And so it begins... !!

Open letter to the device who is highly unlikely to respond..

2014-11-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

Dear gadget,

This is a letter of grievance where I would like to highlight the different plights I go through on a day to day basis. YOU, are this slim looking, tentacled manifestation spread across my table. You, are the one I stare at admiringly, day in and day out. A window to my outside world! You might be a dummy object, but WE have given you the power to obey us and make my life easy. I, on the other hand, am small in stature (my 3 big monitors make me look like a dwarf). The connection I have with you extends beyond the simple shooting of keys. Or so I thought.

Clearly, you crave for freedom of speech and expression. You throw tantrums although I adorably stroke the mouse (which leads to continuous incessant clicks of frustration finally). I fix you on the left and you go berserk on the right. I dust you up externally and you cry to clean up your internal space. I dump all that is deemed unnecessary(with a heavy heart ofcourse) into that recycle bin and you complain about the network connection! oh, did I miss the fact that you make your point clear by whirring that fan of yours like a maniac?

Alright, I get a different network cable and heave a sigh of relief. I can talk to aliens again, in case they decide to contact me through the internet! At this moment, what do you do? You just shutdown without any warning. I panic due to the loss of 100 tabs I had opened before the grief of losing other work hits me. "Everyone deserves a word of caution!!" At this point I start wondering if I allowed you to have a backup of yourself! (who would not procrastinate a software installation?! heck, I do it till the last second).

In this frenzy, I frantically do a hard reset and reboot (in case, you magically start working and would like to atone your sins!). And what do you do? You present to me scary lines saying things are not looking good. You want to check all the disks and you think I have all the time in the world. In the disdainful pain, I hit all the random keys and something clicks and you shoot me the windows screen. Boy, am I happy to see that?!

I pray to all gods to have everything restored fine. (All gods? You are just going to trust me on that). The beautiful wallpaper appears where the distant mountains seem as calm as ever. I drag my sorry self to restore balance in the universe ( re-do all my unsaved work and try to hit that sweet spot in my memory to remember things).

When I thought nothing more can go wrong, you lifted your ugly head with a popup "100% of your computer problems exist between the keyboard and the chair! "

Arrghhh!

"Hello.. This is IT services.. What can I help you with today?"

God's Debris

2014-04-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

I am not the one who gets flared up with the talks of God, consciousness, free-will, scepticism. I heard about 'thought-experiments' from my friend. Albeit reluctant, I figured to give it a try. Google threw me a clean pdf of this book in the first search. Skimming through this, a 100 odd page book seemed quite appealing. After the foreword, there was no stopping. Will you believe if I point out that the author of "Dilbert", Scott Adams wrote this serious piece? Hold on, it aint serious. It aint humor either. In his very own words: "This is not a Dilbert book. It contains no humor. I call it a 132-page thought experiment wrapped in a fictional story".

It is a very fast read and it stimulates your rusty neurons, piques it right and shakes those thoughts. You will look at probability with a whole new light. If you wonder why a normal package delivery guy engages in such a though provoking discussion with a wise old man, I dont have an answer. But before you ask this, you would be so into this book and the trivial things seem all the more trivial. I was distraught when he elucidates 'God's debris'. I was dangling in between before I got fastened to this new belief system. We can cogitate about each topic in this book for hours. He covers a gamut of motifs and you go through elation and betrayal at the same time.

The best part about this book is his approach. He does not impose anything on you. It is not a new system. You wont change the way you are, although you might start questioning more. You can sail through gravity, physics, relativity without having prior knowledge. Play with your thoughts, create more, destroy some more and modify the remaining. The climax is even better. It is a light hearted thought provoking book. You say, oxymoron? Spend some time with this creation. I can vouch for it!

Excerpts-
Most people believe they have goals when, in fact, they only have wishes.

Have you ever had the experience where you hear a strange word for the first time, and then soon afterward you hear the same word again?

“Ideas are the only things that can change the world. The rest is details.

What more? This is exactly how I felt when I finished the last sentence.
The city had bright edges. Sound was crisp. Colors were vivid. Objects seemed more dimensional, as if I could see the sides and backs from any angle. I heard a phone call being made a block away and knew both sides of the conversation. I could feel every variation in airflow..

Courtesy: At times, tea-time conversation can lead to fruitful results

FreeBird

2014-04-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

I was flying. What they had mixed in that bite, I could not have said, but it was airy. Suddenly, I had strong wings not prepared to plummet. I could go for a speedy ride or keep lurching in circles to make the onlooker dizzy. I soared high, dived down, streaked sideways and made merry. The sky was outlined with various hues and the collocation with the dark blue background looked extremely pleasing to not just a sore eye. I was painting a rainbow and the whole azure sky was my canvas. I mocked how one could think that sky is the limit. This scene was boundless.

Indeed! I could gaze at the world from a bird's-eye view!
I encircled the Empire State building till I felt dizzy.
I had an eye-to-eye moment with the statue of Liberty.
I gaped at the symmetry of Palm Islands.
I perched on the magnificent Golden gate.
I flew above the luscious green terrains of Machu Picchu.
I flocked along with the other birds meandering the Great Canyons.
What I could accomplish , no one could fathom. I was free from the perils of mundane life. It was a journey fraught with excitement and excitement alone.

'Thud'! I was jerked from the dream by a blowing trumpet. I was piqued. When the mists of sleep veered away, I could see a figure in front of me much obliged to put an end to my fabulous dream. Alas!

But if I stayed here with you, girl,
Things just couldn't be the same.
'Cause I'm as free as a bird now,
And this bird you cannot change.

The last 4 lines is from one of my favourite songs- FreeBird from Lynyrd Skynyrd.

