Got time to Blog......

The Way We Perceive Life

2012-01-22T23:05:00.001+05:30

I read this article in Times of India few days back when it made me think how people perceive life. People are very much familiar with the concept of ‘Rat Race’. Since the time I have finished my graduation and started working, I have felt the race around me. It was almost like people were pushing you into it. It started with campus placements where everyone was interested in the salary package that their friends were offered. No one was interested in the role that they were offered. Everyone assumed that it will be ‘software engineer’ role. In my current company I take lot of interviews and none of the candidates ask me what their role is. Everyone is interested in the package.

Comparing yourself with others doesn’t stop at salary package. People compare themselves with their peers, friends, cousins and even family members on numerous factors – car, property, gadgets and much more. We call these things status symbol and these material objects give a meaning to our life. They feed our ego. We feel that we have accomplished something and achieved more than our parents might have in their whole life.

I am not against material things, but I believe that God doesn’t give man what he wants, he gives him what he needs. We should strive to have everything that is important in our life – like having a home to live, clothes to wear, nice food to eat. But because of the Rat Race, the definition of what is important has changed and people feel that having these objects is important and they work extra hard just to buy these things.

So there are one sect of people who look at life like a race. They want to play the race and win. If they win, they are happy, if they don’t win they are sad. If someone else goes ahead of them they are sad. I think most of us perceive life in this way since childhood.

Other way of looking at life is like a stage. It means that we all have a part or role to play in this life. We do not look at life as a race, but as a stage where everyone is playing their part. People come on stage, play their part and leave. The lead actor has a major part and the supporting actor might have a lesser one. Of course, this would mean that the lead actor might get more remuneration than the supporting actor. But in this case, there is no competition between the actors. Everyone is not trying to out-do each other as they would have in the race. Everyone knows what part they are playing in life and are happy about it. They are happy in their role and in their work. Getting remuneration for what you enjoy doing is just a bonus, like icing on cake.

Hence I suggest that before we start comparing ourselves with others, see what role they are playing and compare that with the role that you are playing. Most of the times you will be happy with your role and will accept the rewards that come with it.

Finally, I would like to end this with a favourite quote I had heard long time ago. It goes like this - “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat”. And that I think makes all the difference in the way we perceive life.

The Social Network - A small review

2011-11-07T23:03:00.002+05:30

I am watching The Social Network movie again on HBO. I watch this movie again and again and I feel that the movie does not portray Mark Zuckerberg as a negative character. I like movies when it is very difficult to judge a character and the movie leaves it to the audience to decide what is right and what is wrong. Moving on, David Fincher has captured the ambitions of young adults very properly. The screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and author Ben Mezrich is the best part of the movie.

A personal observation: While watching the movie, I was thinking about the whole Mark and Eduardo thing. I think that when Mark Zuckerberg started the Facebook with Eduardo Saverin, even he was not sure about the outcome. Both knew the idea was great, but no one knew how successful it will be. Money changes everything, even relationships. And that is what the movie has so beautifully shown on screen.

Can you really control everything?

2011-06-22T18:48:00.001+05:30

I woke up in the morning and was trying to rush to office for a client call. I tried my best to finish my morning schedule on time. Quickly I left home only to find that some moron had parked his bike outside my home. After leaving the gates, I found additional traffic on road. Finally, I reached office on time for the call only to find that the client couldn't come today due to technical reasons (some problems with his computer).

Even after controlling so many things in the morning, I still couldn't have the client call. There are so many things happening outside your control that you cannot predict the outcome. The only thing that you can do is give your best shot at whatever you do. You cannot expect the results of your actions. You cannot guarantee the results of your actions. Even if I had reached office half an hour early, what was the probability of the meeting taking place? It reminds me of the fact that we can only give our best shot at whatever job or task we are doing and leave the outcome to the universe.

Why did I switch to Posterous?

2011-05-11T02:37:00.001+05:30

Well, I did choose blogger over tumblr, butI hadnt seen Posterous latel After posting few blogs on blogger, I saw the new and improved Posterous and realized that it does all that I wanted. I can now post from Posterous and it can autopost the same to Blogger, Facebook Wall, Twitter and LinkedIn.

So will be using Posterous for now.

Testing Autopost

2011-05-11T02:33:00.001+05:30

Hello World!

