Unscramble

Winter clean up

2009-12-22T14:37:00.002+05:30

I was going through my blog and came across several posts that were drafted but never got to the post stage.

And since am going through the cleaning phase - cleaning up the clutter at work, home, life, car, and the blog.

dropped some so called -'friends'. have a lighter wardrobe.

have the same old car. (am not even thinking of disposing it off. so dont enquire.)

And publishing all those posts that were drafted a year ago.

My experiments with Blogger-2

2009-07-24T18:57:00.002+05:30

Go ahead ..laugh your heart out.

Even I couldnt help breaking into one looking at the blog.
For people who have been following my posts, this should be truly hilarious. :D

The point was to change and add a bit of 'sun shine'. And tried a new template designed by Gisele Jaquenod.

This one was way too cute to match my posts. Anyways, I seriously it would be nice to use this one. Just for a change .
A total contradictory template to my posts.

Hello

2009-07-09T12:43:00.000+05:30

Busy doing something..
mobile rings
I take the call.

Caller: ma'am do u want xyz bank card .
Me: No

and 'caller' hangs up.
No thanks , sorry for disturbing.... just nothing.
Before they teach call center people anything , they should be taught about basic manners.
Being polite is more important than their weird accents.

art thou Dignified ??

2009-07-08T15:53:00.003+05:30

Go ahead have a look at the below list.

1. Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present.

2. When in company, put not your hands to any part of the body not usually discovered.

3. Show nothing to your friends that may affright them.

4. In the presence of others, sing not to yourself with a humming voice, or drum with your fingers or feet.

5. If you cough, sneeze, sigh, or yawn, do it not loud but privately, and speak not in your yawning, but put your handkerchief or hand before your face and turn aside.

6. Sleep not when others speak; sit not when other stand; speak not when you should hold your peace; walk not on when others stop.

7. Put not off your clothes in the presence of others, nor go out your chamber half dressed.

8. At play and at fire, it’s good manners to give place to the last comer, and affect not to speak louder than ordinary.

9. Spit not into the fire, nor stoop low before it; neither put your hands into the flames to warm them, nor set your feet upon the fire, especially if there be meat before it.

10. When you sit down, keep your feet firm and even; without putting one on the other or crossing them.

11. Shift not yourself in the sight of others, nor gnaw your nails.

12. Shake not the head, feet, or legs; roll not the eyes; lift not one eyebrow higher than the other, wry not the mouth, and bedew no man’s face with your spittle by approaching too near him when you speak.

13. Kill no vermin, or fleas, lice, ticks, etc. in the sight of others; if you see any filth or thick spittle put your foot dexterously upon it; if it be upon the clothes of your companions, put it off privately, and if it be upon your own clothes, return thanks to him wo puts it off.

14. Turn not your back to others, especially in speaking; jog not the table or desk on which another reads or writes; lean not upon anyone.

15. Keep your nails clean and short, also your hands and teeth clean, yet without showing any great concern for them.

16. Do not puff up the cheeks, loll not out the tongue with the hands, or beard, thrust out the lips, or bite them, or keep the lips too open or too close.

17. Be no flatterer, neither play with any that delight not to be played withal.

18. Read no letter, books, or papers in company, but when there is a necessity for the doing of it, you must ask leave; come not near the books or writings of another so as to read them unless desired, or give your opinion of them unasked; also look not nigh when another is writing a letter.

19. Let your countenance be pleasant but in serious matters somewhat grave.

20. The gestures of the body must be suited to the discourse you are upon.

21. Reproach none for the infirmities of nature, nor delight to put them that have in mind of thereof.

22. Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another though he were your enemy.

23. When you see a crime punished, you may be inwardly pleased; but show pity to the suffering offender.

24. Do not laugh too loud or too much at any Public Spectacle.

25. Superfluous compliments and all affectation of ceremonies are to be avoided, yet where due they are not to be neglected.

26. In putting off your hat to persons of distinction, as noblemen, justices, churchmen, etc., make a reverence, bowing more or less according to the custom of the better bred, and quality of the persons; among your equals expect not always that they should begin with you first; but to pull off the hat when there is not need is affectation, in the manner of saluting and resaluting in word keep to the most usual custom.

27. ‘Tis all manners to bed one more eminent than yourself to be covered, as well as not to do it to whom it is due. Likewise, he that makes too much haste to put on his hat does not well, yet he ought to put it on at the first, or at most the second time of being asked; now what is herein spoken, of qualification in behavior or saluting, ought also to be observed in taking of place and sitting down for ceremonies without bounds or troublesome.

28. If anyone come to speak to you while you are at sitting, stand up, though he be your inferior, and when you present seats, let it be everyone according to his degree.

29. When you meet with one of greater quality than yourself, stop, and retire, especially if it be at a door or any straight place, to give way for him to pass.

30. If walking the highest place in most countries seems to be on the right hand; therefore place yourself on the left of him whom you desire to honor; but if three walk together the middle place is the most honorable; the wall is usually given to the most worthy if two walk together.

31. If anyone far surpasses others, either in age, estate, or merits and would give place to a meaner thank himself, the same ought not to accept it, save he offer it above once or twice.

32. To one that is your equal, or not much inferior, you are to give the chief place in your lodging, and he to whom it is offered ought at the first to refuse it, but at the second to accept though not without acknowledging his own unworthiness.

33. They that are in dignity or in office have in all places precedency, but whilst they are young, they ought to respect those that are their equals in birth or other qualities, though they have no public charge.

34. It is good manners to prefer them to whom we speak before ourselves, especially if they be above us, with whom in no sort we ought to begin.

35. Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive.

36. Artificers and person of low degree ought not to use many ceremonies to lords or others of high degree, but respect and highly honor them, and those of high degree ought to treat them with affability and courtesy, without arrogance.