***** is the secret of my energy

2014-04-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

I grew up eating that brownish gooey mass. My mom used to scoop it in a spoon and had a condition that I better swallow it if I had to continue playing. It had a stark tangy taste and I yapped the moment it hit my taste buds. Realizing the contortions in my face, I would change it back to a sheepish smile denoting I am indeed relishing it. I would not let her have this as her Pet Peeve. No one could stop me from playing and frolicking. It used to come in a White plastic bottle with red lid with a portrayal of a sage meditating his way to glory.

My objective was to finish that bottle as soon as possible. Once over, mom used to give it to me so that I could store marbles or colourful pawns. It used to make me so happy. That was my treasure. Who cares about immunity or being hale and healthy to even be able to play!

Today, I sit here preening about the aftermaths of childhood. It was as if the whole goodness of health delivered to you in a small spoon. The sage descended to give a potion, which transformed the kids into super healthy beings.

I have had the benefit to consume it. What about today's generation? Can you lure them to have it just so they can play? Would they savour the bottle as collectibles?

Am no expert to talk about today's kids or the best way of growing up. But am sure they prefer no disturbance while playing video games, they prefer the bar of yummy chocolate over looking into the picture of all-knowing sage. And why not? They do what is appealing and what is delivered to them by others and the media.

It would be a losing battle to tell them to munch on green leafy vegetables.

'I', the so called informed, look for an excuse if I have to do it before the table of calories and nutrients invisibly appear before me. Coaxing kids to nibble on 'extremely healthy' nuts and fruits is not going to be an easy task. 'Hell', they dont care about Iron or calcium or the amount of calories per servings.

Maybe they do care about who is on television and telling what!

If immunization is a vital part of staying healthy, diet is important too. In this fast paced world filled with pretentious things, its a challenge to emphasize on good and simple things of life. Its a no-brainer to see why kids would love Complan or Boost over the plain whole milk. Deliver it to them the way they like.

I would not know of Spinach and its niceties but for Popeye.

A nutri-bar with all the nuts and berries combined will be an instant hit compared to asking kids to pop some nuts or squeeze some citrus berries. Its all about innovative ways of finding a product which will attract the masses and is healthy too. Its in the packaging, manufacturing and in the core values.

Sluurrrpppp ..! Mmmmm..thats the sound of sipping a cool melon juice with the benevolence of Mint and herbs and ofcourse the little tiny umbrella! Healthy? You name it!

This post is written for An Immune India contest by Indiblogger.

I am a new wave, but am old school!

2013-11-06T15:15:00.000-08:00

I am no expert, nor qualified to speak about the benefits. But what I do know is its pretty straightforward that 'Natural' is the way to go. We have been there. We tried everything available in the market, consumed all the colourful things, applied all the fairness creams in the wake of turning into a white reflective body! In plain, we were stupid enough to fall for the propaganda.

We pay, pay more and hope that we will be transformed into everything beautiful and healthy. We trust in the people wearing white lab coats researching with the test tubes with whirring fumes coming out. Infact, if we pay for it, it should be good. If we paid more, it 'ought' to be better!

Go to any grocery store and you see a sudden onslaught of everything 'organic'. They are trying to push in less chemicals into the body. Where is this circle ending at? We started with everything natural, then realized that its easily perishable. Half the vegetables are reaped even before they grow full size which in turn reduces the activity inside them which makes them to last longer. In this process, half the nutrients will not be present in the food we eat. To offset this, we started consuming synthetic products loaded with preservatives. Deficiencies? swallow that multivitamin tablet. Fatigue? Drink that energy drink.

They almost taste good, easy to buy. No hassles to store. More like adopting allopathy over good old traditional Ayurveda. No one has the patience to wait and think it over. We wanted fast relief. Again, we went ahead and realized that these chemicals are doing more harm than good. We are slowly shifting to 'organic' stuff now. 'Vegan', 'Decaf', 'Low-fat' are the words of the day. Intense workouts, green smoothies, low carb diets are the new fads.

This battle of methodologies never ensue an answer. Probably because one is not better than the other. What you follow is your creed. It affects you directly and you are solely responsible. After trying all products, all means and after hundred different hapless pitiful trials, we realize that what our mom and grannies told are the best. Go back to roots. Home remedies work most of the time. Even though we dont have such cleaner, unpolluted produce now, we atleast are controlling the intake of known chemicals.

Its so easy to pop a pill of Aspirin but tougher to just endure it for a little longer to cure that headache. Stress is causing all the pain but in the process we forgot to stress on basic important points. Its more for a holistic development of the entire body and soul.

P.S: The title is from the most legendary standup comedian George Carlin

This post is part of the Indiblogger "Traditional Knowledge, Natural Growth" contest!

Stumbling upon Stumbleupon

2013-10-22T15:16:00.002-07:00

The google search autocomplete throws up some absurdly ridiculous results. Often times, making us to digress from the original object we were searching for. On one of those boredom trials, I searched for things to do when bored and feeling lousy (yes, it can get to that sometimes! ). It lead to Quora and to a particular post catering to the same. Stumbleupon can help you keep entertained for hours. Come here, 'entertained' is a mere euphemism for addiction. Am hooked on Stumbleupon.

Am not complaining. The way it works is pretty neat. You give a list of your interests and it customizes the webpages according to it. Ranging from science, entertainment, arts to pretty colourful pictures, anecdotes, trivias : they cater to everything.

There are thousands of things to do when bored (or not). Why I chose this was pure luck. I have read many a dozen articles on this before, but the moment you find something interesting and want to click on that, it prompts you to subscribe. It lures you uptil there and I usually give up when I have to sign up.

So this time, on the pretext of boredom, I mustered the courage to sign up to go beyond the homepage (They always have a breathtaking natural wonder or a sight of wilderness which entices you).

