Just Life (formerly Grad Life)

The Riches

2012-05-23T02:30:00.002-07:00

Since I can not carry my big bad camera with me due to long commute and back pain, I have been carrying my Cannon Powershot SD750 (yep, a digicam) with me. I guess being without a camera makes me feel vulnerable, kind of helpless. I do miss my dearest SLR when I see something nice, something worth taking picture but at least I do have a camera with me at such moments.

Here are the two pics from my recent visit to Warren house conference center in Kingston-upon-Thames for a course.

The area surrounding the conference center had these beautiful mansions with beautiful landscapes. The mansion worth some where in multi-billion pound range. Someone in course mentioned that someday they might own one of them, if they work hard enough now. My response: "I can never work that hard." Seriously. There are things I know I will never be able to afford. One of them being a mansion in the posh part of London. I may wok hard enough to own a house some day in a decent area. But never a mansion. And never in the posh areas.

Its sad and disheartening to realize this but at least I know my limitations and may be in some way my worth.

Anyway, enjoy the pics. The summer is finally here. Hopefully I can post more pics here. The least I can do to keep this space alive.

Just saying Hi

2012-05-11T09:22:00.001-07:00

Too long I have been away. I wish I could say that I am back for good. I am trying to find yet another place to live. This will be my third hunt in 4 months. So I guess I can safely say that I am not yet settled and happy in London. Its been about 6 months now.

As one of my colleague once put it, worse the time you are having right now, more interesting the stories you will have, to be shared among friends over a drink. I think I have a whole arsenal of interesting stories to be unleashed on unsuspecting audience. Actually, scratch that. I already have an audience, and it expects me to tell them more stories (and yes, that's you, my friend). I just need time to unload the entire arsenal.

Let me just give you main highlights since I last wrote:

- I finally managed to go to India. The trip was long overdue. I hadn't seen my family for 4.5 years and with the year we as a family have had (my mom was on bed rest for 6 months, my brother got TB and had to quit his job due to that while I was stranded in Canada for 5 months due to visa issue), I had to visit them this year.

- I attended few courses, one of them being about improving personal performance. To my surprise, I have discovered that I can come across as a bit assertive/aggressive to other people. Aggressive is a word I have never associated with myself. I am a sweet little thing! No seriously. Apparently that's what rest of my classmate/course-mate also thought, till the facilitator pointed out that aggression has nothing to do with tone of voice or the body language but the fact that I am pushing my point across in that scenario. If I was a big guy, that would have been ,obviously, seen as an aggression. Since I am a small person and a woman with a pleasant voice, I don't come across that way to general populace. Hmmm, who knew being little and a woman had its advantages?

Anyway, that was not the biggest surprise they (the facilitators) had in their bags. According to them, I, apparently, have a great potential for becoming a manager and rise up high in the organization. This, I definitely know, is not true. I am not saying I don't have any talent. I love my field and I am really good at it. I am not boasting. I pride myself for being brutally honest. According my own assessment, I will hire me in a heartbeat. But I don't see myself as a manager or some one with a great potential for being a good manager. Add to it, all the office politics. I really don't think I can handle that. Anyway, that's that.

- One of the worst thing about not being settled yet: I haven't been able to pick up my camera much. Although I was actually more "unsettled" or rather on-the-move last year and yet I managed to take quiet a lot of pictures. My only anchor in those times was my camera.

I am missing my camera sorely, especially given how habituated I had become about carrying my camera everywhere. I think I feel even more unsettled now since I don't have my anchor any more. I need to get back my anchor. May be everything else will settle down once I have that anchor. may be life will be a bit less chaotic then. Just a thought...

- I still miss US. Actually, I have been missing it even more now than earlier. May be it has something to do with me not having a home here. I had a home in US. A place where I craved to go after a tough day. I need to find that home. I don't think I can handle all the stress thrown my way unless I have that place. I think that's what is making it difficult to find a place. I have been looking for past 2 weeks or so and have viewed about 8-9 places so far. Hopefully I will find it soon.

- I am reading the Anita Blake series at the moment. Please don't judge me.

I guess that's all for today. Not sure when will be the next time I will write. But I promise I will.

Lesson learned?

