Confused Soul

Dream of every child

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 18:21:00 +0000

Do you know someone, who never had a dream to get the moon? Probably not...

Sony encashed this concept in their new commercial for Bravia.

Do your most important job first each day

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:57:00 +0000

Doing this one thing will make you so much more effective. There’s an interesting story about this. In the 1930’s the steel magnate Charles Schwabb had a meeting with a young entrepreneur. This young man offered to teach Schwabb a way to increase his entire company’s productivity. All he asked in return was that Schwabb pay him what he thought it was worth.

The idea? Just write down the six most important things you should do each day and do number one first, before going on to number two. After trying this incredibly basic technique for a few weeks Schwabb sent the young man a cheque for $25,000.

पिछला वर्ष : २०११

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:07:00 +0000

समय रूपी पंछी जब आसमान में लम्बा उड़ता है तो रास्ते में उसके पर गिरते रहते है, जो भविष्य में बहुत याद आते है| पिछले साल एक ऐसा ही बहुत ख़ास पर मैंने खो दिया| या फिर यूं कहे की ११ मई की वो शाम, उस पंछी के लिए ऐसा दिन लेकर आई, जिसे वह कभी नहीं भूल सकता| ऐसा लगता था की किसी दुष्ट बहेलिये ने गर्दन से पकड़ लिया हो और पूरी ताकत से गला दबाने की कोशिश कर रहा हो| उस समय तो किसी तरह अपनी गर्दन उस बहेलिये से छुड़ा ली, लेकिन आज भी रह रह कर जो दर्द होता है, उसे न किसी से कह सकते है और न ही अनदेखा कर सकते है|

११ मई २०११ को बिलकुल सामान्य दिनों की तरह मैंने मम्मी को फ़ोन लगाया. यूं तो में रोज़ ही मम्मी या पापा से बात कर लिया करता था, परन्तु कुछ दिनों से ऑफिस में काम की वजह से समय ही नही मिल पा रहा था| अचंभित रूप से फ़ोन मम्मी की जगह पापा ने उठाया, मुझे लगा की आज तो दोनों से एक साथ बात हो जायेगी| पापा ने फ़ोन उठाते ही बोला "५ मिनट में वापस कॉल करता हूँ, मम्मी की तबियत कुछ सही नहीं है|" चिंता तो मुझे हुई, लेकिन लगा की शायद गर्मी की वजह से थोड़ी ब्लड -प्रेशर की समस्या होगी| १० मिनट बाद जब मैंने दुबारा कॉल किया, तो फ़ोन पापा की जगह, हमारे पडोसी से उठाया, और बोला "बेटा, मम्मी की तबियत ज्यादा खराब हो गयी है, आप सब लोग आ जाओ", थोडा दिमाग ठनका, लेकिन जो घटा था, वो कल्पना से परे था| वैसे तो किसी असामान्य घटना के बुरी आशंका ही होती है है, लेकिन यह एक प्रलय के समान था, जिसकी कल्पना तो में सपने में भी नहीं कर सकता था|

में कैसे विश्वास कर लूं की जो दादी २ दिन पहले अपनी पोती के जन्मदिन में गुब्बारे फुलाने की जिद कर रही थी, हमेशा के लिया उसी पोती को छोड़ कर चली गयी थी| कैसे विश्वास कर लूं, की जिन हाथों ने जीवन भर हमारी ख्वाहिशों की पूरा करने के लिए अपनी इच्छाओ का गला घोटा, आज उन्ही हाथों के साया हमेशा के लिए हमारे सर से उठ चूका है| कैसे एक दिन में "मम्मी से ये बात करेगे" से "मम्मी होती तो यह बात करते" हो गया| कैसे?

आज हमारी मम्मी हमारे बीच नहीं है, लेकिन उनकी याद हमारे ज़हन से कभी नहीं जायेगी| आज भी कुछ करना होता है तो पहली प्रतिक्रिया यही होती है की मम्मी ऐसे करती थी| हम हमेशा कोशिश करेगे की सदा ऐसे काम करें की मम्मी जहाँ भी हो, उन्हें गर्व महसूस हो|

Good design for a water dispenser

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 08:01:00 +0000

Water Dispenser at our office has a sliding lock on warn water push button. Many a times, one uses to take water while talking to someone and pushes wrong button accidentally. This sliding lock ensures that his hand won't burn accidentally.

In below image, I circled the slide lock on warn water button.