A serendipitous occurrence, I saw this- http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/4thYJO/360vr.com/2011/06/22-discovery-flight-deck-opf_6236/index.html/
Fine, I love rockets ! But this is something unlike I had seen anything before. The panoramic shot of the cockpit of Space shuttle is simply stunning. Turn it, stare at it long enough and you feel you are infact inside that with a zillion switches. "Oh Boy ! one click and am ready to zoooommm...."

I felt like Calvin for a moment.

Other interesting finds- http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/6hJDaz/www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-ultimate-guide-to-writing-better-than-you-normally-do/
Timothy McSweeney's 'Internet Tendency' is pure bliss for me. Maybe its boring for everyone other than bibliophiles, I like the organization and language (content comes last to me).

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/324fat/www.streetartutopia.com/?p=10554/
I dont want to use my brain or feel responsible to save earth, Streetartutopia is a visual treat. It oozes with creativity and brings a smile.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2Vlo4M/:2rztrjfs:jnHO5sTy/www.wannalol.com/p/72138/
I want to have a hearty laugh watching Ellen.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1QGIv5/:u_3EAr8J:eRMUZJ+x/www.gillesvidal.com/blogpano/paris.htm/
For a breathtaking view of Paris!

I click thumbs up or down, but constantly I 'stumble'. In the span of two weeks, I feel I suddenly know more than my neighbour, I suddenly have seen more places than the hikers, I suddenly am gazing at more art than the people strolling the museums ;-)

It has something for everyone. Hold on, I gotta change my next wallpaper.
Er..I meant 'Happy Stumbling' :-)

Courtesy-StumbleUpon

Gravity- sure does attract you !

2013-10-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

I was glad that am standing on the surface where I dont have to struggle to walk. Thanks to "g". A movie which lives upto its hype. Seeing it in IMAX 3D makes you actually walk in space. Being a space enthusiast and sharing a dream of being an astronaut someday, am contented for now. Its so gripping and jaw dropping that I dint realize almost till the end, that the cast of the movie was mainly just Sandra. Clearly explaining the plight of the astronauts and the loneliness in space, it strucks you hard when your hear the voices in her head. You hope that her conscience can hear it, leave alone the mission control. I found it scientifically apt till I searched for the inaccuracies out of my curiosity, to be so meagre that one would not realize unless he is an astronaut himself.

Breathtaking view of the earth, the shimmer of sunlight and the lovely soundtracks engulf you with excitement. I shuddered everytime she let the rope loose, I sighed with relief everytime she got a thing working, I lost hope everytime she conveyed the whereabouts to Houston. I lived through the whole experience. Its so humbling that I appreciate immensely the ability to 'walk' the surface of earth, to 'hear' the fears and hopes, to 'breathe' the air here. I know how heartening it is to hear "copy that" from the other side !
Coz, 'In space, no one can hear you scream'. Amen.

Moonlight is bleeding from out of your soul

2013-09-12T15:14:00.002-07:00

I clicked on the notepad icon, started typing few sentences which made no sense to me. Words failed to flow, sentences were woven loose, ideas were going through commotion.
"Maybe it was never meant to be and definitely not preordained" said a voice in my head.
"Its not that the folks are waiting for the next writeup eagerly. That happens to Khaled Hosseini, not me" assuring the previous voice.
"Its definitely the lowest ebb, but you do go up as a tide. Its never late to make a start or restart" disagreed another.
"The moment you lose the ability to have the seamless flow of words, its a sign of decline"

The riots in my head got stronger. The disorderly outburst of depressing thoughts and a few encouraging ones were fighting their way to the victory. One almost loses faith when a loved activity becomes a feared one. When the quarter life crisis hits, everything becomes questionable. The worthiness of the tasks become important, or not !

Excellence is good, eccentric is even better, sloppiness-a strict no no. With this burden and the pre-conceived notion, we start weighing everything around us. Am either too good for that or I dont even care trying. Its not my cup of tea.

I shifted from a wonderland, nestled comfortably in my innocence, to a practical world where am being judged. Let loose your fear, and it grows to be a gigantic monster who blocks your line of sight. I felt I cant get myself to write again. Reason? Nothing I do will be good enough. Experiences I have had, can never be jotted down or can be done justice to. I hardly ask myself "What do I want?" Instead, am bogged down by "How I am perceived". I heard someone say-" If you fight, you can either win or lose. But if you dont fight, you can never win". This simple truth is so comforting. Its easy for me to not write. Thats my general state of being. Its tempting to give an excuse and convince myself, but hard to talk myself to do it.

If you could find a passion where you dint see clock ticking or stomach grumbling, you are blessed. (You can be paired with the likes of Einstein)
If you cant find a passion, but willing to find one, you are a go-getter. (With the thought that, half the life goes in finding one)
If you had one, left it and want to retrieve it, why are you a cynical? (I feel starting from scratch all over again with little baby steps, has its advantages. There is only one way to traverse- forward)
Thus the post. Call it mediocre or plain hapless, am happy that for once, I can do something just for myself.

Its a perfectly reasonable deviation from my routine.

"A brave one at that", said the voice inside.

And the lazarus started playing... "I survived against the will of my twisted folk But in the deafness of my world the silence broke....follow me ..."

A journey, undefined !

2012-07-22T15:09:00.001-07:00

Alrighty..! Hiatus. .. A big one at that. A phase where we are caught up in a spiral where we cant do the very thing we used to love the most. You stop writing and it feels like you can never write again. You stop reading, the mammoth sized book seems scary. Things change, and it comes as a grievous surprise.

Taking the huge leap from one coast to another sure teaches a lesson or two. Good and bad, beautiful and ugly, dreams and realities. I would not have discovered so much about me or the world if not for this change. If its an awakening to realize about yourself, I think that can never happen .You just have no idea how you choose to react to anything that life holds for you.

