it a complex work. But complex need not be true.

Well Mr. Anderson (however you are spelt), first of all, dream world is different from the real world. The actions that one does in the dream world have no repercussions in the real life. And hence if someone was chasing me in my dream world, when I do get up, I would still be on my bed. And I would naturally be curious to know about my origin and my past in the real world if I had been sleeping very long. But then the crimes I have commited in my dreams won't be accounted for in the real world.

And the whole human-energy thing? Machines turning humans into machines.... Fine keep it at that. As a fantasy I will allow that, but when you are talking science, get the facts right. Humans don't have sufficient energy to keep a simple house bulb glowing for a minute. So many things.....

Well.. it all started this morning with a debate on sci-fi movies which soon turned into a Matrix discussion. I will watch Matrix part 1 anyday for the special effects. For the gray matter, I have linux code with me. :)

Ping pong bumps a lump

2005-06-21T16:38:00.000+05:30

Last thursday, while playing TT or Ping Pong as is called in some places, I accidentally bumped my head against a wall, actually a corner. A visible lump looked like a small plateau sitting beautiful amidst the greenry, errr... blackry. When I returned home, I knew I was disoriented. I mean, people are disoriented and here I knew I was disoriented. The pain only increased in the next few days. So I decided to either sleep or pretend to sleep, the whole of the weekend.

Today I feel its finally gone. I am feeling so much more better.

I can picnic now on some plateau. :)

Serendipity

2005-06-20T23:24:00.000+05:30

It was as if time had stopped moving. A sense of touch, so overwhelming and so consuming, when it was finally over, he was left speechless, in heart and in soul. He felt as if he had lived a life, but with a tinge of sadness. There was a sense of touch, the sense of feeling her, in soul, there was a sense of reliving the moments that were the ne plus ultra of joy, he had ever known. And has he moved his fingers, just so delicately over the small, very tiny bottle of cologne, his face had lit up with a smile that hinted at the knowledge of the profound meaning of love, true love. He had accidentally discovered the bottle, which was given to him by the girl he loved, unconditionally and truly, after almost 10 years. He had lost it, till today but had never forgotten about it. The cologne, though manly, always reminded him of her, her touch, her soft skin, her odour. And after so many years, all the memories, all the feelings had returned back to engulf him in the sea of emotions. He embraced the moments with tenderness of soul that should not have been reserved for it, without any guilt perhaps because he knew he could love only one in this lifetime, and he had already done so. He could have denied but he knew it would not have been the truth and the truth like the moment would come back again, to snuggle him, perhaps even to haunt him.

Indian Culture, the myth of it.

2005-06-20T14:31:00.000+05:30

1 : CULTIVATION, TILLAGE
2 : the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education
3 : expert care and training
4 a : enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training b : acquaintance with and taste in fine arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational and technical skills
5 a : the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group c : the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes a company or corporation
6 : cultivation of living material in prepared nutrient media; also : a product of such cultivation

What is culture? I have been told and I have read also in my history textbooks that India has a rich culture and a long history of it. Okay but there was no India before 1947. I am an Indian and a proud Indian at that. But merely saying "Indian culture is very rich" does not make it so. Are we talking about a culture where there is mass exodus to western countries for the singular reason that the living standards are better there? Or are we talking about a culture where human lives are not as precious as they are in the developed countries? Why go so far, even in this country, everyone is equal, some are just more equal. Perhaps we are talking about the culture of dowry and dowry related deaths or for that matter the culture where females are worshipped but only in temples. Just what culture are we talking about? Enlighten me someone.

I, me, myself

2005-06-15T10:07:00.000+05:30

What do I love?
I love travelling, sports, adventure sports, walking bare feet on a beach feeling the cold sand, spending the night there, driving, reading, writing, martial arts, programming, science and technology, wild life, universe, theory of relativity, watching good (whose good!!!!) movies, music, children and spending time with my daughter.

That's a big list, but I genuinely love all those. And that's the complete list unless I have to break it down. I am not much of a pub person. And I can not mix easily in a crowd. Okay.... okay... I am pretty shy. Am I a loner? Perhaps I am but I don't despise company. I am not xenophobic.

I love the setting sun, and if I have to watch the rising sun, I will need to skip my sleep because there are only two things that can wake me up early in the morning at that hour, swimming and Tennis. I love the ocean waves whispering to me, teaching me about life itself, the joys of living it and the sand asking me subtly to give room to my partner in the relationship because if I try tighten my grip on it, I will only lose it.

I love taekwondo. And I have shamelessly copied those words from the school in NY where I was learning it. http://www.ilovetaekwondo.net/ This is one thing I want to pursue again and one of the two reasons why I would love to go back to US.

I love wild life. I would love to have a face to face with a great white shark, or a black Mamba, or a king Cobra, or feed a croc in Darwin or the Australian zoo.

Perhaps, I will have the guts to quit software industry after 5-10 years by when I would have had enough of programming and pursue one of these interests.

What do you like to do? What do you love?

I love sports .... and the sportstars.

2005-06-13T12:33:00.000+05:30

1985.

I was 10. I could have been anything, could have followed anything and could have dreamt of anything. Such a tender age it is. And there was someone, many thosand miles apart, born in a nation which badly wanted a hero, of the right kind, was 17 and quite surprisingly mature beyond his years.

1986.

I was 11 years old. Still, could have been anything, could have followed anything and could have dreamt of anything. Tender age, again. And there was another someone, many thousand miles apart again, born in a nation where passion thrives, drug rules, a nation which is a classic example of "if only", the most tragic feeling of all. That someone, single handedly, and quite literally too, won his home country the prestige that it had lost to England in a war 4 years ago.

1991.

I was a 16 year old teenager. I had dreams, I had imagination and I had the attitude (read foolish beyond imagination). It still was tender age though, okay... not so tender. And thousands of miles away again, a South American beauty stole my heart with her smile, and ....errr.... her dress. She was not a talent but her backhand shots are perhaps the best in the history of the women's tennis. And she remains the most beautiful to woman ever to have played professional tennis, atleast to me.