Pune Railway station

2011-05-11T02:06:00.000+05:30

A few weeks back there was almost a stampede on the foot over bridge at Pune railway station. I had gone to the station today evening to pick up my parents from platform no. 3. The situation on the bridge was really shameful. The railways had to pay the salaries of two policemen whose only job was to make sure that people keep moving on the bridge and do not create a traffic jam. My coolie was constantly shouting to keep moving otherwise a traffic jam will occur.

There are two bridges at Pune station. The old one is around 10 feet wide which is used a lot. The railways made a new bridge few years back , but since that bridge is literally outside the station, no one uses. it Hence even though the population of Pune has doubled in past decade we still have one bridge to handle the increase in traffic.

I just don't understand why the railways doesn't increase the price of platform ticket by 1 and make it Rs. 4 or Rs. 5. Also, why cant they just increase the ticket fares if they are short of funds?

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/mar/300311-news-pune-Pune-Railway-Station-FOB-Central-Railway-crowding-at-foot.htm

http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/8075858.cms

Why did I stick to blogger

2011-05-11T01:14:00.003+05:30

I mentioned in my previous post that I am using the same blog even though I am blogging after a long time. I meant that I chose Blogger over Tumblr, Facebook, Wordpress to blog. Or I daresay microblog.

My first blog (this one) has been on Blogger since August 2004 (wow, thats old!). After that I have had many blogs on Wordpress devoted to one topic each like Entrepreneurship, Databases etc. Then I also use Wordpress extensively to build my websites. Apart from this, I have played around with Facebook Notes, Posterous and more recently Tumblr too.

So, when I thought of restarting blogging, my first impression was not to use Blogger at all. I was googling on how to migrate my Blogger posts to Tumblr. But I still chose Blogger because:

1. It is still not easy to import your posts into Tumblr. There are some scripts available online but I didn't wan to use those.
2. I tried Facebook Notes, but Notes are available only to Facebook users. Surprisingly, photos are available to everyone, but notes aren't.
3. I believe I still have some loyal readers for my existing blog who have subscribed this blog in their reader.
4. Blogger is the good old blogging platform. I can blog on blogger and import my feeds on facebook which solves my purpose.
5. Blogger is part of Google. I love Google. I love Android till now. Then we have Picasa albums integrated into Blogger. I just want to see how all of these fit together to give an easy blogging/micro-blogging experience.

Here we go again....

2011-05-11T01:07:00.004+05:30

The title of my blog has always been 'Got Time to Blog...' I believe that the title of your blog, product, entity, company has a huge bearing on the behaviour in future. Same way that the name of the child has some bearing on his/her behaviour. Hence I have always blogged whenever I got time to blog and I never tried to force myself to write one blog per week or one blog per month (which many people do just to stay connected with the world!)

Anyways, I wanted to start blogging for a long time and finally out of my busy schedule I managed to write this post - to announce that I am starting it again. Same stuff, same belief, just new learning and experiences since the last time I blogged.

But I am going to be micro-blogging rather than blogging. Frankly speaking, I do not have much time to write a full fledged blog though I would love to do so sometime. So expect lot of short articles, quotes, pictures from now on.

Generations Unfold...

2009-03-24T21:24:00.003+05:30

Closing voiceover by Mohinder Suresh in Heroes (Season 3 Episode 19) :

Generations unfold — father to son, mother to daughter. Where one leaves off, the other follows, destined to repeat each other's mistakes, each other's triumphs. For how do we see the world if not through their lens? The same fears, the same desires? Do we see them as an example to follow, or as a warning of what to avoid? Choosing to live as they have, simply because it's what we know, or driven to create one's own identity? And what happens when we find them to be a disappointment? Can we replace them? Our mothers, our fathers? Or will destiny find a way to drive us back? Back to the familiar comforts of home?

Know where you are

2009-02-06T00:06:00.006+05:30

Knowing your destination or end-point is not enough to reach that place. There is one more thing that you need to know, which is also as important as knowing your destination.

Any guesses?

Your starting-point, your source. Without having a clue about where you currently are, there is no way you can figure out yourself how to reach the destination. The only solution to reach your goal, in that case, would be to ask for directions. You could be very very near to your destination or maybe miles away from it. But you don't know that, because you don't know where you are currently. Hence, you could just blindly follow directions as given by others and hope to reach the end-point.

So, the next time you are lost, instead of asking for directions, you should ask them where you are. Ask them where you are, how far you are from your destination, how much time and efforts will it take to reach there, and then ask them how do you reach that place? Once you know accurately where you stand, where ever you are, you will be able to make better decisions on road to reach your goal.