37. In speaking of men of quality do not lean nor look them full in the face, nor approach too near them at left. Keep a full pace from them.

38. In visiting the sick, do not presently play the physician if you be not knowing therein.

39. In writing or speaking, give to every person his due title according to his degree and the custom of the place.

40. Strive not with your superior in argument, but always submit your judgement to others with modesty.

41. Undertake not to teach your equal in the art himself professes.

42. Let thy ceremonies in Courtesy be proper to the Dignity of his place with whom thou converses for it is absurd to act the same with a Clown and a Prince.

43. Do not express joy before one sick in pain, for that contrary passion will aggravate his misery.

44. When a man does all he can, though it succeed not well, blame not him that did it.

45. Being to advise or reprehend any one, consider whether it ought to be in public or private, and presently or at some other time; in what terms to do it; and in reproving show no signs of cholor but do it with all sweetness and mildness.

46. Take all admonitions thankfully in what time or place soever given, but afterwards not being culpable take a time and place convenient to let him know it that gave them.

47. Mock not nor jest at any thing of importance. Break no jests that are sharp, biting; and if you deliver any thing witty and pleasant, abstain from laughing thereat yourself.

48. Wherein you reprove another be unblameable yourself; for example is more prevalent than precepts.

49. Use no reproachful language against any one; neither curse nor revile.

50. Be not hasty to believe hasty flying reports to the disparagement of any.

51. Wear not your clothes foul, or ripped, or dusty, but see they be brushed once every day at least and take heed that you approach not to any uncleanness.

52. In your apparel be modes and endeavor to accommodate nature, rather than to procure admiration; keep to the fashion of your equals, such as are civil and orderly with respect to time and places.

53. Run not in the streets, neither go too slowly, nor with mouth open; go not shaking of arms, nor upon the toes.

54. Play not the peacock, looking everywhere about you, to see if you be well decked, if your shoes fit well, if your stockings sit neatly and clothes handsomely.

55. Eat not in the streets, nor in your house, out of season.

56. Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ‘tis better to be alone than in bad company.

57. In walking up and down in the house, only with one in company if he be greater than yourself, at the first give him the right hand and stop not till he does and be not the first that turns, and when you do turn let it be with your face towards him; if he be a man of great quality, walk not with him cheek by jowl but somewhat behind him but yet in such a manner that he may easily speak to you.

58. Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for ‘tis a sign of a tractable and commendable nature, and in all causes of passion permit reason to govern.

59. Never express anything unbecoming, nor act against the rules before you inferiors.

60. Be not immodest in urging your friends to discover a secret.

61. Utter not base and frivolous things among grave and learned men, nor very difficult questions or subjects among the ignorant, or things hard to be believed; stuff not your discourse with sentences among your betters nor equals.

62. Speak not of doleful things in a time of mirth or at the table; speak not of melancholy things or death or wounds, and if others mention them, change if you can the discourse; tell not your dreams, but to your intimate friends.

63. A Man ought not to value himself of his Achievments, or Rare Qualities of wit; much less of his riches Virtue or Kindred.

64. Break not a jest where none take pleasure in mirth; laugh not alone, nor at all without occasion; deride no man’s misfortune though there seem to be some cause.

65. Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none although they give occasion.

66. Be not forward but friendly and courteous, the first to salute, hear, and answer; and be not pensive when its time to converse.

67. Detract not from others, neither be excessive in commanding.

68. Go not thither, where you know not whether you shall be welcome or not; give not advice without being asked, and when desired do it briefly.

69. It two contend together take not the part of either unconstrained, and be no obstinate in your own opinion; in things indifferent be of the major side.

70. Reprehend not the imperfections of others, for that belongs to parents, masters, and superiors.

71. Gaze not on the marks or blemishes of others and ask not how they came. What you may speak in secret to your frind, deliver not before others.

72. Speak not in an unknown tongue in company but in your own language and that as those of quality do and not as the vulgar; sublime matters treat seriously.

73. Think before you speak; pronounce not imperfectly, nor bring out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly.

74. When another speaks, be attentive yourself; and disturb not the audience. If any hesitate in his words, help him not nor prompt him without desired; interrupt him not, nor answer him till his speech has ended.

75. In the midst of Discourse ask not of what one treateth but if you Perceive any Stop because of your coming you may well intreat him gently to Proceed: If a Person of Quality comes in while your Conversing it's handsome to Repeat what was said before.

76. While you are talking, point not with your fingers at him of whom you discourse, nor approach too near him to whom you talk especially to his face.

77. Treat with men at fit times about business and whisper not in the company of others.

78. Make no comparisons and if any of the company be commended for any brave act of virtue, commend not another for the same.

79. Be not apt to relate news if you know not the truth thereof. In discoursing of things you have heard, name not your author always; a secret discover not.

80. Be not tedious in discourse or in reading unless you find the company pleased therewith.

81. Be not curious to know the affairs of others, neither approach those that speak in private.

82. Undertake not what you cannot perform but be careful to keep your promise.

83. When you deliver a matter do it without passion and with discretion, however mean the person be you do it to.

84. When your superiors talk to anybody hear not, neither speak nor laugh.

85. In company of those of higher quality than yourself, speak not ‘til you are asked a question, then stand upright, put off your hat and answer in few words.

86. In disputes, be not so desirous to overcome as not to give liberty to each one to deliver his opinion and submit to the judgement of the major part, especially if they are judges of the dispute.

87. Let thy carriage be such as becomes a Man Grave Settled and attentive to that which is spoken. Contradict not at every turn what others Say.

88. Be not diverse in discourse; make not many digressions; nor repeat often the same manner of discourse.

89. Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust.