2012-02-27T15:26:00.002-08:00

So I had been looking for a shared accommodation near my office in this nice, big city, you know to reduce my commute. I contacted a few people: backed out from a few, and few backed out from me. Well I always made clear that I like to cook and since I am an Indian, I would cook Indian food. Of course, not everyone can tolerate the strong smell of Indian food. But its better to have such issues sorted out before moving in, right? Finally I found a nice Polish lady who lives 10 min bus ride from my office. She didn't have any problem with all the issues I raised with her. So I decided to put the deposit and pay the first month rent and move in.

I packed my stuff from my friend's place and moved in. The evening I moved in, we talked about cleaning schedules and other stuff. I was tired so wanted to sleep early. That's when she dropped the bomb: "Oh, by the bye, my husband visit me few times a week. Thought I should mention this so that there are no surprises."

Wait, what?

"Oh. Where does your husband work?"
"Oh, he works in London and comes down here few times a week. Her sister also visit some times. He is a Pakistani guy."
"But but but...why didn't you mention this earlier?"
"But what difference does that make? Its no different than having boyfriend."

Because, I agreed to share the room with you and had no idea I have to share it with someone else. Someone whom I have never met and don't know if I will be comfortable with him. Because he is your Husband which automatically implies that he lives here unlike a boyfriend. I will be equally uncomfortable with live-in boyfriend without my prior knowledge. I agreed to share that place with one person. And because I let you know all the issues I thought my potential room-mate can have problem with including the fact that I cook Indian food.

Well I didn't say as much. I am a non-confrontational person. Its hard for me to be in an argument.

Anyway, getting to the point of post. Almost everyone I have told this incident to inadvertently comes back with the response similar to "Well, you learned a lesson there."

I don't understand that response. Honestly, I don't know what lesson they are referring to here. I talked to that lady in details before moving. My friends (from London) met her and didn't suspect anything fishy about the whole affair. Its not like I was being extra naive or stupid or something like that. It was not MY mistake that I can learn from. Only thing I can learn from this whole episode is that never ever trust anyone in this city. That is if you call this trust. Its not like I have shared my innermost secrets with that lady or something like that. It was a mere rental contract. True, the experience stressed me out and has left me with a bitter taste in the mouth but I simply can't comprehend what lesson I can learn from this episode.

This statement actually infuriates me more than the whole episode. May be because I actually trust these people when I share such a thing with them and then they turn back and kind of blame me for being so naive. So much for making friends in the new city...

Is this for real?

2012-02-16T09:20:00.000-08:00

Today I had my first ever encounter with a real NHS doctor. So far I have heard of them and always thought of them as a fictional character from some bad story. Today I met one!

I have had a very bad cough and fever for past one week. No over the counter medicine have been helping. So finally I made an appointment with local "Surgery" as they call the local government clinics. I met the doctor and that's how the conversation went:

"Hi, I am Dr B. How can I help you?"
"Hi, I am Richa. I have had a bad cough and fever for past week. I haven't been able to sleep due to coughing fits. For past two days I have been throwing up due to a coughing fit."
Dr. B: "What medicine have you been taking?"
Me: "Paracetmol and cough syrup and I have been gurggling."
Dr. B: "And I assume your voice has changed. This is not your normal voice, right?"
Me: "Yes, of course."
Dr. B: "Okay, let me examine your throat."

He examins the throat.

Dr. B: "Okay, it seems you have a viral infection."
Me: "Okay."
Dr. B: "There is no treatment for the viral infection. It usually goes away on its own."
Me: "Huh?"
Dr. B: "You should continue doing what you are doing and in few days it will go away."
Me: "Huh?"
Dr. B: "What do you want me to do? Give you antibiotics?"
Me: "Yes, please."
Dr. B: "Latest research shows that antibiotics have no effect on viral infections, only on bacterial infection. I can give you antibiotics but it will have no effect. You will feel better after taking antibiotics but it will not be because of antibiotics. Its the viral infection getting better by itself."

Me: "No problem. I will still take the antibiotics." Pause. "BTW, am I contagious to other people? Can I go to office without risking their health (not sure about UK but in US its a big issue. You shouldn't be interacting with other people if you are contagious.)?"

Dr. B: "Oh yes, viral infections are not contagious."

VIRAL INFECTIONS ARE NOT CONTAGIOUS! All I could do was stare him.

Don't take me wrong. I am not big fan of medicine and will avoid them as much as I can. I will actually avoid doctors as much as I can. My solution to most of the common fevers etc: Drink plenty of water and rest. Ocassionally take a paracetmol if fever is too much. That's all. But this infection was getting worse every day and I knew I needed help. I have been previously hospitalized due to a throat infection so didn't want to take that risk again.