Random Quotes: Business

2009-02-05T02:03:00.001+05:30

Operating a Business doesn't come with a manual

- Rishi Agarwal

Random Quotes : People and Egos

2009-01-15T00:24:00.003+05:30

Its the ego that inflates our tiny self in this world.

- Rishi Agarwal

Random Quotes : Life

2009-01-15T00:21:00.001+05:30

We are small people but our lives are big.

- Rishi Agarwal

Survival of Art

2008-12-14T15:55:00.001+05:30

If you have read my previous blogs, you would know that my favourite book (and movie) till now is The Lord of The Rings. I read the book recently and loved it (more than the movie itself). The 3-volume novel was launched in 1954 and is still one of the most read books today. What could be the reason behind this ?

The answer lies in the fact that the book is truly a great piece of story-telling. It's a fantasy novel, and there are many more, but the reason this book excels is because people have something to learn from this book. Be it 1960, 1970, or even 2010, whenever you read this book, you can relate to any character, their actions and the surroundings they are in which led them to their action. And the best part is, if you read this book after a gap of 10 years, you will infer the book in a different manner, according to the situation you are in. Kids and adults of this generation read the book and love it as they can relate to the book.

I finished watching the great epic Mahabharat (1988) made by Late. Mr. B.R. Chopra and his son Mr. Ravi Chopra. I will write a detailed review on it later, but in brief, it was amazing. Its the best Indian TV series to date, and I think the same can be said even later. People have told me that back then in 1988, when the series used to air at morning 9 AM on Sundays, roads were deserted, people post-poned their gatherings and literally everyone were glued to their TV for 1 hour. And now I quite believe them.

I found the same thing in the series. I have not read the epic-book 'Mahabharat', but I am sure it will also be amazing in the art of story-telling. With its variety of characters and their actions, you are compelled to take a leaf out of the book and compare yourself to it, in some manner, at any point of time.

Some work of art lives through ages. It survives because people of any age at any time are able to deduct something from it for themselves. They can feel that the art speaks for them. Maybe thats why there are many old songs which are heard by this generation too. Even though the piece of art belonged to an era, it survives the passage of time as the newer generation is ready to accept it in their lives.

If you know of any other work like these, please let me know. I would love to try it.

Powerless (Say What You Want)

2008-10-29T00:53:00.000+05:30

I like Nelly Furtado's song - Powerless (Say what you want) - the remix version by Josh . Been listening to it since long time.
The lyrics goes something like this :

Cuz this life is too short to live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless what are you gonna do
But say what you want
Say what you want.

People do that a lot! I have observed many people do the same thing, when they feel powerless. They cannot bear what is happening around them and if the person feels he/she cannot control the situation he is in, he ends up taking a drastic action. This action doesn't even help improving his/her situation. For example, some go in depression, some go on a killing spree, some commit suicide, some end up hurting others, etc. No one gets affected, life goes on, except for the person who was feeling powerless.

For me, this is wrong. Take actions which elevate your position from being powerless to powerful. A man with power or in a powerful state can do far better things than him being in a powerless state. Divert all your actions to change your situation. I know its difficult. The reason you are feeling powerless is that you don't know how to change your situation. But there is always a way out. Start analyzing your situation, how you got yourself into it, and how to get out of it. Think wisely, analyze hard.

This might be dogmatic, but I believe it will atleast prevent someone from taking a drastic, unnecessary action. Any comments ?

Its That Time Of The Year Again

2008-10-26T18:47:00.000+05:30

Its the month of festivals. Started with Navratri, then Dushera and finally Diwali (I am sure I have missed something). If there is any season when you should forget all your worries, its now. Literally. How else do you plan to enjoy this festive season. It feels great looking at other people enjoying the season with their close ones. And here I am worrying about my ceaselessly growing belly. That too now! There is other time for this - like January (after Christmas of course ;) ). For now, just eat all the goodies and bask in the fervor. That should be the motto. Yup, and it is. Starting now...

Simon And Garfunkel

2008-10-18T00:05:00.003+05:30

Listening to Simon And Garfunkel after a long time. Their songs like 'Scaraborough Fair', 'El Condor Pasa', 'Cecilia' are some of my favorites. For me, their music takes you to a different time.

There are many songs, pictures which take you to a different place and time when you hear or see them. Some ring a familiarity at the back of your head reminding you of something . And its a different pleasure altogether to experience it.