Boris Becker, Diego Maradona and Gabriela Sabatini. Three sports stars who developed my interest in sports. Today I am an avid sports follower. Besides cricket, which is a religion in India (and this is a cliche now), Sergei Bubka, Alexander Popov, Lance Armstrong, Aryton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Geet Sethi, Mike Russell, Stefan Edberg, Steffi Graf, Yelena Isinbayeva... the list is long, I have admired many.

And my current fav in men's sports and atheletics are "Roger Federer" and "Marat Safin".
And the woman who has stolen my heart for this brief while? Ivet Lolova.

Romancing with the atheletes, eh?

Blogging and the need of it.

2005-06-13T11:19:00.000+05:30

Why does one blog?

This is perhaps my 5th blog site, having deleted all the previous blogs. I have tried to be personal, I have tried to be judgemental, I have tried to act smart, I have tried to act "holier than thou", heck I have even been casual but nothing satisfied me. The whole idea of blogging, I find it superficial and yet I continue blogging. Let me just jot down a few reasons why I think people blog.

1.) They want to maintain a personal diary. (... on the internet... oxymoron)
2.) They want to impress others.
3.) They just want to log their thoughts and daily happenings. (.... so why not the good old pen and paper? But then why not this either? This is convenient afterall!!!!)
4.) They want to be known and be famous. (Perhaps because they wanted to be journalists, widely read, but could never become one?)

Do shed your thoughts on this.
Why do I blog? I have no idea. These blogs would make for excellent case studies for Freud, of that I am very sure. There's hypocrisy, genuine feelings, jealousy, sub-concious manipluation.... you name it, everything at work.

Okay, also tell me why do you blog? I will definitely seek the answer for myself now that I have raised the question.

Mother Teresa's son's wife.

2005-06-11T04:39:00.000+05:30

"I just keep on getting the dreams of mother-in-law."

Mother-in-law???????????????????????"

"Mother-in-lawwwwwwwww. "

Wow, either a very lucky mother-in-law or a very repressed and depressed daughter-in-law, well okay.... could be son-in-law too.

Except that I was really confused. So I asked again,

"Mother-in-law??"

"Haan bhai, jiki photo Theatre mein lagi hai" (Yes, whose photo (statue actually) is in the multiplex).

"You mean mother Teresa".

"Haan, Mother Teresa" (Yes mother Teresa), she said with an innocent smile.

Phew.......

That was my 5 year old daughter talking about Mother Teresa, after we returned from the movie. And I am still trying to figure out where did she pick up that word "Mother-in-Law"....
That's the most dangerous law in the world.

Double, on the rocks.

2005-06-10T13:33:00.000+05:30

"Why are we doing this?"

And my manager was ready to clutch her hair, actually pluck them out, out of sheer desperation. She must have thought, why did I pick this dumb guy in my team!! A little over 15 days, and instead of trying to solve an issue, if one asks one's manager, that question, it sounds less of a harmless, innocent question and more like a time bomb ticking.

Except I wasn't convinced. And then we had a discussion and she saw my point.

Do you have any idea what I am trying to say here? My fault, I haven't even mentioned it yet.

The thing is, I love computer programming. Now there are two types of software industries in this world. One is the product development, in which India is nowhere in the world map and this is where the big chunk of money lies. The other is the software services industry. This is where India is the global leader, but this market is dictated by the product market really. Now I had always wanted to be associated with some real hardcore product programming in C. Which is what I got in this current job.

So I am lucky to get the job I love because now I won't have to work another day in my life, as long as I am with this company.

But more importantly, all that is easily ruined if you have a manager who would only be as good as passing the words of his/her boss to the sub-ordinates. And this is where I am very lucky. I have a manager, who is technically good (ahhhh such a relief) and she listens and understands your point as well.

Double, on the rocks.

cheers.

A few lines

2005-06-09T19:48:00.000+05:30

kaheen nighaaon mein, unkahi baaton mein,
karwate lete dil ke jajhbaaton mein,
khamosh hi sahi, ek shikwa hai,
ki teri yaadein hi ab baaki hain meri panahon mein.

Good one.

2005-06-09T16:26:00.000+05:30

Beautiful read.

http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/jun/06dilip.htm

And do read the second part too. Link is provided in the article.

IH2 - The American connection

2005-06-08T22:24:00.000+05:30

In the last post I had mentioned that most Indians don't like USA. Now here lies a very subtle point. They don't dislike the Americans. They just do not like USA. Well I could never figure out the difference. So I will move on to the next one in the series of Indian Hypocrisy (You will find the first part here).

Most Indians, and specially those from Punjab and AP, like to go to USA. Nothing wrong with that except that they want to go and settle in US before actually leaving India. It is almost as if their only aim is to go and settle in US. It's not that they have to go down in the history as someone who beat Columbus in discovering USA in certain new ways. They know nothing about USA, except have some misleading images told by some expatriate or from Hollywood movies. The worse part is that it's not prevalent just among the poor section of the society, it's almost a fashion statement to say, "My son/daughter is in US" for the strong Indian middle class. Unfortunately down south, it also means more dowry for the son. An absolutely deplorable practice but continues unabated because ..... perhaps it can be the topic of IH3.

And the son or the daughter (in most cases, she goes as a daughter in law) flies off to the US, and files the green card. After a few years, he/she is an american citizen and can not come back to India because his/her children don't like India and can not adjust in India. Well, dont blame them for Christ's sake. They themselves could not live here, why blame the poor souls who are born in US? I have nothing against America and Americans but just as I am sure any American would not want to settle outside of US, permanently, I would not like to settle anywhere outside India. And definitely not because I will get more dowry or I can sleep with some Blondes (well I find all women equally beautiful or sexy) or because the living conditions in USA happen to be much better than they are in India. I don't expect an American or for that matter any outsider to come and change things in India for the better?

What goes around, comes back.

2005-06-08T10:13:00.000+05:30

This is a period in time when India and USA have been forging ties for a better future, ofcourse driven by their own strategic interests. Nothing wrong with that. It is not an utopian society afterall. But there is an interesting trend that I have witnessed. America was and still is hated around the world for its policies. The bias it shows towards a few nations who harbour terrorism like Pakistan, erstwhile in Afganistan, actually funding the Taliban against the Russians, their interference in Vietnam, Cuba, bias towards Israel, infusing drug money into Mexico and south central American countries etc. All those were driven by strategic interests as deemed fit then. Anyone denying that is either a politician or does not know what he/she is talking about. But that's not the point I want to talk about. For the simple reason that every country has its own dirty laundry to clean. And each government, each individual in this world is corrupt, limited only by the power at one's disposal.