Be it visiting the holy shrines of academia or doing all the crazy adventures whose names I was unaware of, all the lonely moments with the dawn of a new truth or the triumphant memories, this land has SOMETHING. Did I foresee, NO. Did I learn, Definitely. Black or White? No, its only Grey !!

America-You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas.....(From Josh Groban)

Beauty ain't skin deep !

2011-05-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Dragging my feet, still revelling in my own sweet world, it was only when the super chilling water fell on my face that I realised I slipped from my dream slot. 'Oh, what a beautiful dream it was'. She was the princess anyone for that matter would envy, a beauty any charming prince would aspire to have. A grace which any opulence can never match. A heaven where nothing is at stake. Everything you name and its there. Lovely ! Is nt it? Beauty as in exact dictionary words.
Alas, only to realise it was just a dream.

Getting rid of my vertigo, after savouring the aroma of the filter coffee, the mind-ignited told me 'Hey, hold on..it aint so bad, things around you and those that happen to you are even more beautiful '. Really? How do we seek beauty !

Its in the new hope with which we get up everyday and the very hope that gives us something to look forward to..

Its in the green reflection of the drop falling off the leaves..

Its in the little pup who comes to you wagging his tail everytime..

Its in the passing thought when you finished your newspaper thinking
'what if you were to be a politician running this country '..

Its in the smile the old neighbour bestows on you every morning when you leave your house..

Its in the eyes of the intense gaze of the baby you saw in your sister's lap..

Its in the nod of your head in sync with your favourite tune whenever you hear it on the go..

Its in the triumphant moment when u did the most stupid thing and no1 looked at it..

Its in the little breaks you look for ,to hold on to the gossip and stuff..

Its in the cheerful hug you give your buddy , when you meet after ages..

Its in the powerful hold of your dad when he pats your back n says 'things
ll be alright'..

Its in the vacation you get after toiling for that grueling exam..

Its in the mindless argument you have with your friend , jus to end up laughing in the end..

Its in the never ending harmless teasing you do and beaming a sheepish smile that you were at your creative best..

Its in the tears you shed when you dint know the reason why..

Its in the conversation you had with yourself when watching the lovely waves on the shore..

Its in the deserving sleep you look forward to when the next day is a holiday..

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and in the heart of simple beings. Only if we know how to look for it.
Infact.., its in the very ugliness which makes beauty look more beautiful !

The King's Speech

2011-01-30T01:51:00.000-08:00

A movie which takes you to the depth of human emotions- Fear . Set in the times of 1930s, takes us effortlessly through the pages of history. Admitting that I wanted to see it for this movie being nominated in most of the categories in this year’s Academy awards, I could not but help feel satisfied and triumphant at the end of it. Telling the story of King George VI facing the problem of speech impediment and his efforts to overcome his stammering , makes one face the truth that nearly no one is spared of imperfections.

One actor who took my breath particularly is Geoffrey Rush as the speech trainer. An impeccable performance. His character as Lionel Logue trying his informal ways at the task in hand is truly attractive. He just steals the show. The way he calls the king as ‘Bertie’ instead of ‘your highness’ speak volumes as to the promise of friendship. The ways he adopt to teach the king to ‘have faith in his own voice’ is remarkable. Helena Bonham Carter dons a great role too as wife of the king. The dialogues with its poetic stature and the fascinating screenplay is a treat to the ears.

And ofcourse, there is Colin Firth. My most favourite character as ‘Mr.Darcy’ in the famous ‘Pride and Prejudice’, lives upto the expectations. He just speak volumes through his eyes. I do hope he bags the best actor award. In all, a great movie and worth all the nominations.
It takes leadership to confront a nation's fear and it takes friendship to conquer your own.

Apprentice for Life !

2011-01-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

He was a writer, so typical of him. The constant flow of rejection slips didn’t add to his confidence. He knew there is something strange about writers. They can almost never get a decent pay-check at the end of every month unlike the Engineers, lawyers or even morticians. He wanted a father figure to guide him to be taken seriously. Thus, began his odyssey of searching for the man.

As if by luck, he bumped into him. A Deja-vu of sorts. You just realize when you find that someone. John, swiveling in his chair, his white mane neatly combed , a tie-knot cravat across his neck, he exuded intelligence, suaveness, discipline. The other writers praised his vainglorious nature all the time.

His intimidating nature dint help our young apprentice writer in the beginning. At times, he shot back telling “ Please do the honors of looking the words up in a dictionary, before submitting your literary piece”. Then used to be the sudden dip in the confidence and ego of the writer. Nevertheless, he learnt to learn. Writing is a craft, to be chiseled through constant efforts to express things sharply.

John expected the article to be in his desk every morning . No talk, ofcourse no excuses. He produced a scowl that mingled with disappointment which made one stammer and sulk in disgust. His stare, so formidable, made the writer to feel as if he is a speck in the immaculate farmland. But, he taught him to ask, to go beyond the screen, to have the spirit of inquiry. Odd it may seem, no one ever asked about John’s background or god-like status. He was just indomitable.

In fear and fascination he learnt the tricks of the trade. Afterall, the monstrous looking dictionary started teaching something to him. Most of the work went in pleasing John, and it was usual to spend an entire day just writing one paragraph only to throw it in the end. When John looked at it stopping his ritual of reading those ancient huge volumes, it sent a chill through the nerves. The highest comment he ever got through his tenure was, its ‘Readable’.

In the process, he learnt that writing was more than just words. The information is superficial, but there should be a symphony inside it which draws the readers and makes him feel good that he read it. Its a performance, wordsmithing.