Thank You For Calling, Have A Nice Day

2008-10-03T00:10:00.002+05:30

I just called Airtel Customer Care to register my Home Landline for National Do Not Call (NDNC). When I say 'just called', I meant I called them at midnight (too busy to do these things during the day!). I called from my house in Pune, India and am sure the call was received by some Indian working at some call center in India. He asked for my landline number and where I am calling from. Anyways, it took hardly 1 minute to do that, and there were no issues in getting that done, but at the end of the call, the fellow at the other end wishes me 'Thank you for calling Airtel, Have a Nice Day'. You see where I am getting at ? For God's sake, its midnight, you know I am from Pune, why can't you just wish me good night, instead of wishing me a good day. I guess a IVRS might do a better job at it (you just need to program it to wish a customer according to the time he/she is calling).

I know all these BPO operations are a huge source of revenue and employment generation for India. It has changed the whole demography of many small towns and Tier-II cities. We have better spending power now. It has given a rise to all malls mushrooming all over India, which in turn generates more jobs. Good for us! But then we don't use our common sense any more. Even though the guy from Airtel who recieved my call was trained to say 'Thank you for calling...', I think he should have wished me good night. But thats not the way it is.

My Blog has its own URL !!!

2008-09-24T19:00:00.013+05:30

Yes. If you are reading this on my blog (and not through a RSS feed), then you will notice that the URL in your address bar is http://blog.rishiagarwal.in.

I never believed in all this domain business, but lately I realized you need to have your identity in the online world, some sort of presence in the virtual world. After you meet people at social gatherings or after networking with people, some might want to go back and know more about you. They might want to contact you. Some might need your help after a few weeks and they might just remember your name. In today's world, they will go online and search you (on LinkedIn or Facebook) or else just google you. And the best way to be found online (other than blogs) is to have your own website + a good URL.

So now I have my own domain - rishiagarwal.in, which cost me a lot, as the .com one was not available (even after requesting), and .in (India) ones are double the cost of .com domains. A .com domain is the most preferable, as thats what started it all. But apparently, these country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD) like .in, .us, .uk are more expensive than the generic .com one. Searching on Godaddy, I found that the most expensive international domain is .jp ( Japan ). I guess I paid quite less compared to some 'Rishi Agarwal' from Japan who will have to shell out $99.99/yr for rishiagarwal.jp :)

Note : Only http://blog.rishiagarwal.in works and points to my old blog http://darkcloud84.blogspot.com. I have not put up any website yet, hence http://rishiagarwal.in will take you to 'Work In Progress' page.

Cleaning Up

2008-09-19T00:51:00.003+05:30

Everyone takes out time to clean up some stuff around them. Re-organize things. Like your desk, cupboard, etc. At times, it happens often, or once in a blue moon. But, it gives you a sense of satisfaction that you are able to organize your life and put things around you the way you want it to be.

When I was less than 10, I used to clean up ( rather re-organize ) my comics collection once a while.
Then after 10, I started cleaning my study table. This used to happen often, with my table littered with books all around and stacks piling up within a week.
Then I got to cleaning my cupboard, giving out old clothes to the needy.
During college, cleaning of my books and project stuff used to happen after every semester. To be frank, that was one of the best pleasures, to put those course materials away hoping to never see them again ;-)

And today, I cleaned my Home Desktop... Phew !

I wonder which story our we in ?

2008-09-06T00:22:00.009+05:30

Contains Spoiler from Lord Of the Rings

There is this awesome excerpt from Lord of The Rings. It involves a chat between Sam and Frodo in the chapter 'The Stairs of Cirith Ungol' from The Two Towers, contemplating what they have got themselves into.

Now recently, there has been this trend of publishing your status message through Twitter, Facebook , Google Talk and other IMs. I wanted to put up this excerpt from the book on any one of these applications' . I could basically type it out from the book, but as I said, it was too long. So, I searched, and found this one more useful website Wikiquote from Wikimedia Foundations ( the guys who came with Wikipedia ) .

So, finally, I got my favourite quote from that site ( Give it a try, its really good ) . But couldnt publish it anywhere because of its size and I really didn't want to cut it down. So here I am , publishing it where I can type anything, without any limits, without any boundaries.

Anyways, enough of history, here is the quote :

'I don't like anything here at all.' said Frodo, 'step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water all seem accursed. But so our path is laid'

We shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually — their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on — and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same — like old Mr Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into?