Shaheed Abdul Hameed

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:25:00 +0000

I was watching the only sensible program India TV telecasted (A live meeting with Anna Hazare team), in which team Anna was answering the question from families of Paramveer chakra holders and others.

There was Martyr Abdul Hameed's widow in the audience (who bribed Rs. 5000/- to T.T. to travel from Vanarasi). She was very sad that Nobody did anything to make Abdul Hameed alive in memory of people (No parks, no monument, no road etc on his name). After Anna replied, suddenly an army officer stood and told her that a soldier doesn't fight for name or fame. He just fight for his nation. It's misfortune for us if we don't give him proper importance but for Indian Armed Forces, he is always a hero.

Lets keep these martyrs alive in our heart and not because of some perishable stuff.

Life Is A Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:16:00 +0000

Cool presentation with so much reality...

Check slide 26-30, so damn true...

A Girl Who Hated Wearing Glasses

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:12:00 +0000

This is a true story of Katie Chapin, a New York girl who absolutely hated the idea of wearing glasses but with time, she realized that glasses were a better option for her than contact lenses. This nicely-done presentation could be an inspiration for some of us who are in a similar situation.

YOU CAN’T PUT GLASSES ON THE GIRL AND EXPECT HER TO STAY THE SAME

How do people change over time

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:37:00 +0000

We were discussing about Leonardo da Vinci at office when a colleague narrated an great story about Michelangelo.

Michelangelo used to live in Bologna in those days; the pub at the corner of the lane was his favorite haunt. He used to take his bottle and sit outside. One fine day, there was a peanuts vendor sitting across the road. Everytime the vendor weighted peanuts, a few always rolled out of his basket and fell on the ground. Each time a small poor naked boy standing nearby would pick them up, put one nut in his mouth and the rest back in the basket, and then wait for the next customer. The peanuts vendor also used to give him a peanut for his help. Michelangelo was noticing this event and he bought peanuts multiple times just to watch that performance. Finally, Michelangelo used the boy as the model for the naked baby Jesus for the statue of the ‘Madonna of Brujis’.

In his end days, Michelangelo was supposed to complete ‘The Last Supper’. But he drew a blank whenever he tried to imagine one face - the face of Judas he thirteenth disciple of Jesus, who had betrayed his saviour to the Romans for thirty pieces of silver. He had helped to crucify him.

Michelangelo spent days and days making sketches. He searched through his old drawings and worked on them, but no face satisfied him.

And then suddenly, one day he found Judas in a small, dirty pub in Rome. His eyes had unnatural glitter, he was restless and he spat again and again. His body had already begun to sag with age. He spoke so fast that words seemed to fall out of his mouth like coins from a torn pocket. He had gone to Michelangelo to beg for a dinar, but had ended up sharing a bottle with him. When Michelangelo came out of the pub, he saw the man ask someone else for two dinars.

Michelangelo made a deal with the man and took him to the chapel. He told him what he wanted. He wanted him to model for Judas. That would make the man immortal. Michelangelo lifted up the drapes to show him the walls and the ceiling. The man looked at everything with awe. He asked for a large sum of money in exchange for his consent. Angelo agreed to pay him. Then the man asked for an advance which Michelangelo gave. The man came regularly for a few days. Angelo used to call him to the Chapel for sittings. One day, as the man was looking through some old sketches, he asked Michelangelo about the sketches of the child he had made in Bologna.
"I used to live in Bologna years ago. I used this face to paint Jesus as a child."
"Do you remember his name?"
"Yes ... Marsoleni."

That man smiled. He rolled up his sleeve and showed him a name tattooed on his arm: Marsoleni.
"I am the same Jesus, whom you are now painting as Judas."

This story tells us how people change over time. Jesus and Judas were utterly different characters in Bible and Michelangelo unknowingly chose the same person for these roles.

Convenient Traveling in Delhi Metro

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:03:00 +0000

Followings are some points, which I collected for a convenient travel during my numerous journeys in Delhi metro.

1) If you are a male, don’t’ travel in the second coach. That is always the most crowded coach in any metro at any route. You will see instances when 3rd and 4th coach have plenty of empty seats and people still hang around the ladies car (first car).

2) If you have to change the metro at the same line (like you have to go to Huda City Centre but your train will terminate at Qutub Minar), step down at least 2 stations earlier to get a non-crowded metro destined to your destination.

3) Always carry a good cell phone (and ear phones) with FM and music player. Music player is important else you will die of boredom traveling underground tunnel.