He got a job in the top most bureau and he was a great success. He met John, after few years. The man he always looked upto. But John had just one thing to say “ I am not what you think I am. This has gone way too far. I had no clue what you were writing or talking about . I was doing odd jobs like washing, cleaning lots and then I entered this magazine. I was hopeless at this and had to go through same stuff 100 times. I had to look up for each and every word in the dictionary. The only way I could succeed was create a persona that cant be challenged. You were there. I helped you by setting you against yourself!!”

Caught in a spin, he looked thorough his piece of writing, it was awful ! So amateurish to break any writer’s heart. But it dint matter to him. For, knowing is one thing and believing is another. Some things cant be explained by any logic. John always remains what he always stood for.

Years after John’s death, the writer still not dare proceed without looking up for the word , if he doesn’t know. He still craves to write a piece which could have made John smile. He is still afraid of John’s scowl. It does not matter if John understood or not, but to him he was the greatest editor of all times. And, the writer remained an apprentice for life !

Namesake

2011-01-03T09:05:00.001-08:00

I was skimming through the gigantic holding racks of the library, wherein the obesely beaming books almost looked like falling off the shelf. Looking at the various titles makes you think of a trait which atleast the quarter percent of the population seem to share-creativity and imagination. Suddenly the yellow paperbacked book looked prominent. Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I was extremely pleased with myself for having encountered the book which I was searching from quite a long time. The feeling of having a book which you always wanted to read, creates a strange sense of fulfillment .

Having heard a lot about the movie and reading the reviews on the last page of the book set me into a fast pace, notwithstanding the curiosity. The storyline is elementary. An Indian family making their life in a foreign ground. The characters begin to appear effortlessly. The author describes each of them so well that you feel like going through it, all by yourself. The settings beautifully explained to the tiniest detail without making it sound boring. She does not set rules, nor make claims. I had not given much of a thought about what a ‘name’ can stand for. Ofcourse, its our very identity. It takes a hilarious turn when , just a simple act of naming a child is portrayed as a levelheaded deed. Imagine having a name ’gogol’. The throes of having such a name is captured without an excuse. The origin of his name, his misgivings and the final justification comes out clearly. One should write a book as ‘what not to name a baby’! There is no sad hint. The trick is simple! A story told with all its beauty. Pristine as it is, she brings out the fact that conformity to a culture is by no means a pretence. The nuances of the ideological differences make you think a bit. In short, a story I loved for its sheer simplicity and description, not forgetting the thoughts that it will arouse to occupy the mind.

iCon

2010-11-01T10:55:00.001-07:00

- The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business

A ringmaster who can direct every move of his fellowmen, inspire them like crazy and at times work them into a frenzy, where no soul is untouched by his aura and yet make them realize where to draw the line, Steve Jobs clearly is the genius we are seeing and still experiencing ! One of the best books I have read recently, which is so riveting till the end and makes you wonder if one human being can do all that. How do you explain being an icon in three major fields of Computing, Music and Animation?
Each of his legions waiting for the story to unfold, are proudly considering their part in this mania. Exuding charisma and preternaturally excellent, he raises the bar for what the leaders of today are made of. For those who just see the bling and success surrounding him, its an eye-opener to announce, he is molded through a tiresome process. Even today he stands for what he stood as a teenager. Mellowed down , maybe, still he manages to pull out the rabbit everytime out of the hat- every magician’s dream.
The book is an excellent read and a better stamp of The Google Story genre. The nitty gritties of the geeky world is carefully woven and it does not painfully teach you to code or create the graphics, it leisurely and unknowingly takes you into the environs of the modern tech era, with so little effort that in the end you can clearly distinguish as what goes into Mac and Windows . Geez ! I actually read through the entire Apple license document to see the craftsmanship that goes into their product. Yes, it runs for pages and never had I ventured into such amusements before!! It made me watch the Toy Story all over again and Woody and Buzz emerged even more livelier. It’s a different feeling to see, hear or read when you know what goes into the making. Nothing comes just suddenly out of the wilderness .
Today I hold the iPod and it feels ever so magical. Who else can give that clean touch and feeling?! I mean here is a guy who is so adamantly confident and has the power to make it into reality. Not all his products are runaway hits, but those which are, are of a totally different clan. It’s a difficult task to even start describing him and that’s the best part of this book- a Biography with a difference. ‘The best of engineers does not fit into any mold’. Even today he looks very much the part and he is not done yet !

You name It !

2010-09-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

She looked all around, the things appeared to be more stoic. Taking pride in their sedentary state, they enticed her more into the impending despair. The monotony led to the abjected state. She flinched as if bitten by the silence. It was not the ache or anticipation, but the emotion itself. She was not claustrophobic. The absence of activity, the sheer unavailability of anything remotely categorized as noise made her feel all the more numb.

Walking along the spiral, her silhouette gently brushing through the banister of the stairs, her feet feeling agonizing cold,it ached to find a trace of life. She missed the constant cries of the squalid kittens. The screeching sound of the ungreased swing where her kids took turns to fight for the seat was all but gone. The hubbub where one could not distinguish any particular voice was conspicuously absent. There was no hustling of the engine wheels on the nearest parched track. The windowsills lacking their verve to beat against the wall, added to her irritating calm. All the fallen leaves glued to the ground, not a single movement. Her bemoaning cries hitting a vacuum, she begged to hear.

Her quest bore no fruition. She walked silently. Was she the cherubic bubbly character who had created the life in this seemingly still house? Where has the uproar of laughter disappeared? The incessant and ebullient talks, the commotion and noise of life, the severity of activity- all vanished in the thin air. All she was left with now, was the gripping gloom, the shadow of gallows looming threateningly upon her. She wished she was alive. But she had only one place to return to. She grinned at the thought that the living souls think LIFE to be monotonous. And here she was, all alone having only one thing to do, sleep in her grave !