Anyway, I finally got the antibiotics and have started the course. Hopefully my viral infection will get better by itself despite me taking antibiotic. I just had to write this incident down.

P.S.: 1. Due to recent sickness, February Photo-a-day was unsuccsessful. Will try something new soon...

2. BTW, Dr. B is an Indian or at least was born an Indian.

February Photo-a-day: 10AM

2012-02-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

Well I woke up at 9:45ish today morning. The first thing that struck me was the light from the window. The white snow was everywhere outside. I know this picture has nothing to do with 10AM but that’s what was happening to me at 10AM this morning. The wonder and excitement of waking up to snow covered world:

Other February Photo-a-day Posts: Words, Hands, A Stranger.

February Photo-a-day: A stranger

2012-02-05T14:04:00.000-08:00

Sadly, due to snow, I couldn’t finish this photo challenge. To start with there weren’t many people out. The people who were out were trying to reach to their destination in a hurry due to snow. And above all, it was SNOWING! Okay, not the entire day, but me being the maha-aalasi (super lazy) that I am during weekends, I didn’t start till it was too late. I could have taken picture of random people running to their destinations, but I didn’t dare to take my hands out of my pockets and get the camera out to take the picture.

Bottom line: Didn’t take the stranger picture. But I do have some stranger pictures that I am going put in-lieu. Hope you like it:

The picture is from Seattle’s Pike Place Market in the early morning.

Other pictures from February Photo-a-day series: Words, Hands.

February Photo-a-day: Hands

2012-02-05T14:01:00.000-08:00

Guess what? Weekends are busier than weekdays. But at least fun was had. It was slightly marred by the frozen weather we have been having lately. Anyway, I finally got around to downloading my pictures to computer. So Feb 3rd Challenge was Hands. Here is the pictures of “that” day:

The hands are of a friend’s daughter who loves stickers.

Other February Photo-a-day: Words.

And more complains

2012-02-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

Living in London, the big bad London, is quite different from Houston. To start with, I use public transport in London. It means I interact with a lot of strangers on the road, in the train etc. So of course, I have complains, quite a few of them, actually, about how people behave in public places.

- I don't like people who smoke while walking. On top of it they overtake me while puffing their cigarettes. Hello, you want to smoke, you do. You want to die of cancer, your problem but what gives you right to make me inhale your smoke?

- I don't like people who listen to their iPod at the loudest volume, especially if they are sitting in quiet zone. There is a reason I chose to sit in the quiet zone. There they sit with their loud music making the quiet zone quite noisy.

- I don't like people who like to rant about their office on a phone in a train. I really don't want to hear how you are the smartest person around and everyone around you just don't have any common sense. And no its not okay to swear at your boss and colleagues in the train either. And no, you don't get our sympathy by doing so.

- I don't like people who block the exit of the train when they are in no hurry what so ever. I change 4 trains and a bus to reach my destination. If I miss any one of them, my travel time increases by about half an hour (that's above my usual 2 hour journey one way). So please excuse me for rushing but I don't have time to wait for you to fold your paper and then climb down the train. I usually climb the flights of stairs running and make it to the trains 30 sec before they depart. So just get out of my way!

- I don't like people giving me snide looks when I work on my Sudoku. Just because I am an Asian doesn't mean I don't enjoy Sudoku. BTW, I have a degree in Mathematics and I scored 800/800 in the quantitative section of GMAT. I think I am more than capable of solving and enjoying Sudoku.

That's all for today. More complains coming soon...

February Photo-a-day: Words

2012-02-02T15:22:00.001-08:00

So Sunshine forwarded me this link about February Photo-a-day challenge. Unfortunately, I didn’t check her recommendation till this morning, so I missed the first day. But since I am lagging behind in both photography and blogging these days, I thought of giving it a try despite my super busy schedule. So here I am at 11:15 on 2nd Feb, posting the second day photo of the challenge (I was supposed to sleep by 10:30 since I need to be up by 6).

Today’s challenge is words. Since my commute time in London is about 4 hours per day, I have acquired a habit of doing Sudoku and crosswords published everyday in the local newspaper. So for today’s challenge I present today’s partly complete crossword.

Until tomorrow…or whenever I next get time to post.