90. Being set at meat, scratch not, neither spit, cough, or blow your nose except there’s a necessity for it.

91. Make no show of taking great delight in your victuals; feed not with greediness; eat your bread with a knife; lean not on the table; neither find fault with what you eat.

92. Take no salt nor cut bread with your knife greasy.

93. Entertaining anyone at table it is decent to present him with meat; undertake not to help others undesired by the master.

94. If you soak bread in the sauce, let it be no more than what you put in your mouth at a time and blow not your broth at the table; let it stay ‘til it cools of itself.

95. Put not your meat to your mouth with your knife in your hand; neither spit forth the stones of any fruit pie upon a dish nor cast anything under the table.

96. It’s unbecoming to heap much to one’s meat; keep your fingers clean; when foul, wipe them on a corner of your table napkin.

97. Put not another bite into your mouth till the former be swallowed; let not your morsels be too big.

98. Drink not nor talk with your mouth full; neither gaze about you while you are drinking.

99. Drink not too leisurely nor yet too hastily. Before and after drinking, wipe your lips; breathe not then or ever with too great a noise; for it is an evil.

100. Cleanse not your teeth with the table cloth napkin, fork, or knife; but if others do it, let it be done without a peep to them.

101. Rinse not your mouth in the presence of others.

102. It is not of use to call upon the company often to eat; nor need you drink to others every time you drink.

103. In the company of your betters, be not longer in eating than they are; lay not your arm but only your hand upon the table.

104. It belongs to the chiefest in company to unfold his napkin and fall to meat first; be he ought then to begin in time and to dispatch with dexterity that the slowest may have time allowed him.

105. Be not angry at the table whatever happens and if you have reason to be so, show it not but on a cheerful countenance especially if there be strangers, for good humor makes one dish of meat and whey.

106. Set not yourself at the upper of the table but if it be your due, or that the master of the house will have it so, contend not, lest you should trouble the company.

107. If others talk at the table be attentive, but talk not with meat in your mouth.

108. When you speak of God or His attributes, let it be seriously; reverence, honor and obey your natural parents although they be poor.

109. Let your recreation be manful, not sinful.

110. Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

Telugu for Dummies

2009-06-08T15:04:00.001+05:30

yeah. guess we need one for Telugu now and several other native languages.

With English making inroads everywhere , most languages are on a downward trend. Even my maid speaks faultless English. And the funny part is she makes it a point to reply in English when I speak in Telugu. I stick to Telugu at home.

Go to any shop, any mall, its always English. Even the autos.

So ok enough of the rant.

Try and find the words for the following in your native language.

Doubt, Criticize, Agree, Disagree, Pity, Use, Misuse.

There are lots of em. From today on ill be posting a couple of words /day.
So check and see where you stand.

Books

2009-05-28T17:55:00.002+05:30

Remember Amar Chitra Katha, Superman, Phantom, Gokulam, Chacha Chaudary, Chandamama, Misha, Target (the last two, am not sure If anyone remembers em or read em. I was a regular reader.)

Comics @schools were coveted. For that matter any book but comics were there right on top of the list. You could trade it for anything in a hostel. The more number of comics the richer you were in the convent. OK I know you got the picture.

I miss reading a lot. The total absorption in a book, unmindful of the hours passing by, no lunch, no dinner just nothing till the book got over. Guess , this comes under some sort of fanaticism.

Some books that were totally in demand- David Copperfield, All Comics, Anne of Green Gables, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women.

And there were long lines before you got your hand on any of the books.

Remember reading David Copperfield back to front.
And my first experience of a book was a comic in telugu on Krishna. Vividly remember reading it in lamplight coz there was no power.

You do have weird experiences If you grow up in a convent. Things that day scholars take for granted, are coveted.

Bitter Twitter..

2009-05-28T17:37:00.003+05:30

My understanding of twittering is its an ultra mini blogging, syndication whatever. And it does help me keeping track of a couple of frens.
Well, thts my reason of twittering.

I dont understand how people follow over 100's of people. Dont they get irritated with so many posts err...tweets on their page???
And I definitely can never get people updating every hour, every day. oh c'mon....

Well, each to his own.

And no offense to anyone. Just posting my feelings after unfollowing someone on Twitter. Got fed up with the number of mindless updates.

And dont read too much into the heading. just had it thr for the sake of rhyming.

And ... thts it. the end of the post.

my Experiments with Blogger

2009-05-27T16:11:00.001+05:30

Been experimenting a lot these days. tried a couple of templates before zeroing in on this one. Chose this one cause of its simplicity, neat colors, and nice background.

In the coming days you might come aross several changes. Will be changing and experimenting untill am satisfied. Meanwhile , I look forward to your feedback and suggestions.

I tried adding a flickr widget by Roytanck, but unfortunately didnt work. Trying to solve it. In the mean while if you know what could be the solution , please leave a comment.

pics say all

2009-05-07T11:21:00.001+05:30

OMG

2009-04-23T11:30:00.000+05:30

omg .....

Preoccupied

2009-04-20T18:16:00.000+05:30

For the past few days am in a disturbed state. So disturbed, that I was in and out of near fatal accidents. Narrowly escaping each of them.
I hate this state. Not being in a state to control and keep your thoughts in check. Not giving my 100% to the work am doing.
The result am always forgetting things. Not to mention the number of times I ve lost my car keys 'n' number of times.
Am irritated sick with my absent minded ness.
And to make matters worse , I carry a huge bag.
So huge that half the time am searching for things I want.
Am an emergency and a memory person. I always hoard each and every thing that has a memory attached and have everything that id need in an emergency. So my now bag has a compact, 2 eye liners (donno why am carrying so many), a cold cream (jus in case it gets cold in hyd), a liquid soap (yeah, n dont laugh), a normal soap, tissues, a note book and no pen (i keep losing a pen), a contact lens holder with no contacts, wallet, a comb, a hair brush, lots of hair clips and rubber bands, lip gloss, ear rings (that I never wear, n lost one of them. So now , I have jus one), keys for which ive lost the locks.