Some Serious Fun

2010-07-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

I could capture the entire impenetrable fortress..such Ruffian skills.. ! M proud of myself..(And so will be Alexander!! )

Oh Boy, come on!!..I could traverse the gravelly track invincibly and hit the flagpost first whilst my fellow drivers were busy following me (Yeah, pretty clean and sharp)

Well ! I can cultivate the best of crops, sell them, earn an egg , raise my funds..dint know farmers were having so much fun out there (Oops! The rural dwellers, are you listening?)

Aww..I can create the edgy and enchanting apparel for my skinny doll ..(such refined and avant-garde ideas..the fashionistas are staring coyly at your skills!!)

Yes, yes.. you can swim without getting wet..you can shoot without holding a gun..you can crash without getting hurt..you can gamble without hitting a casino..the computer games cater to all your needs.

Very few youngsters are left untouched by the fangs of the gaming world. The kids herding together in the cybernets, the million plus glued to their computer screens and the fortunate few operating their uber-cool Nintendo Wii on their couch.. you name it and you have it..what makes us follow the fantasy world and get involved with such undeterred attention to the gaming console? Adventure and thrill is one or maybe for, the contemporary reality sucks. Do we yearn to go to the magical world so often that we feel comfortable in the world of illusion? Do we all crave to be winners somewhere atleast , at the end of the day? Or does accomplishing a task give you the much needed sense of satisfaction?

Whatever may be the case, but do we realize that this act has such enormous potential to change things for good? I quote that your problem solving abilities will improve and so will your decision making. If you go by the statistics , more than 500 million people play games for more than an hour per day. The majority of them being below 25. The young untapped energy is being poured in here. How about gaming for concentration instead of concentrating for gaming? Can we use the skills we use in the artificial arena to the real life problems? Infact after the 26/11 attack, a simulation game was designed to tackle a similar situation. The tricks and the ways to fight back were found to be very profitable. Similarly, the gamers response when confronted with a natural calamity, led to many ideas and measures. But, I would also say, for most of us, when learning comes as a part of an activity, the fun begins to recede. Much like, you would have enjoyed the very book so much , if only it was not made as your text book. Nevertheless, we can always try to bring in few learnings without spoiling much of the fun. The idea doesn’t seem so tough. Especially when you know that your hour long matches on the machine was not a total waste of time after all. A win-win situation. So the next time you beat your foe brutally, spare a moment to fit it in.

Calling the Shots !

2010-06-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

Dusting the old wardrobe, being not one of the chores, was taken up as a high priority task after the procrastination reached its highest indices. Sniffing and cursing I ventured at the not so interesting job. The initial energy works as a negative exponential and I sat down after few minutes hopeless, looking at the created mess. Suddenly the eyes found a small white thing which was almost yellow showing its endurance or effect of time. An age old photograph, black and white, almost tattered and screaming by itself that its going to be an antique soon. The thoughts suddenly placed themselves into the comfortable past, making me to wonder as how they would have taken pictures in those ages. The uncanny looking huge stand, black mysterious cloth inside which the photographer buried his head, the larger than life artificial settings in the backdrop which could place you anywhere in the world and in any position. The postman could sit in the latest of the cars, the whole family suddenly misplaced in time and standing amidst the lush green verdant nature, the aspiring artistes next to their role models and the list can be populated depending on the depth the human creativity can penetrate.
An era passed. The camera with the films made its entry. Everyone was amazed. The harbinger to the present day’s ultra tech sleek lenses. But still you had the limited privilege to take few thought -to -be perfect photos. You take it to the studio and you cant wait to see the results. The dark room with the red light and the liquid cleaning gives a chill to your nerves. As often depicted in the movies , that the pictures finally will have some strange element in it hanging. The photographs finally land up in your hands. You are divinely pleased with some of them and you keep seeing it, without leaving its negative counterpart too. You want to make sure that the contrast is as beautiful as the original.
With this you entered the age where the cameras are found anywhere and everywhere. All sort of lenses, focal lengths and pixels and you are spoilt for choices. The shutters are faster than the blink of an eye. Everyone is a claimed photographer now clicking everything around and flaunting it. Ofcourse we are all happy and liking it. You can create the one picture in all spectrum of colours, make things visible or invisible, cut, chop,crop and what not.The technology has no backtrack and only has to advance and get better. Suddenly when I am writing all this and making such big claims,I realized that my mind and heart still yearns for the old pictures. The hard copies which we used to ceremoniously put in the decorated album and flipping through the pages with your kith and kins gave the joy which cant be surpassed. Something told me that the best of today’s bling flashy and clear photographs also cant equate it. At that moment, the old black and white picture stood vindicated ! SAY CHEESE !

Whatever happened to the good old Doordarshan..?