4) If you are stuck in a crowded train, think numbers and count second it takes between different satiations. Don’t check your watch just count numbers in your mind. It’s really amazing; time flies.

5) If you travel the same route daily, know pattern of your route. The station at which most people step down, come near to seating area at those stations. Your chances of getting a seat increase manifolds.

6) Carry a metro card; you will really save a lot of time and money using that. It just need a security deposit of Rs 50/-

7) Last but not the least, always offer the seat to an elderly/woman if you feel they need it more than you. I bet that you will have a convenient journey till your destination. It really feels good; try it.

Matrubhoomi: A Nation Without Women

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:01:00 +0000

Matrubhoomi is a story, which draws your attention toward the consequences of decreasing sex ratio in India (true for anywhere else as well). Story starts in a village where if a newborn baby is a girl, she is drowned in a milk-pond. This practice continues and a time comes when there are men and boys everywhere and no women. No marriage has taken in this village for 15 years. Even surrounding villages have similar situation.

The story revolves around a widowed man, Ramsharan, who has 5 children (of course all boys). All these boys are either at usual marriage age or crossed that. Ramsharan is ready to give any amount of money to get his children married but unfortunately after all his efforts, he finds no girl around. Through a Pandit, Ramsharan comes to know about a beautiful girl, Kalki, in nearby village. Ramsharan pays a substantial dowry for Kalki and gets her married to all his sons. Also Ramsharan is widowed since long, he himself wants a piece of Kalki.

Then the story progresses how Ramsharan and his 5 sons shares Kalki everyday. Even though, she is raped everyday by these men, Kalki falls in love with the youngest of the lot, Sooraj, coz of his caring attitude. When others come to know that Kalki and Sooraj are in love with each other, they don’t think twice before killing their own brother. The story continues and we see more consequences of these events.

Overall, the makers raised a very sensitive issue and did justice with this. The movie obviously has some obnoxious scenes as per demand of the story. It is not a kind of a movie, which someone watches for feel-good purpose. But if you are game for meaningful cinema, Matrubhoomi is a must watch. Embellished with some great performances, Matrubhoomi forced the audience to think about the decreasing sex-ratio. If this problem continues, the day is not far when we might the reel situation turns real.

127 Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 08:01:00 +0000

I have finished watching 127 Hours by Danny Boyle. After Slumdog Millionaire, I had very high expectations from him and he struggled to touch that barrier in 127 Hours.

It’s story of Aron, a mountain climber, who trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive. His hand comes under the boulder and he struggles to get rid of it, struggles for 127 hours to come out of the canyon. struggles for 127 hours in order to live. Finally, Aron has to cut his arm away from his body in order to get out of canyon.

Danny beautifully showed the thoughts passing through Aron’s mind while he was trapped. James Franco played Aron’s character beautifully and audiences sense the reality if someone falls in Aron’s shoes.

Still I feel that Danny fails to create the magic of Slumdog this time. One reason for that might be coz I as an Indian can connect with Slumdog more than any other subject. But I am still not seeing this movie as any candidate for Oscar. I continue wondering how this flick can reach final 10 in race for Oscars.

कैफ़ी आज़मी साहब की कलम से...

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:32:00 +0000

I found This poem at facebook shared by someone and couldn't resist myself from sharing it here...

ये किस तरह याद आ रही हो,
ये ख्वाब कैसा दिखा रही हो
की जैसे सच मुच निगाह के सामने
खड़ी मुस्कुरा रही हो
ये जिस्म नाजुक, ये नर्म बाहें ,
हसीं गर्दन , सिडोल बाजू
शगुफ्ता चेहरा , सलोनी रंगत
घनेरा जूडा , स्याह गेसू
नशीली आँखें , रसीली चितवन
दराज़ पलकें , महीन अबरू
तमाम शोखी , तमाम बिजली
तमाम मस्ती , तमाम जादू
हज़ार जादू जगा रही हो
ये ख्वाब कैसा दिखा रही हो

गुलाबी लब , मुस्कुराते आरिज़
ज़बीं कुशादा , बुलंद कामत
निगाह में बिजलियों की झिलमिल
अदाओं में शबनमी लताफत
धड़कता सीना , महकती सांसें ,
नवां में रस , अन्ख्रियों में अमृत
हमान हलावत , हमान मलाहत
हमान तरन्नुम , हमान नजाकत
लचक लचक गुनगुना रही हो
ये ख्वाब कैसा दिखा रही हो