Straight on the road

2012-01-20T03:22:00.000-08:00

I think one of my new year resolution should be "Stop Complaining" but unfortunately that won't go well with my other resolution "Blog more".

Anyhoo, let's get back to my current complain. As it happens to anyone who has just moved to a big city, I am always lost in London. Okay, not so much now as I was in my initial days but still I do get lost quite frequently. The good thing about London is that people on the street always help you with right directions (unlike Delhi). My problem is the way I am given the direction. More often than not, they tell me to keep straight on the road I am on (I am usually not as lost as I think). The trouble with that direction, at least for me, the roads in London are never straight, unlike US. They bend and curve and turn and split in twos or threes. Initially, I used to follow the direction literally. Keep straight on the road. Result: I would get more lost than I was.

For example, at point X, I asked someone how to reach Richmond Rail station (point B). They told me to keep straight on the road. So I reached point Y and kept straight on the road (well as straight as I could). It was a dead end. What they really meant was: "Follow the road' and not, 'keep straight on the road' (Click on the image to see what I mean).

Trust me, it's very confusing for someone who has spent 7 years in US, the last of which was in great state of Texas. They have straight roads. Seriously straight. I mean just look at them:

Moreover, when they give direction in Texas, they will tell you that the road turns/bends towards left (even the slightest bends) and you have to keep on it. No such luck in London...

Revisiting Resolutions 2011

2012-01-02T16:10:00.000-08:00

We all make them at the beginning of each year, the resolution that is. I guess its a fashionable thing to do. But what's the point of making them if we don't revisit them towards the end and see how we fared. I know I am a bit late ( I started this post in beginning of December, actually) but I think I will first revisit my last year's resolution before making a new one. I might be able to catch up on my weaker areas that way and get them back in this year's resolutions. What do you say? Well, as if you have a choice. Like it or not, I am ranting about it today.

So ladies and gentlemen, here are my resolution from beginning of this year.

- Drink less soda. I don't think I fared well on this one. Although there was an entire month that I didn't drink any soda in 2011. My soda consumption is directly related to my stress level and this year has been quite stressful. So ergo, no success. I don't even see myself succeeding in this area in any recent time. Still too many changes, too many things to deal with.

- Exercise better. I am so proud to say that I actually kept this one despite all the crazy things going on in my life. I think I didn't exercise for about 1.5 month this year (September mid to October end) due to back pain, other than that I had been pretty good about it. I lost weight, gained muscles, lowered my cholesterol and have been pretty much in good shape. I am kind of proud of myself.

- Eat healthier. Again a big tick mark. I travelled a lot this year and still I did manage to eat healthy. Not all the time, of course, but more often than not I avoided unhealthy options and ate healthy. How else do you think I got my cholesterol from whooping 350 to borderline 200?

- Read more. I did. Although I am not very proud of selection of books I read (mostly young adult fiction) but I did manage to read about 22 books so far (not including the re-read of Harry Potter etc). As I said I spent most of my year travelling this year but I discovered the Kindle for PC. I am not big fan of reading books on computer or devices but this was the only way I could have read books while I was away from home. So I give a big plus to Kindle on that. A friend of mine gave me Kindle fire as farewell present so I think 2012 will be a better year for reading. Also I will be travelling about four hours each day so I will have plenty time to catch up on the reading.

- Be more social. Oh well. Again, I travelled a lot this year, met a lot of strangers and made quite a few friends. So I guess I can tick this off my list as well.

- Call home. I never imagined the way my year would turn out to be when I made that one as a resolution. This year my mom spent about 6 months on bed-rest due to various reasons. The only bright spot in her days were my daily phone calls. I have actually spoiled my parents so much that if I don't call for a week, I start getting frantic calls and emails from them. Till last year, I wouldn't call for a month and it used be perfectly normal. How life changes...

- Read scientific journals. Hmmm...I failed at this one. I don't have any excuses for this one except my travel and stress levels. I guess I should keep this one in 2012 resolution.

- Blog regularly. Oh well, I failed miserably at this one. I have to definitely pick on this one in 2012.

- Take more photos. This one is a big Yes agan. I started a self-portrait project (taking a self-portrait per day) in May and kept on it till now, apart from visiting a lot of different places and taking a lot of picture.

That's it for today. I will be back with more soon. I hope...