2010-06-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

An easy-going Sunday evening, light is the heart sipping hot tea and the fingers proving their nimbleness in switching between the zillion channels. Your mind asks for more, not settling at any frequency, you continue the wasteful task, proving every now and then the fickleness and restlessness of mind and heart. With a stroke of luck, something finally seems appealing. You hang on to it, just to find in a few minutes that you are back to square one. At once, you realize, fewer choice is way better than overabundance. Overcome by nostalgia, I set out to be lost in those days when TV was synonymous with Doordarshan.
The whole family sat together to watch one program in one channel. Your mind is happy with stability. The programs void of their pomposity, was easy to comprehend. No all pervading reality shows, no always painted characters of saas-bahu serials, no 30 min duration Ads. Simple as it was, it used to cater to all strata of society. A beautiful medley of Knowledge, Entertainment, Real news, Sports. It does have the onus of not portraying the flamboyancy of everything . Pristine, simple and unaltered and the Ads upholding the social issues .But it cant rule the roost today. The cons outweigh the pros. Its difficult to stand out amidst the flashy extravagant things.
Today, every channel has a leverage over the traditional channel. Everything, shown in its bits and pieces make it more attractive and over informative. Watching the famous movie on your couch, singing to the tune of the popular song , getting the adrenaline rush of driving the F1 cars , going on a time machine to the alien space and improving your knowledge base seeing the debate and drama and you ask for more. We do know what colour dress a particular actress wore yesterday , we do know who sings well in the talent show, we do know which football star presented what gift to his gal and ofcourse as who is the substitute of the popular character in the daily soap!! Not to mention, that we are well versed as what brand to buy amidst the huge confusing merchandise (or so we believe)!A sign of technological progress and its disasters. Each channel is the epitome of what it stands for. So far, so good. But somewhere deep inside, I know that I still would opt in for the Jungle Book than the best of Cartoon Network shows, I still would go for Tu Tu Mein Mein than the best of comedy shows, I still would like to hum to the beats of Burman songs in Rangoli than the unlimited masala songs in the pink channel.Be it Malgudi Days, Alif Laila or Chandrakanta, most of it were first of its kind.India truly meant a lot more in Surabhi and Science in Turning Point. Sometimes, Old is not just gold, its Diamond and even more !

Laila O' Laila

2010-05-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

The recent cyclone got much accolades for her fancy name than the havoc wreaked. Digging into the matter as how this ceremonial baptism takes place, I was taken aback by the findings. M sure the process must be action packed to christen the cyclones. Our neighbouring nation halted at 'Laila'. Oh wait! The guy who suggested 'Why Laila, why not Shakira' must have been subdued.

If you thought, honouring the 33% reservation and exulting the women power, the cyclone got the feminine name, you are in a big fallacy(Link). The team is just too smart to evoke any gender based riots (They were not smart enough before 1979 as the list was populated by only female names). Glad, they realised it soon. Yes Smartie, the next cyclone will be a dedication to the male community. Infact, its already been maned as 'Bandu'(Did you say Ridiculous!!?). Surely, its not as enticing as Laila or Katrina, but its a clever move. Come to think of it, we are not only far ahead in predicting the next cyclone, we are playing safe by implying 'You better behave properly, we have a friendly name for you'.If the intellectual in you mocked saying 'Why all this exercise? Why not go with W1, W2, W3..?', I would say it lacks all the flamboyance. The human nature does not go with 'Whats in the name?' ideology. We relate, remember, reminisce a lot by the very names. Hey there, Shall I suggest the next name??!! :-)

What if..??

2010-05-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

A Papaya had fallen on Newton other than APPLE? He would have started cursing his fate may be. What about a Watermelon? He would not have been conscious enough to sit there and come up with a law, which covers most part of our text books and courses. The law which most of us have learnt by rote or by heart. Every science student can almost boast of reciting the law without missing a single word. It truly has gravity in it. The idea struck me when I read in the Guardian newspaper that they want to carry the original piece of the famous apple tree into the space and conduct experiments. (Don’t ask me how they found the tree :-) ). Newton would have loved to see it NOT falling on his head this time (He already has the law to his credit). Ofcourse he should not be spacesick n al !! This is part of the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary.
APPLE will be beaming with pride for the new found status. But then, it was not any less before. It forms the name of the most famous company and products. The first image that comes to the mind is the Apple logo with a bite taken off. Alas, Steve Jobs was so biased. May be he used to meet the doctor everyday !! :-). The fruit also has its part in the garden of Eden of Adam and Eve story. Even though there is no clue about the fruit they ate, the surmise is most likely an Apple. Even though I find the fruit insipid, it sure has its class, undisputed! M sure the younger generation will never know the word by its species, genus etc. Oops! A little birdie told me it’s a fruit after searching through the dictionary of the APPLE product.

Atop the high Mast

2010-05-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

A tense atmosphere bubbling with excitement, curious of the results, gathered to experience the history gets stiffened by the clear cut numbers. T minus 5, T minus 4, T minus 3, T minus 2, T minus 1 and then...The countdown stirs up any sleeping soul. Few seconds worth aeons of accomplishments and toiling, more like a cameo. A rare privilege to see the marvelous , one of the best engineering wonders, the vehicle with magnanimity,the ROCKET soar up into the sky. Up, up and above.The roar, upheaval and the applause deafens the senses. The rich trail of fumes resemble a skillful painter drawing a line against the tranquil blue background of the sky. Tracing the line, the eyes are lit up until it strains to see the huge structure becoming a dot and you are very much convinced that it reached the abode of god. A poignant situation and the feet is freezed. Heart racing and the brain is still contemplating the experience. Gleaming with pride accompanied by the tears of joy, you come back to the earthly place.

Things are going fine. But fate had its hand impinged to lead the destination to the road of perdition. The mission failed to do what it was meant for. The sadness is inexplicable. The doom spreads. For some, its the failure of decade long efforts and for the others its the loss of resources. Its like seeing your baby being washed away into the turbulent water and you stand there helpless and hopeless.

Trying to digest the loss, when you start thinking, some truth prevails to help you deal with it. With the failure comes the challenges. Those who think it was just a prodigal effort, can never comprehend the prudent decisions, activities and the sweat of the folks who have worked on it. Only time can come up with an answer. Success is good, but failure is not bad. It makes you more strong to retort and strike back. It reveals the things which were overlooked and the theories that were taken for granted. You always learn a bit more with failure. Still we always crave for the coveted throne and so continues our journey to reach for it. If not anything, for me, it was nothing less than what they call a TRYST.

When National becomes Notional..