तो क्या मुझे तुम ज़िला ही लोगी
गले से अपने लगा ही लोगी
जो फूल जुड़े से गिर पड़ा है
तड़प के उसको उठा ही लोगी
भड़कते शोलों , कड़कती बिजली से
मेरा खिरमन बचा ही लोगी
घनेरी जुल्फों की छाँव में
मुस्कुरा के मुझको छुपा ही लोगी
की आज तक आजमा रही हो
ये ख्वाब कैसा दिखा रही हो
नहीं मोहब्बत की कोई कीमत
जो कोई कीमत अदा करोगी
वफ़ा की फुर्सत न देगी दुनिया
हज़ार अज्म-ए-वफ़ा करोगी
मुझे बहलने दो रंज-ओ-गम से ,
सहारे कब तक दिया करोगी
जुनूं को इतना न गुद्गुदाओ
पकड़ लूं दामन तो क्या करोगी
करीब बड़ती ही आ रही हो
ये ख्वाब कैसा दिखा रही हो|

Death is temporary

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:02:00 +0000

हम सब अपनी ज़िन्दगी में धीरें-धीरें मौत की तरफ बढते रहते है, रोज़ हर पल, हर सांस के साथ... कुछ लोग थोडा धीरें मौत की तरफ भागते है तो कुछ तेज़ी से l कुछ रोज मौत से आँख-मिचोली खेलते है, इन लोगो में भी २ वर्ग है: एक वो जो मजबूरी में इस खेल का हिस्सा बनते है और दूसरे वो जो इसे एक खेल समझते है l यह सब अच्छा लगता है पर कब तक... सिर्फ तब तक, जब तक तुम्हारा मौत से सामना नहीं होता... पर जैसे ही मौत सामने आती है, ज़िन्दगी एकदम से प्यारी लगने लगती है l उस वक़्त हमें एहसास होता है की अभी तो हमें और जीना हैl पूरा जीवन एक फ्लेशबैक की तरह हमारी आँखों के सामने चक्कर खाने लगता है, सिर्फ चंद घड़ियों में l मज़बूत से मज़बूत इंसान भी ज़िन्दगी की तरफ भागने लगता है... सिर्फ कुछ विरलों को छोड़ कर I

कैसी अजीब बिडमवाना है, की हम अपनने जन्मदिन पर जश्न करते है... पर यह भूल जाते है कि हर जन्मदिन पर हम इस दुनियां को छोड़कर जाने के और करीब पहुच जाते है l मैं यहाँ एक निराशावादी कि तरह बात नहीं करना चाहता लेकिन यह बोलना चाहता हूँ कि मौत तो बस एक धोखा है l अगर आज हम आइन्स्टीन को देखें, मदर टेरेसा को याद करें, महात्मा गांधी को देखें तो क्या यह लोग वाकई में मर गए ? क्या थॉमस अल्वा एडिसन आज भी बल्ब कि रौशनी में जिंदा नहीं है? क्या आजाद भारत कि हवा में भगत सिंह, चंद्रशेखर और बापू कि खुसबू नहीं आती? क्या शून्य इस्तेमाल करते समय हम आर्यभट को भूल जाते है? नहीं न, तो मौत तो सिर्फ एक छलावा है... क्यूँ न हम अपने जीवन में कुछ ऐसा करें कि हमने भौतिक जीवन के अंत समय में भौतिक जीवन का मोह न सताए |

Interview Tales

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 07:51:00 +0000

One of my colleagues was taking an interview for a development position in my company. The experience she told us after the interview made us ROFL. Here is the excerpt from that interview:

…
…
Interviewer: Can you write a program to sort an integer array?
Interviewee: Sure…

Interviewee took some time for writing that program and running some test cases on paper.

Interviewee: (Showing the paper to my colleague) Here it is…

After having a look at the program and having a code walkthrough with some test cases.

Interviewer: Can you please tell me the complexity of this program?
Interview: Maam, this is not complex, this is very simple program.

Interviewer: (Surprised) I am talking about the complexity of the algorithm!
Interviewee: Maam, I can assure you that this algorithm is not complex and very simple to implement.
…
…

This was the story of that interview and when our colleague told this to us, we asked her how did you stop yourself from laughing in his face.

panoramic view of Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 08:35:00 +0000

Problem Space vs Solution Space

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:26:00 +0000

There is a colleague of mine who starts proposing solution as soon as a problem is described to him. This is a natural phenomenon not only for him but also for many others and ‘others’ includes 2 types of people.