Complain Complain Complain

2011-12-29T04:32:00.001-08:00

That’s what I do these days. Well ok, I have always complained about one thing or the other at any given time (the reason I have this blog) but I think I have even more complains in UK than in US. As a friend put it loosely for me:

“If you are moving from India to UK, you are moving from a developing country to a developed country but if you are moving from US to UK, its like moving from a developed country to a developing country.”

Ok not entirely true, but it does come close. My biggest complains in UK: snobbery and customer service.

The entire world complain about American being rude, blah, blunt and loud but seriously, I have never been treated so badly anywhere in US. My bank in US treated me so well even when I was a student and didn’t have enough money. In UK the bank which has my salary account treats me like dirt. I am the one saying all please and Thank you’s, crossing my t’s and dotting my i’s while they send me bulleted emails about things I should send them without any hi or hello or even an acknowledgement. I am their customer and not their employee, for heaven’s sake! So much for being prim and proper in England.

Don’t even get me started with the help lines. Do you know you have to actually pay to talk to a customer service representative? And the average wait time to reach a customer service representative is same, if not longer. My BP rises every time I need to call one of those numbers. Okay, I have got a plan on my mobile according to which I am only charged for my mobile minutes when I call them and not their ridiculous charges but my BP still rises every time I call them. Its just so unfair! Its not my fault that I need to call them. In most cases its their fault or their requirement (as in activating the credit card etc.) that I need to call those numbers and then I am charged for it! Seriously? Forget about the quality of service provided. I am already seething by the time I am connected to an actual person. Its not about the amount of money I have to pay but the indignation over the system. I don’t think I will ever be okay with this system. Call me spoiled American if you like.

And then once in a while you meet the famous British snobs. I had misfortune of sitting next to one such English gentleman in the flight from Houston to London. Unfortunately, I had the middle seat in the flight. This “gentleman” deemed it proper to dump all the stuff from his seat (pillow, blanket etc.) to my seat without asking me first or saying Thank you after. Then the stewardess gave me his breakfast while he was sleeping and he didn’t even as much give a smile, forget about Thank you, for keeping it for him. And then they have the audacity to tell me that Americans are rude. Seriously? (Ironically, on my other side was an old French lady who was friendly and polite).

Going off topic a bit, Why do all the women in London wants to look 25 regardless of their age. No seriously, why? The teenagers want to look 25 and women in their 50s want to look 25. How can everyone in a city be 25? What’s so bad about being young or being old? Me thinks London is as bad as, if not worse than, LA in that respect. Well, judging by what I know about the two cities.

I have never lived in New York but I think Londoners are as bad as, if not worse than, New Yorkers when it comes to brand name obsession. I have never understood that obsession. May be its just my upbringing. I am still an Indian middle class girl who can’t accept throwing money on things you don’t need, and definitely not for sake of brand names. I have perfectly good bag that serves its purpose. I don’t want Louis Vuitton and such. I will be actually scared of owning anything like that since they are so ridiculously expensive. I will keep them in a safe place and continue using the one I have. Don’t take me wrong, I do appreciate quality and will like to have a good quality product but not necessarily an acknowledged brand name. But then, of course, I have to deal with the fashion snobbery for my choices. (Did I mention I miss US? Well, I do. Big time).

At times, I feel like I am trapped in a shallow, arrogant, rude, gossiping society. Thankfully, I do have a nice set of friends in London so I am getting along. Hopefully I will settle down soon and start accepting the life in UK. I will stop complaining so much eventually. After all, I didn’t like US during my first six months there (I didn’t have a credit history or a car back then. If you know US, you would know how difficult it is to survive in US without either). But for now, I don’t like London.

Scary..

2011-12-08T09:00:00.001-08:00

I was mailing a friend with an attachment using gmail. As usual I forgot to attach the file. And this popped up:

Gmail is scanning my messages now!! I mean its a useful feature and everything but I kind of feel exposed and vulnerable now. I know with onset of social networking sites everything the personal boundaries have shrunk. People no longer mind posting very personal messages on the wall for the world to see (I have been guilty of that on few occasions as well), but a machine scanning my personal mails is kind of scary. What if they are reading all my private messages? There is a reason I am using mail to write them and not Facebook...

London, here I come...