Guess, the time has come for a smaller one.

Summer Vacations

2009-04-15T11:40:00.000+05:30

All of my growing up years were spent in convents , away from home for nearly 10 months of a year. The 2 lovely months- April , May at home for Summer Vacations.
Every year, one common trend among all of the classes was a count down chart would come up on the black boards. We'd strike off each day with growing enthusiasm. Mar 31 the D Day always marked brightly as if it were a deliverance or something.

Did I mention the enthu with, we 'd pack all our belongings. All those brand new clothes we d bought at the start of the year , now brown, faded, and in tatters. On March 30 we'd have just 1 pair outside. All the rest packed neatly.

Come Mar 31. Everyone's excited. Parents start to arrive at noon. All of us kids waiting with apprehension.
Finally when we spot em, get our cases and ready to sign out. Two months of fun , time with parents, and home sweet home.

You love your parents no matter what. The innocence of childhood.

Testcase Rage

2009-04-14T15:26:00.001+05:30

Yeah. people do get it.
what are the triggers??
When
-u come across bad grammar
-the functionality is totally wrong
-the author is mixed up with whts actual and expected. Gives the very same data in both of the cases.
-the wrong FS Id
-testcases arent structured well.
And what takes the cake-
all the testcases start with - To check.
Aaarrrgghhhhh

The Man In The Glass

2009-04-14T15:18:00.000+05:30

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you King for a Day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,
and see what the man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother,
Whose judgment upon you must pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life,
Is the one staring back from the glass.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartache and tears,
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
for he’s with you clear to the end,
And you’ve passed your most dangerous test,
If the man in the glass is your friend.

-Author Unknown

Dont complain

2009-04-14T12:23:00.000+05:30

I bumped into an acquintance of mine. This person had been working in the US for the past two years.
While catching up, he went on and on on the injustice towards telangana. Quite a rhetoric for over an hour.
A Question for him.
*Have you voted??
*Do you plan to vote in this election??

Seriously No. How can he come all the way from the US?? He has to take leave from work, book tickets and its quite a tedious process. Not to mention all those dollars lost.

When you cant vote , dont complain. When you cant make the effort and sacrifices youve no right to even bring up the T topic.

3 hour long Advt

2009-04-09T16:51:00.001+05:30

Thats Billa for you.
Must say the promos/ posters looked quite impressive.
I like color. I like movies to be colorful, happy. Or if they are monocromatic, subdued colors I expect that the movie excels in other departments- acting, graphics, story, interesting storyline.

What is it in Billa???
An endless parade of costumes, pathetic acting, a story thats made/remade/and again remade so that now its just dead.
Almost everyone dresses in Black. or a white. The cars/planes... just about everything ... the makers must have gone the extra length to color coordinate all those jets, cars, costumes.

The less said about the acting skills the better.

The makers should have had a scrolling bar at the bottom giving ddetails about the locations, costume designer, phones, cars used.
They could ve recouped some of the costs.

Freezing in Hyd

2009-04-08T18:50:00.000+05:30

brrrr.......... chaaatttteeerrr
How do u express that its freezing?
The AC @ work is going full blast and I happen to sit near one of the vents.
The result am shivering most of the time and all 5 weekdays. c'mon it can blow hot for a while!!
Am actually chattering. And Ive notied that I dont eat much hardly move out from my sseat, which is one way of keeping it warm.

Did u notice the typos. I normally dont do tht. Am shivering and typing and going crazy.
Even my ideas freeze.
ok. thts taking it a bit too far.

Pleasant Surprises

2009-04-08T18:49:00.000+05:30

I generally dont share , if I can stay in the background I stay. Infact I make an effort to do so.
Not many people know that I blog and am part of several other activities.

But today, err noticed/chanced..??? that there were several people following my posts/.../n other stuff.
Why its pleasant, jus tht I got noticed. :D

Decluttering -2

2009-02-28T16:28:00.001+05:30

The problem with decluttering is, when it comes to making a crucial decision like to keep a post or not; I think each and everyone Is relevant. Was reading the old ones and all the memories that are attached came rushing back. Some, I still remember the anger I felt when people waste food, I get sad and senti with those lonely morose ones Id written in December.

Each and everyone of them are tied up to something that moved me so much that I had to write about it. Just so that I don’t go crazy keeping it pent up in me.

So the first ones to go are the Rants. Come on who wants to unneceraiily burst a nerve?

Decluttering

2009-02-28T14:59:00.000+05:30

Ive recently realised that I don’t let go very easily. Be it books, clothes, letters, cards, frens, grudges, even enemies Just about anything that has a memory attached even if it’s those very old chats, mails, scraps, pebbles, .. the list is endless.

Well, I did a long time ago but didn’t have it in me to go ahead.

So now starting with the posts in the blog am going to shred each and every that’s irrelevant.

People who know me well wont be surprised If I don’t delete a single post.

So,… lets start hacking away.

the Cream one

2009-02-26T17:40:00.000+05:30

It’s a dull cream one with slits on the sleeves and id bought it on a sale and well at the behest of a fren. And god forbid I paired it with a bottle green jeans. Come’on who wears a bottle green jeans?

Anyways its being lying around for the past four years . Finally, today got it out, dusted it and wore it to the office. The problem with fashion is it gets outdated. Your tastes change and the slits on the sleeves which were once so cool are now irritating. Irritating so much so that In a fit of rage I tugged at the sleeve and it tore.