Who knows deep about the architecture; have knowledge of all the flows and algorithm used and can give great insight by putting their suggestions.
Who starts thinking about the solution as soon as problem is stated and not try to find the actual cause first.

This man belongs to second category and start thinking about the solution without completely understanding the problem, investigating about the root cause, thinking about side-effects of proposed solution (hack in most cases) and thinking of a better way to solve it actually.

The goal of this post is not to bash a person but the process of solving the issue at hand. One, who belongs to the second category above should first think about the actual problem and then start thinking of solving it. A good developer is the one, who doesn’t write more code but the one who writes code to address actual problem.

Debugging is a process, which require a deep digging in to the material you have, finding the root cause and then start thinking about its solution. We can see the actual behavior as shown in following chart.

But actually, these people start thinking to fix the bug ASAP and expand the VIOLET pie to the GREEN rectangle as the goal. Which is the worst thing we can do and can devastate the system. Due to this:

Hacks come into the picture; rework is being done again and again
People need to clean up their code; less productivity
Understanding doesn’t develop
Every time a problem happens you need to start all over again

In short we can say that one can never convert from category 2 to 1 (as described in the beginning). If you want to lie in the first category, follow above pie chart step by step. If you are not following percentages (approximately) as given, you are not doing in right.

Basically debugging the problem in ‘Problem Space’ is as necessary as fixing the problem in ‘Solution Space’.

PS: I found a very nice example of the side effects of this behavior here.

Twitter: discover what's new in your world.

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 03:50:00 +0000

There is buzz about #new twitter in the web but I'm still waiting to experience the same. @twitter, please send me the invite ASAP. have a look below for what's in store for tweeple...

I don't wanna office on Monday...

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:36:00 +0000

I like Mondays as a normal weekday but my reasons of not liking it if I have to go to work:

Traffic: Seems people sleep with boots on Sunday night so that they can start at 6:00 am on a Monday morning for work. Anytime of the day, you will get busy roads, polluted atmosphere, honking, jams... blah!!! blah!!! blah!!!

Radio: Monday is like a nightmare for those who depend on their car radio on the way to office. Seems all the RJs go on rest after a tiring weekend to let housekeeping guys take control of the recording rooms. Pathetic songs…

Rains add-on: As if this is not enough, Indra dev is in full mood this season and promised India not to let a single soul remain sundrenched.

CWG 2010 Zindabad: A few years back, when Delhi grabbed the CWG 2010; Delhites thought that Delhi will be more beautiful and better place to live. But all those hopes are fading like ashes with current situation. Debris all around, incomplete work everywhere etc etc… Now Delhites are living in fear if the work would ever complete after CWG... (Delhi Metro* is an exception)

People eat and breathe work: On Mondays, everyone seems eating and breathing work. Whether it’s lunch table, a walk out, way going to work, way returning from work, new papers, RJs, tele-marketeers, mailbox, internet, Facebook, IM everywhere... Work related talks are part of air and enter your nostrils forcefully even if you are armored with a mask.

PS: The good thing is that you see fresh faces on Mondays :D

* I am a big fan of Delhi Metro and this is the only project which looks like fulfilling its promises and make travel better.

Tempus 2 an awesome slow motion video

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 07:16:00 +0000

When I first saw this Video embedded in a bog, I thought of going through initial few second of it but when it started, I could not take my eyes off the screen and didn't think of anything else in those Se7en minutes. This is beautiful and entertaining and every shot is well thought and brilliantly executed. Please go through it and enjoy the world of creativity and design.

Marriage...A Must Read & Share

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:43:00 +0000

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.

She requested that every day for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife's divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside
the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.

Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead.
My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push thru with the divorce.-- At least, in the eyes of our son--- I'm a loving husband....

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you. If you do, you just might save a marriage.

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

This was posted by Stephanie Hamilton Brown on Facebook: A CHRIST-CENTERED MARRIAGE IS A MARRIAGE THAT IS SURE TO LAST A LIFETIME. "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." - Matthew 19:6

Happy 64th Independence day!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:29:00 +0000

I want to wish every Indian a very Happy Independence Day. On this Independence day I just have once wish to come true:

I wish India to host excellent Commonwealth games despite all the mess and chaos created till now; I wish that India show the world that we are able to organize world class event with world class facilities; I wish that every tourist and athlete visiting during Games (and otherwise also) leaves the country with a very positive impression of India, its citizen, its culture and its hospitality and I wish that India can do all this stuff with a proud head.

Secondly, I wanted to show the world about the enthusiasm of a (not) disabled Indian who believes in what he has and doesn't regret of what he doesn't have...