2011-11-22T19:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, I am making it blogosphere-official. I am moving to London. Tomorrow. After about seven months of turmoils, the ups and downs, the uncertainty about the future, living the life out of a box (well apparently that will continue for another month though this time I will have two boxes, I mean, suitcases), moving from hotel room to hotel (I kinda know how nomads feel) in cities I didn't know anyone, I am now moving to the next adventure: LONDON.

Good thing about London, I have loads of friends there. I already have invitation from three different friends to crash at their place while I look for an apartment. And of course, it is nearer to home ( I haven't gone to India for 4.5 years now. I am finally homesick).

I am still sad about leaving US. Not as sad as I was when I had to leave Stanford but still sad. I never got a chance to form a bond with Houston. But still, I do have friends around. I have a great support system in place here. I have to again start from scratch: Get to know people especially new colleagues, make friends, get used to a completely new culture (second one this year, first being the Canadian culture: I was stuck there in summer for five months due to visa issues), the new system and the big city (did I ever mention I hate big cities?), and the worst part is to do all this while getting mocked for being rude, ignorant American (which technically I am not. I still have my Indian passport: Mera Bharat Bhi Mahaan). Oh well, so much to look forward to...

P.S.: 1. Hopefully I will be able to be a bit more regular with blogging once I have settled down in London a bit (= find an apartment and get a working internet connection). So sit tight for the adventure of rude, ignorant American in London.

2. A fair warning: There are still a lot of things that can go wrong from now till the Thursday morning (the day I land in London). With the luck I have had lately, anything is possible. Last seven months have taught me one thing very well: Never say Never. Nothing has been working out as planned for seven months so I have become very reluctant to commit to anything. For example, I had cancelled all my utilities (electricity, phone, cable etc) once before about a month ago only to get them all reinstated within two days. I have cancelled everything again today. Let's hope it sticks by this time...

The Rules of Life

2011-10-09T21:56:00.001-07:00

Today as I was sorting through old things, trying to decide what to keep and what to throw, I found an old diary of mine. A diary from late 1990s when I was just stepping out of my teens. The only thing that’s written in that “locked” diary are 17 rules of life. I started reading them, thinking it would be some corny, mushy stuff I wrote, stuff that teenagers, or rather I believed in back then.

Well I was right but somehow, those rules don’t sound too bad even now. May be I still need to do some growing up. Anyway, I have decided to throw away that diary so I am copying those rules here, just for future reference.

Basic Rules of Life:

1. Get as many laughs as you can. Life is too short to be wasted and getting depressed.

2. Never take life or yourself too seriously. There are 4 billion people on this Earth and you are just one of them. So…how important are you anyway?

3. The truth is like an injection. It hurts then it makes things better. Don’t try and hide the facts from yourself. Be brave and accept your faults and facts just as they are. (I do live by this rule. I didn’t realize that’s where I got it from).

4. Be optimistic. You might have some flaws but you can always overcome them.

5. If the situation is out of control then just wait and watch until they are better again. Always remember “Time waits for none. Time changes for all.”

6. If the situation gets worse then simply move on. An end to a path does not mean the end of everything.

7. A firm mind leads toward a definite path and can take you out of any problem. It gives a clear perspective and helps you think in a mature way.

8. Be patient. Frustration arises when you ignore the time factor and want the results instantly.

9. More important than being the best is doing your best. If you had put your heart and soul in whatever you were doing then there is no reason to feel depressed or despondent. Not every one can come first. Accept that there are others who are better than you.

10. Always be ready to help others. And help everyone, even the person who are not good to you. For if you don’t then there would be no difference between you and them. (I did apply this rule for a long time in my life but eventually I rejected it. Learned this lesson very hard way)

11. Always appreciate other’s talent. It makes you a better person. Never be hesitant in giving compliments to others.

12. Never gossip. Before saying anything bad about someone, reflect on yourself: Are you any better than them? (Ah, that’s why I feel so guilty whenever I do gossip!)

13. If your expectations are not fulfilled, analyze your expectations whether they are justified or not.

14. Avoid pride. There are always people who are much more talented and more fortunate than you are.

15. The most important thing in life is “SATISFICATION”. Just be glad for what you have and for being the wonderful person you are. (Doesn’t the last part contradict the Rule 14? Hmph. Teenagers!)

16. Be ready to apologize when you have done something wrong. There are some people who are too precious to loose.

17. The true measure of success is not your bank balance or your position and status, but the type of relationship you share with people close to you, the time you spend with them and the amount of ‘happiness’ (not money or comfort) you can give them.