Yep, it tore in the office which left me with no option but to tear the other one too and fold em. How cool is that. Now Ive got a brand new cream top, with smart sleeves. :)

Guess Ive to take a look at all the other outdated clothes in my wardrobe.

Wild

2009-02-05T12:23:00.000+05:30

What is it to be wild?
How does it feel to think independently, totally unblemished by society.

if being Wild is doing what you want
if being wild is thoughts untarnished
if being wild is acting on instinct

Then perhaps all children ought to be brought up wild, run wild. think wild.

Children brought up so purely, not corrupted by religion, by manners, by being nice to everyone.
Thats the way and the only way for a future utopian society.

views from the office

2009-01-12T17:56:00.000+05:30

Super Seniour Citizen

2009-01-05T15:47:00.001+05:30

After the New year s long vacation and getting back to my office ...... am totally dazed. totally totally.
And all I did in Hyd was drive drive all around the place.
Which brings me to my car.
A Maruti 800 (donno which year. but pretty old while I was at school)
Being this Old, and after numerous threats, guffaws from a couple of frens to sell it.
Ive held on to it.
What follows are my 'misadventures' .

Ive a tendency to drive carelessly. I try to fit into every tiny weeny spaces in traffic. The small space between those two buses, i try to manuevor in. Donno in what way I gain from that but yes am mighty pleased when I do that. Often, those expensive ones- BMW, Mercedes try to keep a safe distance.

Last August after a lot of troubles, ofcourse I abused it . Nearly drove 100kms in traffic for a week, and tried to break all kinds of insane personal records.
The Oil had to be changed. Brakes wouldnt work. yeah I drove around for a week with the brakes in a sorry shape. Only after a near miss on a head on collision with a bus, did I finally convince myself that it needs to be taken to the car shed. Before which there were those numerous dents got from nearly missing (not always) autos, small cars.
So finally after a week spent in the shed, with
oil replaced
brake springs,
denting work done
engine oil leak
alternator replaced
coolant leak fixed
n lots of other stuff and me poorer by 15K I finally got it back.

And whats the status?
The engine oil is leaking again, which am ignoring for the time being. The water leaking again.
And again a problem with the battery charger.

Fear n Courage

2008-12-01T14:49:00.000+05:30

Fear of the unknown. Fear of whats to come. Lots of apprehensions, doubts. Which way to go.
Whom to trust? Scared of opening the eyes and seeing.
When theres no longer the guiding hand, the encouragement that you so long had that you forgot you even had it. That silent support whom you ignored and never ever acknowledged.
Well, since its no longer there and no other way but forward; ...
The best way to show that gratitude when it no longer matters, march ahead with all the courage.
The courage and fullfilling all those wishes, dreams and run harder than ever before, never stopping for ... fear that once you stop for a rest you might stop for ever.

In search of the Best

2008-11-27T17:01:00.000+05:30

Is there one?
My search for the best camera. Didnt buy one for the sole reason that I didnt find the perfect one for me.
At first it was - No huge cameras. No SLR's.
So left with those midsize ones.
Why the delay again?
The size again!!
Ive seen my cousin hauling her powershot S5 around and what a pain to keep holding with both your hands.
As against the Point n shoot ones are a real steal. These are so small and really great pictures come off. And yeah just whisk it out and click away. After using one for a couple of days, Ive finally decided on the Canon SD 880. Finally Finally......
As with all electronic goods my motto- Buy It, Enjoy It.

The Morning after

2008-11-27T11:24:00.000+05:30

The morning after the attack on Mumbai.
Some don't know yet. Its the usual commute to their offices, the hurried pace.
Most just calm, cooperating, but still there is an unnerving silence around.

My first reaction Anger. Anger at the government for being so so careless that people can just walk into a hotel and fire around. Not just the Govt at every politician. Cant they just keep their mouth shut and focus on keeping the people they are supposedly 'the leaders' of safe?
No, they have to air their irresponsible views. Divide people on Sindhi, Gujaratis, Marathas, North Indians.

If Ive to watch my back as well how am I going to concentrate on the front?
Grow up!!!

Let this be a wake up call to all politicians. There is something called a constructive opposition.
For a change, Lets have one and lets stand together.

This is for the media too. People aren't interested in those inane and stupid news you people take the trouble broadcasting sometimes.

Silent Media

2008-11-24T12:46:00.000+05:30

We have numerous Telugu channels and probably more to come - MAA TV, ETV, ETV2, TV9,NTV, Vanitha.
Of all these TV9, NTV are the NEWS channels.

The print media for the Telugu's- Eenadu, Sakhi, Vartha, Andrapraba, Andrajyothi.

And, I havent yet included those numerous other channels, NDTV, Star News, Headlines Today.

SO, whats with the list here?
Tune into any of them during the American elections, we had an overdose of the Obama., the contestants it was just endless.
Madonna divorcing, Big Boss, Scams this is the prime time news we get.

Where are those numerous Indians who are killed in the US and the UK. Every week there's some news or the other about a bright kid losing their lives. So many lives being lost and not a whimper, whisper in the media?

They badger celebrities with all inane questions. They go to great lengths and effort to get us the very very important news on where these very important people partied, played, cried, drank.

So why the SILENCE NOW?

Is anyone investigating? Is anyone speaking out?

Literature for the none

2008-11-19T18:02:00.000+05:30

Lately my posts have been/become so boring that I feel sick writing them. Am I brain dead?

Guess, Im so bored that it shows and no matter how I try to revamp, revitalize its just a dud.

As a Woman

2008-11-12T17:25:00.001+05:30

As a woman Ive a power which is uniquely mine. Ive the power, time to nurture my children in the way I want. I can make them leaders as well as losers.
A new born looks first to the mother for sustainence , nurture, to exist. Infact , its the mother who points out the father. A quirky twist there.
They say when you educate a woman , you are educating a family.