Coming back to the point of this blog, Indians had/has this dislike(and this gives me the topic for my next blog, IH2) for USA because of many reasons. USA's support to Pakistan perhaps tops the list of reasons. Indians always have viewed USA as a nosy superpower. And not just interfering, but an arm twisting one at that. Over the years, and specially after 9/11 this view has mellowed down a lot. Perhaps because 9/11 just did not strike some emotional chords, it also showed to the world that America is really not all that powerful. I absolutely agree, it is a sadistic attitude to rejoice in that incident for whatever reason, but this is true. While many, and not just in India but also, from the developing and the poor countries felt bad about those who lost their lives, a majority of them actually saw this in a completely different light as well. For them it was a blow to the superpower status of USA. It's supposed to have the best defence system afterall, doesn't it? So they are as fallible and as human as each of one us is, thought many Indians and others. This was a binding thought. And while the intent can be faulted, the result, a compassionate feeling for the USA and its citizens, can not be. Add to that the fact that USA asked for help for the first time, actually helped convince people all the more that Americans are also just like anyone of us.

Post 9/11, the economy slowed down a lot. I was in US then, NY to be precise and on I-95 going to Washington to meet a friend, so this is a first hand account of it. I remember American Airlines and United had fired many employees. Car sales had dropped and for many companies, who were already on a firing spree due to e-com bubble burst, 9/11 only acted as a catalyst. They were looking for new avenues of growth and more importantly, curtail the expenses. That's when the call centres and the BPO business in India picked up. Soon thousands and lakhs of jobs were moved to India, where a company could hire, train and manage 3, and upto 5, employees for the cost of one employee in USA. And as the market in India picked up, there were noises heard in the white house, the senate and many other forums against outsourcing. But this all had to fail because outsourcing was and is, in the strategic interests of the US companies. And the bottomline in any business is money. So, when all those noises failed to move any amendments or laws, next wave of protests started. This one is ugly. The call centre employees in India are now a target of racial abuse. Being in the very business which aims to help and please the customer, these poor souls can not abuse back. Now, this is but natural. I absolutely understand the mental trauma that Americans who have lost their jobs and have a family to feed must be going through but I also know that you or I can do nothing about it. Its a decision of a company, an American company and the anger perhaps should be directed there. When America was (it still is though thats besides the point) powerful, it was hated by the world, and now that India's economy is on its way up at the expense of American citizens, its our turn to face the heat.
But this, I believe is just a cycle. It will pass. Because evolution, of man and society, is a way of life, of time. There are many things that we can learn from each other. I am sure there are many things that we Indians can learn from Europeans, Australians, South Americans, Africans, East Asians, but I have never lived there and so I am not competent to talk about it. But from Americans, I have learnt many things. But that will be the topic of one of my future blogs.

Old habbits die hard.

2005-06-06T14:35:00.000+05:30

Indians have this tendency of addressing the seniors, "sir" or "ma'm". I am not talking about school. In a workplace. So there is this colleague of mine, and if I called him cute westerners would think I am either gay or a bi and I am neither, a cute(strictly in the sense of cute babies) bloke, who has just come out of the university. So he addresses our PM the same way. Today I asked him, why does he address her that way? Why can he not just call her by her first name, like I do. His answer was funny. He said he is habituated because he used to address his teachers that way.

Well I hope he does not get married. I dread to think of the consequences in case he does not change his "habituated habbits" after marriage.

My day is turning out to be pretty amusing really. ;)

Salon timekeeping.

2005-06-06T11:12:00.000+05:30

"Do you know of any good Salon nearby?"

Quite a few guys who came to live in Hyderabad and ended up in my neighbourhood have asked me this question.

"Yes. Go to Salon O. But go only when you have enough time on your hands, " I always reply. Because while they are very good at what they do, they are very slow too, jutisying the saying "Slow and steady wins the race. How slow? Well, I go to sleep. Not when they are cutting my hair. But that's when they are making my shave. Yes I do go to a salon for a shave because for my lifetime, I can not learn how to shave a french cut properly. And when they are giving my hair a cut? Well lets just say, I come out fresh for another good 4-5 hours if I am dead tired. Thats how slow they are.

So this morning, after bicycling, I went to the salon. Wrong time. 8.00 a.m.
I am working on my punctuality timing at the office (read my last post) and in that endeavour, I have pinned a HUGE POST IT "AM I ON TIME TODAY" in my cubicle. 9.00 a.m. is the official start time.
So I tell him, I am in a hurry. Just make it quick. Well, now that I think of it, that was a big mistake. Absolutely unpardonable. Dim wit that either he is or I am, he relaxes, breaks his knuckles and goes out for a smoke. And well, he knows me very well because I am a regular there besides, if it matters, I tip them heavy.
I am a patient of patience and normally one needs to really do something weird to me to make me angry, actually to even raise my voice. (Boast all you can.)
So when he did not come back in even after 10 minutes, I did not gnaw but just shifted uncomfortably. I thought body language is a mighty language, messages from which his colleagues would pass on to him. Wrong again. No one bothered. Now, I think he must have been smoking a cigar because there is no way one can take more than 10 minutes to smoke a cigarette. Whatever that was, it took him more than 10 minutes.
Almost 8:15 a.m. 30 minutes for the shave, a quick shower, Thank God, office is close to my home. I can still make it. Wrong again.
He came in, put some towels around me, went to the reception area, put on some good music, taking on all the time in the world, to select his kind of music. If only I could tell him that, at that time, everything was music to my ears, albeit a jarring kind of music.

Almost 8:20 a.m. But I wouldn't speak. I wouldn't tell him, " O Lord, I am getting late."

Finally, His Majesty is standing next to me, applying the lather cream. I don't like the foam. He likes lathering it good. (read he takes another 8-10 minutes). Then he changes the blade, which thanks to the fear of HIV, I would like him to change, even if that means, taking the day off.