Now since this is my blog, I would like to add the same quote from the Lord of The Rings : The Two Towers movie ( though it occurs in a different setting ) . The same quote is a bit modified, but nevertheless, it sounds awesome and becomes the perfect climax scene for the movie because of the ingenious direction by Peter Jackson

Here it goes :

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo; the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end... because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was, when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going... because they were holding on to something.

My thoughts about Lord of The Rings : here and here

How good a movie is for me ?

2008-07-23T17:51:00.009+05:30

I saw The Dark Knight few days back. I was not shielded from all the hype around the movie. I hate it. Of course I was desperate to watch it, from the moment I saw Batman Begins. And at the end of the movie, when Gordon informs Batman about a new criminal named Joker, I knew the next movie will be a class in its own. But I avoid being involved in the hype till I dont watch the movie myself. So anyways, I saw The Dark Knight, came out of the theater, content.

These are the factors according to me for considering how good a movie is :

I come out of the theater , and have no words to describe it. Speechless. I dont know what to reply when people ask me " how was the movie ? " . I dont know what to say after coming out of the theater. Everything in the movie is so perfect, that you would just want to savour the moment. Something like eating a very well made Dessert/Dish, which everyone just savours and avoids talking for the time they enjoy it and after that.
I would want to watch it again in theater. Considering the busy lives we have, its difficult to catch a movie one more time.
I start recommending it to people.
I want to own a DVD of that movie ( specifically a collectors edition ) .
I get totally immersed into everything about the movie ( IMDB , Soundtracks, Wallpapers ) . It means I have become a fan of the movie and contribute to the hype building around the movie :)

The last time all these points came true were for Lord Of The Rings : The Return of The King and Titanic. And now The Dark Knight.

Sarkar Raj : No Power At All

2008-06-14T01:12:00.018+05:30

Let me begin by saying that I loved the first movie Sarkar. I have seen it 4 times till now, which is good enough number according to my standards to term it as " I love this movie " ( Haven't I mentioned that yet ?? ) . The other movie from Ram Gopal Verma which I adore is Satya. Brilliant. These 2 movies give RGV a different status altogether in Bollywood.

And thats why I went to see Sarkar Raj with lot of anticipation ( mind you , not expectation ) . I ignored all the mixed reviews from critics and friends. I wanted to go to the theater with a fresh and clean mind.

But within 5 minutes after the start, I started getting the feeling that this movie will be a disappointment after all. The feeling turned into reality within 25 minutes. The less said about the movie, the better. The movie was no where near the charisma of its prequel. Everything in the prequel was close to perfection. But here, in the sequel, you feel that everything was being done in a hurry. By everything I mean the dialogues, screenplay,music, even the acting ! The scenes just came one after the other, without allowing the illogical plot to sink in. The dialogues had no effect whatsoever, which were blurted out by actors just for the sake of saying it. The first movie had a brilliant casting of supporting actors ( the likes of Silvermani , Swami , Vishnu ), which was missing from the second.

The only saving grace in Sarkar Raj was the climax of 15 minutes, which reminded of classic RGV-style movie-making. All in all, a hastily done over-hyped movie. I have observed that this happens a lot to directors who set a level for themselves with their previous work. I sincerely wish he regains that level soon.

Handling Difficult People

2008-05-27T22:02:00.003+05:30

I read this article a few months back in The Sunday Times ( Times of India ) newspaper under Mind Over Matter section. Brilliant article. Actually awesome. It explains why, at times, people become difficult to handle, and how to handle them.

Give it a try. If you are facing someone who has become difficult lately, then it will definitely help you.

Handling Difficult People

If only everyone could understand this, there won't be any argument at all in this world. More thoughts on this later...

Lord Of the Rings - The Book

2008-05-26T22:23:00.004+05:30

I finished Lord Of The Rings book last week. I wanted to read it since the first movie of the series - The Fellowship of the Ring was released ( that was 6 years back ) . I finally got the time and chance to read it. And I loved it.

This is one of the finest books I have ever read. The other ones were The Fountainhead, The Alchemist and The Kite Runner.

I wanted to write an elaborate review of this book. Many were left in draft, and then deleted. Words deceived me to elaborate the grandeur of this book. I then realized my review will not do any justice to the book. But I will just say this much, that it took me to a world which no other book has ever done before. I saw the depth of relationships that I had not seen before. Please read it if you get the chance to do so. It is a work of literature, and anyone who loves reading should read this book.

I salute J.R.R Tolkien.