In all the avatars a woman has, being a mother is the most precious. Its upto us to take care, nurture, guard the off spring. No matter how rich , poor or what God we pray to. And this in turn instils a sense of a responsibility, a discipline.

An ode to all those women, mothers. But for them, there wouldnt be any around.

comments

2008-11-11T18:11:00.000+05:30

What follows are my comments on the following post.

Whats cooking in my Mind

A disclaimer; these are mine and mine and only mine... and they tend to change. So, dont work yourself up on any of it. You are against any of em , you are welcome to leave your comments.

That was nice post and an eye opener that there are some poeple out there who think we yoga eday!!
Well lets start, I think we as Indians tend to under write ourselves. We dont flaunt our wisdom in Ayurveda, our expertise in Mathematics and various other fields. And to make matters worse is our ever criticizing media out there. They dont waste a chance in berating .. why we didnt win enough medals in the olympics, why we have godra happening ... blah blah theres no end there!!

Has anyone noticed that
>>The world champion in chess is an Indian.
>>We had a muslim president, sikh prime ministers - all minorities.
>>We inventted the number system.
>>We are at the fore front in the software field.
We have some of the best brains in the world.

We Indians have high levels of tolerence. Which else country in the world do you so many religions openly practised? and dont overlook the fact that India is the second most populous country in the world. So many people tolerating each other is something we should be immensely proud of!!

Yes, there are unfortunate incidents happening.
Orissa was waiting to happen. And having some politicians ( who ought to be behind bars) doesnt help. All they need is a mere misunderstanding among neighbours to burn the entire town!!!

For a cchange lets not keep thinking about what the country did for us and do something for the country.
For starters lets vote. :D
Have you registered???

lol
Whan have I ever religiously stuck to one idea while writing???

gobar

2008-09-25T14:12:00.000+05:30

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/businessspecial2/24farmers.html?em

Is the gobar gas patented??

Are we ready?

2008-09-23T14:42:00.000+05:30

The following articles just instills a pride in being an Indian.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/world/asia/22india.html?pagewanted=1&em

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/indian-start-ups-become-more-attractive-to-venture-firms/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/connecticut/21teachct.html?ref=nyregion

How many of us really flaunt our indian roots?
I dont think not many do!!
Yeah and its so obvious in the media, where the presenters speak in accented Hindi, Telugu, Tamil..., where they wear ill fitting western wear (not that am against western wear, but doesnt it have to be comfortable atleast n look appropriate for the content that is being broadcast?)

to be contd....

uppity nicety

2008-09-22T17:04:00.000+05:30

Came across this poem from here.
Got me thinking how hard most elders teach us to be nice. What a waste!!!!

Nice Girls don’t protest. Nice Girls don’t talk back. Nice Girls don’t ask questions. Nice Girls are cowards.

Nice Girls don’t raise their voices. Nice Girls don’t laugh too loudly. Nice Girls are seen, not heard.

Nice Girls don’t get into fist-fights with boys. Nice Girls don’t get into scrapes with boys. Nice Girls aren’t human girls.

Nice Girls don’t swear. Nice Girls don’t drink. Nice Girls don’t smoke. Nice Girls are virgins. Nice Girls are repressed.

Nice Girls are polite. Nice Girls pay compliments. Nice Girls don’t tell you they loathe you. Nice Girls lie.

Groupism

2008-08-27T18:13:00.000+05:30

http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/11/why-groups-and-prejudices-form-so.php

That was an interesting read.
Made me start pondering on why we prefer groups and try to make one.
Well its easier and 'safer' if its a we instead of an I. It takes immense courage to go the I way.
Whereas we arent wholly responsible in a group. The group takes the blame as well as the compliments.

Think about all the groups you are part of or you see in a single day. Its surprising how many we come across ... and ofcourse on what traits was this group made.
Lunch group, commute to office group, .... lots of em.

As a second thought ... how the collective decisions even when wrong seem to be right at that point of time and we follow em, sometimes even if we dont like what we are doing.

pleasant Surprises

2008-08-20T18:06:00.000+05:30

How much do we know about each other? How much???

I chanced on a frens blog today. I didnt even know he was into writing leave alone blogging!!
Which made me think how little I really know about my frens!!

Well... most people (me too) keep a part of their lives a secret. Which is fine with me.
The fun part is when you realize these talents in your frens.
Its a pleasant surprise.

A good one on Friendship

2008-07-21T08:30:00.000+05:30

What is true friendship?
Friendship should not be based on considerations of fear and favour. You try to be friendly with a person who is in authority and power out of fear; or with an affluent and wealthy person in the hope of gaining some personal benefits. Wealth and status being temporary, our friendships will also turn out to be of a transitory nature. If a person is adopting wrong ways, a true friend should not be afraid of pointing out the errors of their freind, with a view to improving them. It is not enough to merely share joy with each other; but it is more important to share the sorrow with each other. Sacred friendship is that which enables one to help others, at all times, and in all circumstances.

>>Which makes me rethink about the "friendship" i share with a lot of persons i know.
And fortunately I do have people around who call a spade a spade.... no matter what. There is hope!! :)

Handicapped

2008-07-18T15:42:00.001+05:30

Ive lost my cell and have realized how dependent ive become on the little piece!! For no reason I did avoid buying one for a long time.
Those were some days!! I do cherish em a lot. It goes without saying that talking less solves a lot of problems!!!
No talking unnecesarily. No late night calls!!! I lived in my own secluded world!!
Getting to meet me was a chore to most of my frens. Plans couldnt change last minute coz I couldnt be contacted!! It had to be pre planned!! No inane talk.
It was tough at times when Id just want someone to talk to. Well... ofcourse eventually the feeling passes off and my secrets remained with me. The wait killed the urge.
(Did I mention using the Net in my old company was curtailed. We just had about an hour daily in office times to browse. One more reason to use it wisely. )
Basically it was simple... very simple.
Yes, ofcourse there were emergencies when I wished I should own one.