2010-04-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

“Her Majesty”!!..is all set to be listed alongside the dinosaurs. The great ‘ROAR’ is going to reverberate in the woods for one last time. 1411- The magic figure they seem to have arrived at while counting the striped animal. An Aircel initiative of ‘save our tigers’ alongwith WWF is trying its best to spread the word. When you see the advertisement on TV, you cant help but be moved. Stripey, the cub waiting for her mother, bemused and scared to death by the gunshots. The sadness and bereavement spreads wide. How can you afford to lose that cute little creature?
I used to wonder as how a campaign like this could actually help apart from making people know about it. By joining a group in Facebook, does not guarantee you anything. Infact, this leaves us with very little that we can do directly about the situation. You can donate money, but you cant gleam with satisfaction even after that. www.saveourtigers.com equips you with certain ideas and bare facts. But even here the progress column looks bleak. Blogs, discussions and becoming a member achieves very less. Even after finishing this piece of words, I cant be sure if any good comes out of it.
Digging out the files, tell us losing of natural habitat is the main cause. But going on these lines, will leave us with many aspects intertwined, forming a complex labyrinth with no start or end. WE, are the main culprits in the end. The outcry of global warming, deforestation and dwindling of resources leaves US with very less hope, leave alone the tigers. Also, our Tiger seems to be less flexible, unlike us to adjust itself outside its habitat.(The pun is intended!).
Amidst the gravity of the situation, China is considering legalizing the Tiger trade! This is a carnage unfathomable!!. Man’s hunger for its skin and bones seem to be as high as ever. And here we are talking about saving tigers. The decimated statistics does not ring any bells. Gloomy, but the grave truth persists. Our nation is not doing any great on this front either. Pilferage thrives at many levels.
Its not easy but something that cant be ignored. The list extends itself to a whole lot of species. Colossal measures need to be taken. Ofcourse, writing blogs and essays will not help. But we can surely do our bit. Recreation of the green is the pivotal task. But this simple task is the most dreaded one because we seem to have forgotten how a tree looks like or to plant one. Stopping the poaching as a decision, should come out of the bureaucratic hands. The situation is tense and the tone is not frivolous. We have to act now. . Every Tiger saved , saves 100 sq km of forest area. Support the campaign .We don’t want to have a world where there are no pugmarks anymore. Lets not become a nation with the extinct species as the national animal. SAVE OUR TIGERS. MAKE THE ROAR LOUD AND CLEAR !!
NOTE: I may seem as a hypocrite here, writing this with overwhelming emotions. But, this is just as serious as it can be.
COURTESY: Down to Earth-Magazine, The Hindu-Daily, www.saveourtigers.com

REVELATIONS:

2010-02-07T06:22:00.000-08:00

Why do I see some eyes light up when I say the word “SCIENTIST”??!! It often comes up with a rush of mixed feelings ranging from awe to surprise, nerdiness to intelligence, exciting to boring. Here is an attempt to provide an insight into this peculiar world.
If you were wondering that if science is an inexhaustible stream of wonders, well , thats true. But here is an edited version of the truth. It surely is not a whirlwind dance of excitement. Infact, most of the times it’s a journey through a dim maze of deadends. You stare at the same thing for years together and you are not even sure in the end, if you are looking at the right thing. These mind numbing tasks call in for oodles of patience. There is frustration, bureaucracy and even fear of just ending up with a bad coffee. Its drudgery combined with pain staking efforts of using your grey cells.
Then, what is it, that keeps them going? Maybe they find a stimulus running through their nerves igniting their minds to do these herculean tasks. Or maybe they are just able to find a window at every deadend. Either they find it magical enough to instruct their wands as required or just find themselves elated to a clan of extreme beings. I have no clue, whatsoever.
Maybe, even boredom lies very much in the eyes of the beholder. Facing the facts, that not everyone is chosen for the highest honours or even bare recognition, most of them are infact just carried away into the obscurity. Some of the experiments outlive YOU to be even able to see the results of your thinktank. I wish to pay tribute to the truly heroic figures, who have pushed back the boundaries of boredom and fighting through all odds have broken through to the sunlit uplands of scientific revelation (or even not). For me, in some sense, they are the champions of the most popular discipline of scientific tedium.
P.S: Are you wondering if I belong to one of these? Hell NO, there is always a constant fear of not living upto the very word .

Evidence of water, An invitation to colonise??..

2009-09-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

One small step for man, a Giant leap for the mankind.. I kept pondering over the remarkable statement, realizing that it has indeed come true. 40 yrs, since man stepped into the moon.

The tiny molecules of water open the gates for research. Scientists are feeling ‘over the moon’. Why would nt they? With this comes a plethora of possibilities. Come to think of it, split the molecule , you get hydrogen for rocket fuel and oxygen for sustaining life there. Not to mention it’s a lot more easier there to launch rockets with the escape velocity being so less. Also , comes understanding of the universe. No matter how it is formed, through the comets or chemical reactions, it is creating furore of excitement . State -of-the- art rocket science will get a boost.

It may not be like lakes or oceans. But its Water!! With water comes Man, with Man comes the thousand thoughts and the thoughts are never ending. Be it’ For’ or ‘Against’. Its true that the search for survival options, propels the mankind to build the extreme technology and its kind. But there is more to the discovery than the science of it. The mysteries of the cosmic world are far more profound than to be revealed merely to fulfill human needs. Lets hope we build a space station on moon and not a luxury resort :-)

Just 'Hang in there '

2009-05-27T05:19:00.000-07:00

When things go wrong
as they sometimes will,
When the road you are trudging
seems all up hill,
When funds are low
and the debts are high,
And you want to smile
but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must... but dont you quit !!
- An amazing piece. Its so easy to wear a frown, but how hard is it to smile when things dont seem right?! Have you ever tried ? Its not easy to be strong, but you are a winner at the end of the day if you just din't give up and you could just 'Hang in there'..