Vehicle Curse

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:28:00 +0000

Since last two weeks, I am experiencing something kinda vehicle curse. Following is the list of events, which happened to me during a 5-day period:

Thursday: Bike got punctured at a river bridge (Kalindi Kunj) with no mechanic around. Had to pull it over a huge distance only to know that about tube change: 350 bucks, 1 hour

Sunday Morning: Bike slipped coz of rain on a beautiful morning: Helmet visor and some parts of bike broken: ~1000 bucks, 2 hours

Sunday Evening: My brother was going to Gzb railway station to drop our parents; hit in to a car; had a big fight and our car to be repaired as well: amount unknown, 1 hour

Monday: Parked my car @ office with headlights ON; dried out of battery; got it charged with a Ford Endeavor Battery: 100 bucks, 1 hour

A few months back, a dog came under the wheel when I was driving. We were at a highway @ 90 kmph and few meters away from the vehicle forward to ours. As soon as the forward vehicle passed, that stray dog jumped in between and we had no option but to run over it otherwise people next to us would be pleased to bump into our car…

Either it is a dog curse or some other reason; I am very much frightened of driving these days… Someone please offer me lift to and from work…

Transition

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:42:00 +0000

I’ve watched movie City of Ember and found it pretty watchable. What I’m going to write here is not what is there in the movie but what will happen the hypothetical world of movie after it finishes.

Can you just imagine that some people, who are living without natural light since past 200 years (no, not the same people but the period is ofcourse divided between many generations), can react cheerfully for the sunlight that they are suddenly exposed to!!! How do they cope with the totally new phenomena of Sun in their upcoming lives?

Possession

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +0000

It has been pretty long since I last updated here. Usually, I update this blog regularly but circumstances didn't allow me to write something. Finally, the exile is over and I wrote a short story for the readers. Please give me your valuable feedback and suggest the areas of improvement.

She was trying to walk as fast as possible; it seemed that she would miss her flight if she didn't reach her destination the next moment. Swarima was in hurry as she had left Tanvi at home, sleeping soundly. She thought she would return in a while as the photographer supposed to be ready with Tanvi's 2nd birthday photographs. But the photographer took some time in taking care of an old uncle, who was arguing about the bad quality of the pictures coming out from 38 year old negatives.

Tanvi was the world for Swarima and Jatin. Why not she should be; after all, they waited eight long years for her. What didn't they do to get a child: Wandered from one temple to another, didn't let a mosque or Gurudwara left and visited every possible church for prayers. Finally, after 8 long years, God responded! 9 months passed as if it were 9 centuries and then their most prized possession embellished their life.

As soon as Swarima reached home, she saw the locked door just as she had left it and took a sigh of relief. But, what was that! All of a sudden, she noticed some red water in the drainage along the house. Dark red color took over the dirty water in the drain. Even a pointed line of bloody-like color was leaking from the door. Suddenly Paranoia choked Swarima as she imagined all the worst possible scenarios in those 20 seconds. Her heart started pounding faster in her ears. She took the keys out from her purse with trembling hands, put the keys in the lock in 3rd attempt and opened the door praying.

On opening the door, she saw Tanvi busy… Apparently, the child was smiling and playing happily in the bathtub with the red color leftovers from the last Holi.

PS: I want to take this opportunity to thank Sakhi, Monica and Manish for their wonderful contribution in making this story look as it is.

MARRIAGE!

noreply@blogger.com (Akash) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:26:00 +0000

David Bissonette
When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.

Sacha Guitry
After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can’t face each other, but still they stay together.

Socrates
By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.

Anonymous
Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.

Dumas
The great question… which I have not been able to answer… is, “What does a woman want?

Sigmund Freud
I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.

Anonymous
“Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.”

Sam Kinison
“There’s a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It’s called marriage.”

James Holt McGavran
“I’ve had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me, and the second one didn’t.”

Patrick Murray
Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming
1. Whenever you’re wrong, admit it,
2. Whenever you’re right, shut up.

Nash
The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once…

Anonymous
You know what I did before I married? Anything I wanted to.

Henny Youngman
My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.

Rodney Dangerfield
A good wife always forgives her husband when she’s wrong.

Anonymous
A man inserted an ‘ad’ in the classifieds: “Wife wanted”. Next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: “You can have mine.“

Anonymous
First Guy (proudly): “My wife’s an angel!”
Second Guy: “You’re lucky, mine’s still alive.”