But then circumstances changed and I bought myself one bringing an end to era of calmness.
What followed were late night calls, unnecessary chatter, mindless prattle, gossip, backbiting .... and not to speak about the phone bills!!
I got so used to carrying one.
Calmness unsettled me. Id just have to call and speak with somebody or the other!! How noisy Id made my life!!

Then came a day when I lost it.
Which is when I realised ... ok welll I was forced to realise the importance of silence!!
No calls .... just nothing.
For some reason the following line from Coolidges poem comes to mind

Water Water everywhere, Not a drop to drink ....

People everywhere and yet am back in my secluded world.
Which makes me think ... am not actually handicapped. :D

Brainwave??

2008-07-18T14:36:00.000+05:30

Ive got this idea.
What if we could transfer energy. Yeah am not referring to electricity....
For instance, if my cell phone is running out of charge ... and i don't have access to charging it. What if I could just tap into a source of energy... like call up some number and the battery is charged.

Yeah i know thats far fetched and really stupid. But.. no harm in fantasizing rt?
lol

Why cant cell phones be charged using solar energy? Or, probably there r some around just that ive not heard of em yet. could be.

Another Gud one!!

2008-07-18T14:06:00.000+05:30

Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent...and so very appropriate.

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
George Carlin

Whats Grey?

2008-07-03T11:20:00.000+05:30

Whats grey? Is it a misconstrued version of a persons view of Good. Black as a pretence to be white?
(n' please there isnt any racist intent. black could be good n white bad... jus tht over here ive used the reverse. call it old habits die hard!!)

How many times have we acted with the thought of "its for the greater good"?
Is hurting someone to please everyone Good?
NO.
Whatever maybe the situation its either Yes or a No.
Good or Bad...
You choose to make the choice and face the consequences as well!!!

Theres no Grey in between and I appreciate people who say it outright!! These people know what they really are , they take responsibility for their actions. As opposed to people who "sacrifice for the greater good and thought of the broader picture" and excuse themselves of any responsibility. They will run from any in future ... always.. its a pattern.

Despise anyone pretending to act sweet and doing 'good' .

Happiness begets Happiness!!!

2008-06-26T15:48:00.000+05:30

As simple as making the right choices!!!

What do I choose?
Do I choose to hate everyone and cultivate a vendetta against all who have wronged me?
OR, do I forgive and forget and let life take its course?

A crucial choice!!

Cultivating a vendata against anyone wont do me any good. On the contrary its going to fill my life with hate and drag me down .

On the contrary.. forgiving and forgetting is difficult, a lot difficult when people who have wronged you are having a ball in life.
But actually this is the easier wayout.
The minds a lot lighter and ofcourse happiness begets happiness.
:D

lol.... am i preaching?

Evil Love

2008-06-20T12:40:00.000+05:30

Yes, Love can be evil. It turns sane insane. Sends people to their death.
Makes people blind.
Morphs some demure people into demons who will not stop at anything.
What wont Love make people do?

Alternatively, it does make people courageous. It prods to give your best shot.
It makes you stubborn... is tht evil?

Weird things love drives eone to!!!

my incessant low curve

2008-06-18T17:28:00.000+05:30

Will there ever be an end to this?
I take one step forward and get dragged back by 2 steps.
Is there any letup to this?

Loss, Failures, Good Byes, Broken relationships.... et al.
Seen all of em in these past few years am beginning to think is there a light at the end? Is this going to herald a glorious beginnning..... mere speculation.
As an afterthought .. if ever theres a God or fate or whatever I better something good at the end. Actually ... whats good? Is it what I percieve as Good or what is actually good but I dont recognize it. God knows!!!!

BUT, am beginning to njoi the lows. Am amazed how much I can withstand and how few have been supporting me.
And any more lows .... Bring it On!!!!
lol

Wonderful times?

2008-06-17T13:28:00.001+05:30

These are wonderful times. Well, not actually and not on all fronts.
Obama. Who d have thought that there would be such a candidate for the race to the presidency? Even Americans in their wildest dreams wouldn't have!!

Then why do some people still hang on to old ideas. Well... its not exactly old ideas. Most people are scared to get out of their comfort zones. Why cant they just let go of their fears? After all... people respect you for what you stand up for. Your courage when you run against the flow. Not when you are the perfect, please every single person!!

Unfortunately, for every Obama we have people who get scared sticking their necks out. Will they be accepted? What would people say?
What would they say?
They would say and they will, lots of demeaning stuff.... unless and until you stand your ground.

Until then, its all an mediocre life trying to fit into everyones best person mould.
Never ever being what you actually are!!!

Blogomania

2008-06-06T13:04:00.001+05:30

Eone seems to be bitten by the blog bug. A strong medium where everyone and anyone can voice his/her side of the story.
People who'd never penned more than there signatures are actually sitting down and penning errr typing their thoughts.

Thats a positive turn. One way to chanelise all the anger, pain, happiness, or jus blogging to have your say on events.
Celebrities arent left out either. Some I really enjoy reading

Aamir: As always a stamp of his individuality.
Amitabh: Boring. Dont know how he manages to post eday.
Ram Gopal Varma: Invigorating as always.

Y not have a Fake RGV blog on the lines of Fakestevejobs?

A First

2008-06-02T16:04:00.001+05:30

Friday evening: bought Rs1000.00 of fuel and thought I could do with it for atleast 10 days.
What unfolded the next day was a first in my life. Ive never driven this long in traffic.