I am not sure why I wrote them down. Just remember coming out of a lot of sadness while writing those. Either way, that was me in 1990s…

Thursday Challenge: Golden

2011-09-29T18:14:00.001-07:00

Well almost. BTW, it’s a sunrise picture, and not sunset, in Calgary downtown…

This picture is posted as part of Thursday Challenge: Golden.

Weekend Wednesdays: Lake Moraine

2011-08-31T20:05:00.001-07:00

Being Green

2011-08-29T19:45:00.001-07:00

Okay I have a big time problem with this ad:

Why you ask? I am so glad you did. This advertisement implies that electricity is a “pure” source of energy because you see it comes form an electric outlet. But do they show how electricity is actually generated? Because news flash, electricty is not produced in their wall and supplied to the wall socket. Let’s see how the world energy is produced.

Well what do you know, 87% of world energy comes from, wait for it, fossil fuels (coal + oil + gas). Actually about 30% of it comes from coal which actually produces worse green house gases than the petrol you use for your car. And let me not get started with the environmental impact of nuclear energy and for that matter, even hydro-power.

The best solution, you ask? Well lets all stop using electricity or any kind of technology. Let’s go back to the caves. What, can’t do that? Then stop screaming environmental impacts and how much you love this planet.

Like it or not, the Earth is currently over populated by human species. That is enough to destroy the natural balance of this planet. And then we have our luxuries and comforts that we can’t survive without anymore, which makes a bad situation worse. So unless you can give all those luxuries up and are ready to live in a cave without electricity, technology or even so called basic necessities, there is no point saying that you love this planet and care about the “environmental impacts”, the “environmental foot-prints” etc. Those are just fancy words.It can make you feel good but they don't mean much. So stop using them. If you do want to do something then save electricity, lower the heating system a bit (if possible don't use it at all) and for God’s sake, stop reproducing like, well humans. (Can’t think of any other species in the animal kingdom that grow faster than them humans. They surpassed the bunnies long along..). Its not much and it will definitely not save the planet. It will just slow down its demise..

PS: I realize the chart above is for world energy and not electricity per se. Well the electricity statistics is a bit expensive for me at the moment (they are asking me to pay! The nerve on them..). However, the past data suggest that the statistics for the electricity generation is slightly better but still about 67-70% of world electricity is produced by fossil fuels and about 15% from Nuclear. Again not very environment friendly, is it?

Weekends Fun: The moon, the sun and everything else

2011-08-28T20:38:00.001-07:00

Well I have missed posting these for past few weekends. So what have I been doing over the weekends? Taking pictures, of course. However, I have been experimenting a bit these days. Something that you tend to do when you are all by yourself without any friends or foe in a strange city. So here are some of the results:

The first picture is a combo of two my experiments: night photography and panoramic pictures. This is the Calgary skyline in the night time:

The night I took the above picture was the night of full moon (the night of Rakshabandhan). As I crossed the Bow river to return back to my place, I saw this amazing scene. Obviously I had to take the picture. The river looked simply breathtaking!

Two weeks later, it was time for the new moon night. So I took this picture this Friday (well nearly new moon night, I am not sure I can take picture of a new moon).

Next picture is of the sun rise. I woke up at 3:30 AM on a weekend, drove 2.5 hours, stood in freezing cold to take this picture. It’s the shot taken at the moment the first ray of sun hit the top of the mountain. Trust me that moment was worth all the effort.

The next is picture from few moments later. (Blogger is messing with my colors for some reason. It was beautiful. You have to take my word for it.)

One more panorama before I leave. This one is taken on the road in Banff National Park..

That’s all for today folks! Catch you later…

Random thoughts

2011-08-11T20:56:00.001-07:00

- Is there something called photography block? I have been taking pictures but somehow they never come out the way I want them to be. I see them, delete them and go back again to take some more pictures.

- Why do almost all the comedies in US revolve around a male lead actor who is a douche bag, who, miraculously, is married to a beautiful woman who for some unknown reason tolerates him? Where is the comedy in seeing the douchebags messing up things and then boasting about it?

- Speaking of comedies, why is it considered funny seeing a man dressed in woman’s cloth? Why then, by the same logic (whatever it is), isn’t a woman dressed in man’s cloth considered funny? What’s so funny about it?