8:30 a.m.
He is working on my shave and the clock is ticking on me. Finally when it's done and he puts the cologne on my face, I get up and see the time on my wrist watch.
Almost 8:50 a.m. Not good. I pay him, pick my bicycle and reach home in a dash. I take a quick shower. And I am in the office at 9:15 a.m.

Not bad, eh?

Well I realized one thing. Next time whenever someone asks me if I know of a good salon in my neighbourhood, my reply will be, "Yes. Go to Salon O. But go only when you have enough time on your hands, and never, NEVER, ask for a quick shave or a quick hair cut."

Time vice

2005-06-03T14:43:00.000+05:30

I was late for a meeting. And even though I can not wake myself up before 9 a.m. my manager has been kind enough to let me come to the office at 10 a.m. I know it is not professional but I am an insomniac. Yes I am working on it but it will take some time. So, as I was saying, my manager schedules the meetings at 10.00 a.m. And that's really very nice of her. But today, I felt really bad. I hate giving excuses and more than that I hate it when people don't watch their time. And today, I was late by more than 15 minutes. There is no excuse for that. Very bad.

With moist eyes, and an ovewhelming feeling of gratitude, thank you KV Ankleshwar.

2005-06-01T23:03:00.000+05:30

I am told I am not an emotional person. And just a moment back I had moist eyes.

My primary education and part of the secondary education took place in a small Hindi medium school in a small town of western India. Back then the classes were held in tents. As I moved up in grades, this little school also progressed. Even at the time of its inception, it had concentrated on all round development of a student, which back then was a rarity. Within two years the school had its own building, a huge cricket ground and a football ground. And in another 3 years, when I was in the 5th class, it had its own basketball court, volleyball court, believe this, a swimming pool and, now would you believe it!! an exclusive baseball ground. Baseball, even now, is not a popular sport in India. But my school back in the early 1980's had not just the ground and the kit but also a teacher who knew the game. Apparently it's no longer taught anymore.

And it was not just sports, but extra curricular activities too, in which the students of my school excelled. Debates, quizzes, cultural competitions were held very regularly.

Then in 1989, I left the town as my father was transfered down south. It was another life. A new school, a new environment. It has been more than 16 years, and meanwhile I have gone through the high school, the junior college and a bachelors degree in Electrical and Electronics, but over the years it has remained my favorite school, the ideal school. And my sports teacher, my favorite teacher. Today while googling for something, I saw a site address that sounded familiar. I could not believe it. In India, for all the IT expertise that we have, we Indians are not at all internet savvy. And, while those schools that charge fees and collect donations (with no receipts) matching figures that would shame the height of Mt. Everest, do maintain their own websites, their websites remain just an advertising propaganda(Check this one out). While this school fees was a mere Rs 5 per month. And as I went through the pages, it has only become Rs. 100 (or less in some cases). But it's website contains not just the information related to facilities and infrastructure but it actually lists all the winners and toppers in the respective sports etc. That's leveraging the power of internet (and now check this one out).

And it has a website with the most updated information. Even the government of India's website shows the "ex-health minister" as the current health minister. That's how badly governed government institutes are in India. But clearly "my" school is an exception. Over the years, not only has it moved in the right direction, it has also not lost the essence of modern education ever.

And today as I look at its website, I have a sense of pride, a feeling of nostalgia, a gladdened heart and a sense of gratitude. I am what I am because of this school. And this school has gone the only way it has always gone, UP on its way to more glory.

May it always keep striving for the better. Moist eyes are no big deal.

Myth list

2005-06-01T17:13:00.000+05:30

Myth #1: India is a land of snake charmers.
Myth #2: Indians make for very good software programmers.
Myth #3: Indians are very hospitable.

Perhaps there are more, but my gray matter is letting me down big time.

Myth #1: India is a land of snake charmers.

India is both, stinking rich and heartbreakingly poor. The very fact that in almost all the fields of technology, specially defence, communications and science, we are in the top 10 in the world contradicts this wrong perception of India. Considering, we won(well, we did not win it really) our freedom only 58 years back, and were hugely resource deprived, this is no mean achievement. But things can always be better.

Myth #2: Indians make for very good software programmers.

Well, they are mostly below average or average. A very few of them are good, still fewer very good and one in a thousand is a brilliant programmer. More Indians are software programmers. And that is because that is an easy way to make more money and go to US and settle down there possibly.

Myth #3: Indians are very hospitable.

You only have to hear the badmouthing they engage in when a relative comes visiting. We are as opportunist as anyone else.

Silent moments.

2005-06-01T15:04:00.000+05:30

There was a silence, an almost numbness in the air itself. They should have talked. They didn't. It should have mattered. It didn't. What the two hearts were aching to hear should have been said. But it was as if the dead calm of the night had enveloped itself over everything. There was love but more hurt; there were feelings but strongly suppressed; there were they, supposed to be talking about things that perhaps meant the whole life to them, but instead engaged in their own soliloquies. Both of them wanted to ask questions, both of them wanted to answer some questions, but both of the let the time fly, quietly and uncomfortably. Many things remained unsaid, few insignificant things were spoken. What should have been, could have been. And what could have been, is not.

History, as we are told.

2005-05-31T16:10:00.000+05:30

"After hearing two eyewitness accounts of the same accident, you begin to wonder about history"

How true! Actually I have often wondered, how easily history can be distorted and how can I be so sure of events of the long past that have been chronicled by the historians? What does it take to distort the facts? Just a dictator right?

Why don't you all share your thoughts on the most ridiculous and unbelievable FACT you have heard?

Go Vegan Go

2005-05-31T10:58:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I received my PETA membership stuff for which I had applied over a month ago. I am a vegeterian by choice. And I am glad and happy. What people eat is none of my business. But I feel for animals that are tortured and/or killed just for the pleasure of human taste buds. Life to me is the best motivation for living it. And life of any living being is equally precious.