- How can anyone ever justify the looting hooligans of London? Why is media even trying to justify them? How do so called deprived youth be satisfied by stealing HD TVs and designer clothes? Is that what they are deprived of? They should all be sent to Somalia and they would know what deprivation really mean.

- Speaking of Somalia, what is with Indians and charity? Why don’t they ever donate? Seriously, few bucks out of your pocket won’t make a difference to you but it can make huge impact in someone else’s life. Please donate.

Oh well, I have been meaning to write all these as posts for past two weeks but carpal tunnel syndrome is raising its ugly head again. So I thought of simply posting these thoughts.

Wordless Wednesday: Paradise?

2011-07-27T21:17:00.001-07:00

Weekend Fun: Banff National Park

2011-07-26T18:32:00.001-07:00

The weather forecast for this Saturday was sunny with 40% chance of rain. So I decided to go to the mountains and take some pictures. The day started with some clouds but they didn’t look ominous. Actually they added a nice tone in the scenic route.

However, it did not last. It was soon raining cats and dogs.

However, it did clear up and it was a beautiful beautiful day after that. The clouds shifted and you can almost see the blue sky. The fresh tress, the road, the clouds and the mountain - everything together made it almost magical. It was so hard to leave any one spot and move on to other. It was so hard to stop clicking pictures. How many times in your life do you see such a beautiful scene unfold in front of your eyes?

It was simply gorgeous. Needless to say, I had a terrific weekend.

Wordless Wednesday: Raindrops

2011-07-20T20:28:00.001-07:00

… and the inverted reflections. (Yes, I am a science geek).

The Deathly Hallows-2

2011-07-16T11:05:00.001-07:00

Spoiler Warning

And the saga ends. The saga of Harry Potter. The story of an orphan who longed for his parents. The story of a boy who kept losing the people he loved. A boy who had the responsibility of the whole world on his shoulder. The boy who lived. The boy who willingly died for others.

The Deathly Hallows was the saddest book of the Harry Potter series. From the death of Dobby to the death of Fred Weasley and finally, to the death of Harry Potter. It was one emotional ride. The movie was every bit emotionally challenging as the book. The entire audience was sniffling yesterday when they saw the bodies of Remus and Tonks, when Snape died, when Harry went through Snape’s memories especially when Snape found Lily’s dead body, and when Harry Potter said

“There is a reason why I can hear the Horcruxes. I have known it for sometime now and I know you do too.”

Thankfully it didn’t elaborate on Harry’s journey through the forest.

The movie started with You-know-who taking the elder wand from Albus Dumbledore’s grave while Harry sat in front of Dobby’s grave with the tombstone that said:

“Here lies Dobby, A Free Elf.”

The trios breaking into Gringotts Wizarding bank and their escape on a dragon was beautifully pictured. The massacre of wizards when You-know-who heard the news was something I didn’t imagine when I was reading the book. It was one of those moments when you realize how brutal and scary You-know-who really is. It was re-emphasized by the way he murdered Snape.

The movie is brilliantly made and very well directed. I wouldn’t say that it matches up to the book, no movie can do that, but it is the best a movie could have done.

Having said that, I should also mention that I didn’t like the epilogue. The three teenager by no way look older. They look comical especially when kids clearly few years younger to them call them mom and dad. I think they could have either skipped that part entirely or could have done a better job with it.

In all, a great movie. Try to watch it in 3D. The 2D version is slightly out of focus, at least it was in the theater I watched it in.

P.S.: Pardon my grammar today. I am always confused about which tense to use when writing a report, review etc.: past or present?

Smell the Roses

2011-07-15T13:44:00.001-07:00

People in cold countries, like Canada, can’t wait for summer. They talk about beautiful weather, about taking time off to visit some beautiful place in the mountains. And yet, they refuse to admire, slow down or even look up to see a beautiful day passing them by. I took the above picture of Calgary downtown from a +15 walkway. I simply couldn’t pass this scene without taking a picture. Most of the people (not all though) who saw me taking this picture gave me a look before passing by.

To be fair, this is a narrow view of the scene, the actual scene looked something like this:

I stopped in my tracks when I entered this walkway. Beautiful, isn’t it? At least, I thought so. Am I only one who thinks this is beautiful? Why don’t other people see it? Even if I am in a hurry and such a scene present itself, I will slow down and will not take my eyes off it unless I absolutely have to. Why don’t anyone else? No really, why not?