To HELL with computers

2005-05-30T21:18:00.000+05:30

I have broken my head, my neck (because it hurts due to excessive strain), my spinal cord (coz of bending too many times to change the CD's, my fingers (because of over-typing), and my patience with Dell computer. But SUSE Enterprise Server version 4 just wouldn't stall. It is as if, it has explicit orders to not listen to my commands. Dell Precision 370. That machine has a Seagate SATA drive and SUSE ESL 9 just does not support it. Why? Because the software engineers, for reasons best known to them, send information in packets using Frame Information Structure (FIS), which splits the packets but not on block boundaries. As a result the SATA drive is either not recognized by the Linux OS or it is hanging during installation when I switch it to SATA / PATA mode.

For those of you who do not know about it, please bear with me. I have bore enough patience with Dell so far. So much for DELL PRECISION 370.

HELL INDECISION 370.

From the unseen frontiers.

2005-05-30T13:32:00.000+05:30

Space Travel link - click here

Wondering what H.G.Wells would think about it were he alive today!!!

It would be real fun though meeting an alien. But how will we recognize an alien? Why can't an alien be absolutely unlike the living beings on Earth? Why can he/she not be made of rock, sand or metal? Actually why should it be a he or a she either? Why can the alien life survive without water or oxygen? Why do they have to be in the visible spectrum also or the audio wavelengths that we know of? So, in principle, there can exist life that we know nothing about and have no means to find out, as yet. And by the extension of the same, there exists a strong possibility that such a life form could be sitting in my verandah looking over my shoulder, without me knowing about its existence. Is that a scary thought?

There was this nasty joke that did the rounds when I was in the college. An alien comes down to earth and meets this gorgeous Blonde. He shakes her hand and obviously charmed does not release the grip. The blonde is excited that she has met an alien and they both engage in a conversation talking about things on earth and after about a couple of hours, Blonde, talking all this while, tells him how sex happens on earth. Then she asks out of curiousity, "So how is it done in your planet?"

Releasing the grip now, the alien replies "By shaking hands".

Enjoy your space travel.

IH-1

2005-05-30T08:26:00.000+05:30

"It's wrong."
"Who are we to pass on that judgement?"
"There is something called culture, shame, Indian values."
"Indians have always prided themselves with spritual advancement(well.... whatever that is). So why look at what the girls are wearing? How does physical display cheapen anything?"
"But it's wrong."

So it went, the talk between my conservative cousin, his conservative wife and myself. Well, nothing is more wrong than having some opinionated views. What had happened was that they, while I was taking them around the town on their visit to my place, saw a girl in a micro skirt with a transparent top. And like bullet they went on how the moral standards have corrupted. Now perhaps that was a sleazy outfit. Fine. But if a girl is comfortable wearing it and carrying it off, in a pub, I do not see, how or why can someone have a problem with that. I mean, isn't it hypocritic that while on one side, Indians say, physical sufferings, attractions are parts of what is called MAAYA and on the other hand the moral priests of the society come down hard, (strictly in an asexual way) on people (read girls), who wear the mini's and the micros? Recently there was a rape in a very safe (for women) city, Mumbai of a girl by a police constable. And a political party argued that the girl made a case for it by wearing revealing clothes. JESUS CHRIST. have the not heard of the word called VIOLATION? Did the girl say, "Rape me."? How dumb can it get! Actually how disgusting. And the bad part of it was that almost half the population of Mumbai, that took up a suvery, supported the view. Any guesses on the worst part? Well, there were women too who agreed with that view. I think I should start a series on Indian Hypocrisy. Yeah that's a good idea(Let others decide it ...Anoop ;) ). I am not saying there aren't any hypocrites in other parts of the world, in other countries. But why not start at home?

So treat this as IH-1.

God .... Who?

2005-05-29T07:18:00.000+05:30

Well, I was having a debate, now what's wrong with that? Why frowning? The debate was, and I insist, on the concept of God, not God. They are two different things. The debate on God, implies, though that might not be the intention of an atheist, that God exists. Where as the debate on the concept of God, is a fair pointer on what the debate should be actually about. There are a few mistakes, ok I feel so, that people make. Any discussion on the concept of the God, tends to bear an argument for or against science. Science is not, be all and end all of this world. Science is a gradual learning, which questions itself. Yes there are scientists who are reluctant to admit some changes, just as there have been popes/priests/people who have opposed the idea of the Earth going around the Sun. It's another matter that the word of God, should not have been wrong about the Earth going around the Sun, at the first place. God and science can peacefully exist or not exist. They need not be in mutual exclusion of each other.

But my problem is that I do not believe in the concept of God. I am a man of simple logic. And if logic can not prove to me the existence of God then nothing can, science or no science. You just can not tell me on the face, God exists, and expect me to believe it. Prove it. And if God has a hesitation revealing itself to one of it's own creation, well BUMMER.

The thing also is that people talk about intelligent design and the science of probability.

Intelligent design :
1.) Does intelligence need creation?
2.) No. End of the debate.
3.) Yes. Is God intelligent?
4.) No. Well ....
5.) Yes. So go to 1.)

Probability :

People argue, it can not be by chance. Such precision has to be created. Let's justify first, whether its really precision by creation or by chance.
Well, okay. Probability is the likely occurrence of an event, defined in mathematics as the ratio of the number of outcomes in an exhaustive set of equally likely outcomes that produce a given event to the total number of possible outcomes.
What are the total number of possible outcomes? All the planets, in all the solar systems, in this universe or all the universes, if the concept of parallel universe is true (which again I do not believe in)? Nope take also into account the planets, the solar systems, the galaxies that did not get formed. But does anyone know such a number? Not in my knowledge. We do not know how many galaxies exist, let alone know about the solar systems and the planets, how can we possibly know how many did not get formed, due to natural factors (not enough gravitation force to bind the material, not the right distance, etc...)!

There are more points and a discussion such as this can actually consume all the server space that Blogspot has to offer and yet will not result in any decisive outcome. This is not to hurt anyone's sentiments or feelings. Whether or not one believes in the concept of God, is one's own decision and rightly so. I just chose to ignore it.

Turning Green with envy.

2005-05-27T14:09:00.000+05:30

Green is the theme today in the office. Oh, did I tell you we have a party on the last friday of the month and a color is chosen to be the theme of the day. So this time, its Green. Okay Okay, I repeated. Well so I am wearing this, ethnic stuff, which I love, (and I haven't yet figured out how to put a picture on the blog, else I would have posted it.) and someone promptly remarked, "Nice mosquito net". :O Was he referring to my top, called a Kurta in Hindi, or me? A mosquito trapped in anything would make that anything a mosquito net, right? How dare he? ;)

Anyway, the weather has chosen to be pleasant today and that's a welcome after the harsh summer. What's on my agenda for the monsoon season? Well.... I love getting drenched in the rain. So that is something I am going to indulge in a lot. I beat GNU chess occassionaly now, so I have to sharpen that skill too. And snakes.... I love them, well I love all wild life, .... And I plan to join a snake club and get trained in handling them.

Go Cobra. But I need to end it on a green note. So, BOOMSLANGER.

Sunil Dutt is no more.

2005-05-25T15:31:00.000+05:30

As an actor he was average, and sometimes rank bad, nevertheless a top hero of his time. But as a human being, there aren't very many above him. A rare politician, his integrity no one questions, his commitment to cause of the slum dwellers is legendary and Indian sports had taken a turn for the better with him at the helm of the affaors as the sports minister of the country.

A great loss it indeed is.

Relationship and communication.

2005-05-25T14:06:00.000+05:30

This post is inspired by a couple of comments by me on annush's blog. Though it's not a comment on anyone.

There is a beautiful Indian movie called Ijaazat (Permission). Bear with me for a brief plot outline. It starts with the meeting of the hero, Naseer, and the heroine, Rekha, in a waiting room of a railway station. The story then goes into a flashback, where Naseer is in love with Anu, who is a pretty progressive in thoughts. Anu is non-commital on marriage as she thinks it might spoil the relationship. Meanwhile, Naseer is coaxed to marry an acquaintance, Rekha (yep who meets him in the waiting room), and Naseer tries one last time, asking Anu to marry him. Fast forward, Naseer is married to Rekha. Rekha sees some of the stuff of Anu lying in their house. She also comes to know about her through Naseer, who shares a platonic relationship with Anu. This bothers Rekha a lot and she becomes insecure. There is a beautiful dialogue by Naseer to Rekha on Anu, "More than me it's you who can not seem to forget her". Anyway, the story goes on and one day, Naseer is informed that Anu is serious in a hospital. He rushes from the office and comforts Anu. Next day, Rekha while doing the laundry finds Anu's earring stuck in Naseer sweater. She leaves him, in a moment of anger and anguish, thinking she is coming in between the two of them. But then one day she calls up Naseer to sort it out only to be answered by Anu on the phone. She leaves her home for an unknown destination, wishing him all the best with Anu.
The flashback ends there.
In the waiting room, Rekha asks Naseer, meeting him after a gap of a few years, about his life and Anu. Naseer tells her that after she had left him, he had a heart attack and Anu took his care. That was when, it seems, Rekha had called her. Anu wanted Naseer to call Rekha back but Naseer dismissed saying, "she went on her own, she should come on her own".
And about Anu, she had died in a road accident.
Regretting the events, they both sleep. In the morning, when Rekha returns his shawl (because it was cold, Naseer had offered her the shawl), her earring is also stuck in that. That's when Naseer says, "it does not mean, I slept with you. You had totally misinterpreted the chain of events."

Naseer wants to say, they can still get back, when Sashi, comes walking through the waiting room door, calling out Rekha, asking her to pack up and hurry up. Turns out, Rekha has married Sashi. Sashi takes her luggage out, and Rekha before departing says, "Pehle main bina pooche chali gayi thi, ab ijaazat de dijiye."
Translated it means, Earlier I had left without asking, please give me the permission now."

And she bows to him. Sashi, who is wondering whats taking his wife so long, comes rushing in and is puzzled. When they both go out, Rekha with teary eyes, Sashi asks her, who it was and then after a moments pause asks, "Naseer?". And the movie ends.

It's a beautiful movie and it is about how insecure we can get in our relationships only because we do not care to confront the situations. We draw our own inferences and perhaps it gets too late by the time we know the truth.

A relationship is worth all the pain in the world, but while in it. And the feeling of hurt is the most when a relationship goes down the drains only because we chose not to talk, not to communicate with the person we love.

This post is not a comment on anyone, but I am sure, everyone has been through it atleast once in one's lifetime.

Ahhhhhhhh it feels great

2005-05-24T20:28:00.000+05:30

well... nice break I had.

Who did I think I was? Superman. When the mercury shot up to 44 deg C, I was bicycling around. Trying to be another Lance Armstrong, eh? Mirror, mirror on the wall.....

So I got what I deserved. Dehydration and cramps and a mild fever. Well but I like to get sick... can someone dig up the name of the phobia for that for me please?

Anyway, I really wanted to take a break. I just did not want to be online. Watched some gorgeous movies(!!!), yeah thats talking like a character from any of the Jane Austen's novels. Cold Mountain, I liked very much. I do not know how the video libraries or IMDB classifies it based on the genre. What the heck... let me check out.

And IMDB says.... Genre: Drama / War / Romance (more)

Well to me this is really a romantic movie and perhaps the best I have seen. I know there are so many like Gone with the wind, Casablanca, Shop around the corner, City of Angels, Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry met Sally so on and so forth, but when it comes to romance, Indians, Indian novels and Indian movies are way too ahead of Hollywood stuff. Ofcourse minus their song and dance routines. Indians are not just emotional, they like to be emotional too and perhaps like to be emotionally handled too, which perhaps is not such a good idea. But then who am I to pass the judgement? So what was I talking about? Oh yes, the movies. So those movies are very good but they are not extraordinarily brilliant, definitely not when I have seen some brilliant Hindi movies on romance. But Cold Mountain, that's my kind of romance. I am not sure if I have seen any other romantic movie even in Hindi that touches it. Pyaasa? may be.

Beau Pere was another movie which I saw and though I know French as well as I know the language spoken in Alpha Centurii galaxy, it was a good movie.

On that note, I resume my blogging.

P.S. - Thanks Annush. She is doing very well now. :)

And Ciona, I am a little dumb, dumber than Jim Carrey.... oh he is really dumb. Which novel? "The life of Pi" or "The Namesake"? anyway, happy reading.

Wanted, Break !!

2005-05-10T10:57:00.000+05:30

Whole of the last week was exceptionally tiring. My daughter was hospitalized due to very high fever (106 F is pretty high, right?) and her nomal minimum temperature was 102 F. That had us freaked out really. And now all I want is an additional day off from the office so that I can take proper rest.

If wishes were horses beggars would be riding them. :(

A couple of good ones.

2005-04-29T09:54:00.000+05:30

Life of Pi - I am not sure what my thoughts are for the novel after reading it. Here is a story which is at once unbelievable but perhaps extraordinarily told. Actually I don't know if it was the fascinating account of the survival means adopted by Pi in the novel or just the desire to know the winner of the contest between a dreaded hunter, the tiger, and the most intelligent creation on earth, the man. I think its definitely worth one read.

The namesake - I had not read Jhumpa Lahiri before. Now I want to read her bad to figure out if she is consistent in delivering quality stuff. This novel is not about a dream man, doing dream things in a dream world. It's about a common man, as common as you and I are and the various phases of his life, as a student, his experience as a non resident Indian visitor, as a grown up and above all as a confused man trying to figure out life. There is nothing extraordinary about any of the characters and perhaps that's the extraordinary thing about this book.

Unseen, unknown territory.... unexplainable feelings

2005-04-29T00:09:00.000+05:30

DEATH. What does it mean? Rather what does it feel like? Last February I was in Delhi where my father was undergoing his second heart operation. One evening I saw this cute little girl,One of the cutest faces I had ever seen, playing with my father, who was doing his post surgery recovery. Later my father told me that she has a hole in the heart which can not be corrected and all the doctors have given up. I do not know who to feel bad for more, the little angel or her parents, who knew their little angel has a very short time with them? Perhaps the worst kind of mental torture a parent can go through! A known terminal illness.

I do not know, why today I was reminded of that little girl. I do not know if she is still braving her illness or if she has succumbed. But hers is a face, I doubt I will ever forget. And I wish all the best to your parents and to you, where ever you are, LITTLE ANGEL.

Unseen divisions

2005-04-27T16:05:00.000+05:30

India is an Union of states. Too many of them actually. Unity in diversity, as was/is taught to us in schools. But this has also created many divisions amongst us. So many languages, so many cultures (whats that?) and so many cuisines!!! As a result, at workplaces we often see statewise pools. Can we blame them? Not really. India does not have a national language. It has official langauges and they also vary from state to state. Does not one feel comfortable in speaking in one's mother tongue? Don't you and I feel comfortable at home? And that is precisely the problem. Because of such regional divide, unfortunately, biased decisions are made, whether personal or professional.

There is one more problem. You see, before India became an English colony sometime in 1800's or perhaps earlier, there was no such thing as India that we see today. The subcontinent was very much divided into many parts ruled by various dynasties. After independence though, many states were united into India. They were,mostly, actually annexed. The question now is, just who decides if a state should become a part of a country or it should continue remaining a state? The problem now is that many north eastern communities in India do not consider India as their homeland. They feel, India has economically drained them by using their natural resources and has given them back nothing. And that is perhaps true to a large extent too. Similarly there is a struggle in Kashmir at the same time. Tamilians,on the other hand, feel that the central government always tries to impose Hindi on them, while in Maharashtra the Shiv Sena does not welcome outsiders.

So the disturbing question is, was the making of India a wrong decision? Were we better off as independent states? I do not know the answer to this question and several others like this one. I am a proud Indian and like it the way it is with all its faults and shortcomings. But as an Indian I can not neglect this growing feeling of detachment as well of the fellow countrymen.

Boundaries that man makes, boundaries that man can not see.

North East West South, dont open your mouth.

2005-04-26T15:28:00.000+05:30

Aishwarya Rai will be attending the Cannes film festival fourth time in a row.

That was in the headlines of one of the news channels. Geez. Can the news channels atleast get their priorities right? Yes I do not like Aishwarya Rai as an actress, and I think she is pretentious (Okay I can afford to be judgemental atleast this once, can't I?) who is trying very hard to break into Hollywood, but I would not mind it if it were in the news headlines of some entertainment program. There are far more important things to cover than this for news channels.

And talking about News channels, lets see which ones do I like?

NDTV ---- Right now the best in India, and can be compared to any news channel in the world. Only good one from India.

Headlines Today --- Decent one. Way to go.

CNN --- Highly biased.
BBC --- Just a bit better.
MSNBC --- Best of the lot (CNN, BBC, MSNBC)

India TV --- Pathetic. Sensationalist journalism.

Aaj Tak --- 3rd grade and I can't stand Prabhu Chawla doing a Tim Sebastian. He fails so miserably besides talking more than the guest. Highly capricious, in a wrong way.

ZEE TV -- Lets not talk about it.

What are your views? What do you think should be the essential ingredients of any newsfeature? Which programs do you like the most?

ELEVATED uneasiness.

2005-04-26T13:48:00.000+05:30

I always feel uneasy in an elevator in the company of an unknown person, not persons. It's not that I am afraid or something, I just am uneasy. I do not stare at the person (Yeah right, try doing that and dial emergency after that.), I do not talk to myself, I do not tell myself "Don't worry he/she won't attack you". I just feel uneasy. And here I must admit, I am all the more uneasy if it's a girl in the elevator. All I do is either look down or keep looking at the elevator door, hoping the elevator moves faster. The worse thing is, the elevator in my office, its excruciatingly slow and the office is on the 5th floor (UK style. US Style it would be 6th). From the basement car parking? Make that 7th.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel comfortable in the company of a single stranger in an elevator? Do your thoughts remain pristine?

Are there any other things which make you uncomfortable? Do share your thoughts.

Amitabh Bachchan on Charlie Rose

2005-04-24T14:12:00.000+05:30

Am trying to get my hands on either the transcript or the video of Amitabh Bachchan on Charlie Rose. He appeared on the show on the 19th April. Anyone?
me wonders just why do they have a video of it and not a CD?

Forensics and the art of detection.

2005-04-24T13:51:00.000+05:30

One of the most abused word in common English, I think, is GREAT. People readily associate it with anything and everything. Take the case of novels or books. Today's writers and novelists churn out crap which eventually tops the bestselling list. The detective stories have now become so predictable that a simple story line with a clear open and shut case perhaps might look a highly accomplished work. The spy thrillers from Shidney Sheldon or the "Da Vinci code" by Dan Brown are at best, average reads. A few years back, I happened to lay my hands on a book by an ex-Mossad guy who quit the organization in disgust, at my Brother-in-Law's place. And this guy goes through how the operation is executed, what kind of planning goes into it, and how there is nothing called a "hunch" in times when the heat is on unlike the most detective or spy thrillers by Sheldon, Ludlum etc. Infact, Dan Brown for all his extensive research has shelved out a piece of crap. There are so many loopholes in the entire plot that it would make Sherlock Holmes chuckle. Coming on to Sherlock Holmes, well thats the GREAT one. Perhaps the ONLY great one. Edgar Allan Poe, Poirot (Christie) are a very distant second. Reading Holmes anytime does not cease to gorgonize me. Now that's detection as the piece of art. What we have now is forensics and a very ordinary chase with lots of acton thrown in. Detection has gone out of the window. And its a pity. It really is.

Do tell me what your favorite pieces of fiction are. Any genre.

Taste buds

2005-04-23T16:06:00.000+05:30

I hunted for the recipe of Veg Au Gratin and am more confused than when I began. One of the problems with the continental, Chinese, Thai and Mexican cuisine, well my favorites, in Indian restaurants is that they are highly Indianized. Whatever that means ;). Ofcourse with Chinese cuisine that also means, an escape from the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. But the problem is one never knows what is authentic! Go figure eh? So while I love living in India, different cuisines is what I miss the most. :(

Help, help, help anyone?

Mars attacks !

2005-04-23T12:53:00.000+05:30

Till I can figure out how to upload a pic on my blog, check out this link.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050412.html

Isn't the similarity amazing?

Parental undertaking !!!!

2005-04-23T10:47:00.000+05:30

I am struggling hard to attach pics to my blog and I am just not succeeding. Picasa/Hello both turned a naught. Wonder why?

Its the start of a lazy weekend. I love to sleep as much as I can. And now, at 11 a.m., my body refuses to lie down any more. Its a sunny day and I expect it to turn very hot by the afternoon. Should enter the pool, I think. But then I have a few things to take care of as well. Consternation is a way of life. Is it for everyone?

Celebrated my daughter's birthday yesterday and she is a darling. She will join her first summer camp on Monday. I hope she picks up the better things, the camp has to offer. She is only five and I must say, she is very well mannered and very intelligent. A typical father's bloviation, one would think and it could be. But, to me, it also is a fact that I am proud of. I hope I can be a good father. And I hope she can be a good human being. Being anything else is very easy.

Do share your thoughts on parenting with me.

Views from across the border.

2005-04-21T14:56:00.000+05:30

I have always enjoyed interacting with the Pakistanis over the net. It has helped me remove many of the notions and stereotypes, I had as an Indian. Infact, I wonder how the Americans and the westerners live with their sophomoric ideas about the east. Do not get me wrong. I have many American friends, Europeans as well. And they are all wonderful people. But their views of the east are mainly driven by the news items and Hollywood movies which they see. News items, are well, factually wrong more often than not simply because the news reporters do not have the background information and requisite knowledge to make authentic documentaries or stories. And movies? Well they excel in caricaturing the east. Isnt it why, in US, its always, "world's most beautiful model", "world's most beautiful woman" and not "America's most beautiful model/woman" !!! But I have digressed from what I wanted to talk about. Here is the link to an article from a columnist from across the border. A nice piece.

http://www.dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/20050402.htm

A tribute (yeah yeah yeah) to indigent workplaces

2005-04-21T14:39:00.000+05:30

Its the same story everywhere. Most talened guys feel suffocated at work place due to many reasons which are unfortunately not work related. And while I agree with this guy who has written this poem, (I do not know who (apparently someone from IBM), but if anyone can prove his / her ownership and wants me to remove it from my blog site, I would immediately do so.) I also think that mediocrity is a way of life. This is how it has always been and this is how it will always be.

The name is good, the brand is big
But the work I do is that of a pig
The work or the brand, what is my way?
I dont know if I should stay.

To work, they have set their own way
Nobody will care to hear what I say
My will be NULL, they wont change their way
I dont know if I should stay.

The project is in a critical stage
But to do good work, this is the age
This dilemma is killing me day by day
I dont know if I should stay.

The money is good ,the place is great
But the development is at a very small rate
Should I go for the work, or wait for pay
I dont know if I should stay.

The managers dont know what they talk
The team doesnt know where they walk
That's a bad situation, what say?
I dont know if I should stay.

I can go to any other place
But what if I get the same disgrace
I cant keep switching day by day
I dont know if I should stay.

The -ves are more, the +ves are less
Then why have this unnecessary mess
No more will I walk their way,
Its all done, I won't stay.

I hope you get a job of your liking, I really do. All the best friend.
What !!!! you wondering it takes one to know one? lol no... just empathy. I, BTW, love my job. I absolutely love it and so far all my colleagues have been wonderful and technically very good. Touchwood.

Pan and Helios

2005-04-18T13:55:00.000+05:30

Must thank Pan and Helios for they must have read my blog and when I stepped out for lunch, it indeed was pleasant.

Could have wished a palace in Hawaii instead !!!!

Looks like this is my Dumb day.

Lovely weather and a mirage

2005-04-18T10:59:00.000+05:30

Its 11 in the morning. And as I looked through my window it appeared to be a gorgeous morning with a beautiful weather outside. Just my kind of day, I thought. And in the summer of Hyderabad, its a rarity. But then again why not enjoy it while it lasts. So I stepped outside of my office to enjoy it and was welcomed by blazing sun wearing down my cologne and coating a layer of sweat over it instead. I hurried back in and wondered since when has Hyderabad become so unpredictable. Feeling bad I returned to my seat and as I looked through the window the gorgeous, Oh-such-a-lovely weather had returned. I cursed my luck and after a moment, my stupidity.

I should have realised the window had a sun control sheet over it. :)