Day-1
Begumpet--> Necklace road--> Dilsuknagar--> Jubilee Hills--> Mehdipatnam--> Begumpet---> Jubilee hills--> Mehdipatnam

Day-2
Mehdipatnam--> Begumpet--> Midanipur--> Begumpet--> Mehdipatnam--> Begumpet

A long day of driving around town and am bone tired.. something that I never thought id become after a drive. Driving remains my first love and on weekends is always a pleasure.(on some roads)
Especially in the late nights where Ive the roads to myself.

My realization ... am patient but intolerant to slow drivers in the fast lane. And the most violaters so far are the autowallas. They refuse to give you way even after incessant honking and force you to overtake from the left. Am I at fault??

lol .. good ones!!!

2008-05-26T12:46:00.000+05:30

a few of my favs

I hate Java

2008-05-21T15:16:00.000+05:30

Thts an understatement!!!

Can we force, nudge, cajole our minds to like something that we despise so much?
Like if I hate some food, for instance sushi never had it; But fish puts me off and uncooked fish is something I don't want to even think of!!!

Can I force my mind to enjoy it?
I think it should be and is possible.
should try it sometime. So when I can achieve it with food, technology is not far behind. I should be able master java. :P

See how it all boil down to food.

Am a certified M programmer. lol ...... am i?

Bus Journey

2008-05-09T11:20:00.000+05:30

Recently traveled in a Ladies bus to my office.
The bus was crowded as usual but the journey a lot better than the normal ones for obvious reasons.
What did strike me odd , a male conductor.
Why have a male conductor in a ladies bus. There are female conductors available and they work in general ones.
Ive still no idea how they work. They must have lots of spunk to go into the crowd of men at the back and collect the money. And that too on a moving bus.
Its no big deal Malaika Arora danced on a moving a train. These ladies do similar stuff eday!!!

Coming back to the ladies bus... no clue why a male conductor in a Ladies bus!!
Any ideas??

an Empty Feeling

2008-05-06T18:29:00.000+05:30

Am feeling empty a lot more now a days.
Probably this might be because I lost the only rock and anchor in my life. I feel empty and lost. Cant seem to trust anyone and definately not a God.
Am at logger heads with myself weighing reweighing and trying to come to a conclusion.
Feel like ripping off the fake me, fears, ....

Am again at the start from where ive started .. on a journey to discover myself. Feel lost and irritated that it takes me so long to feel myself.
If I could just sit still. get my mind not to think. force it not to think.
But most times it just runs off on a thought process I dont want to. starts witha story and weaves and its just endless.
Restless Mind.
How inane it sounds yet is actually profound.

Should seriously make a habit of meditation.

Dowry

2008-05-02T17:07:00.000+05:30

Recently someone asked me how much is the dowry my family is giving.
A tragedy that I wasnt shocked. Or was I calmly rejoicing when I replied that we dont give dowries.

The dowry system is still prevelent but I think on a downslide.
Most gals work and are very clear on what kind of guy they want.
But have the guys caught up?
Sadly ... No. Ive come across a number of guys who insist on dowry. Their parents shamelessly ask it upfront.
Some what it in kind and some want it in cash. Most insist that the dowry should be given before the wedding.
Ive come across guys who boast that they got such n such amount for dowry. Are these guys out of their minds? Id love to show them their true worth. Apart from being good husband material (doubtful), I dont see anything speacial in any of the guys. Why not give the same amount to the gal. She'll make better use of it.
Or still better why dont the gals parents use it. This is the age they should enjoy each others and live a peaceful life. Spending it on themselves is the best way to use the hard earned money.

Lane System in Hyd

2008-04-30T12:43:00.001+05:30

Finally a topic where I dont have to think and think what Ive to write on!! However the Hyd traffic - Its spontaneous. The flow of words, et all.

Id read that the lane system would be introduced in Hyd , probably on the same lines as in Delhi.
But wheres the place for a lane on Hyd roads.

What irritates me no end is the autowallahs have the least traffic sense. They just zoom past with least regard to safety. Change lanes as they please.
Its not only the auto guys who are guilty. The other violaters small cars.
Have noticed umpteen times people driving uptill the flyover and change lane at the last moment. Thereby accidents, traffic slows down so that the person can make up his mind at his own sweet time if he wants to take the flyover or not.

And yes there are people who take a u turn on a flyover. These guys ought to be locked up.

Nice One!!!

2008-04-25T17:29:00.001+05:30

He who condemns himself, day and night, as petty and weak can never accomplish anything. He who thinks that he is luckless and low, thereby becomes luckless and low. Instead, when you cultivate the awareness that you are a spark of God, that you have as your reality Divinity Itself, you can become really Divine, and you can have command over all powers. “As you feel, so you become”. It is how you feel that matters most. That is the basis for all that you are. Have faith in the Atma, the Self. This is a must for every person. In its absence, man is being reduced to a monster, reveling in vice and wickedness. Your forefathers achieved prosperity, peace and joy, and succeeded in attaining their goals through that faith alone. When people lose that faith, they are certain to fall. For, that faith is the very breath of life.

Turn Around

2008-03-20T17:59:00.000+05:30

There is no best Turn Around time than NOW!!!
How many times have we postponed calling and speaking to someone special, smiling, being pleasant, ... lots of stuff.
How I wish I could do lots of stuff now. By regretting and looking back we waste our lives wishing for something we cant undo. We fall into an ugly loop of torture and spoiling our lives in the process.

So, the tunr around time starts right now. Making the lives of loved ones a treasure. Cherishing my memories and in short living life as if it were my last day!!!

Life is a sequence of memories. Postponing just pushes those lovely memories out of our lives.
Now is the time to start working for those lovely memories... smiling, helping the needy, meditating, cleaning and more important on Living Today right Now!

Friends for laughs

2008-03-20T13:05:00.000+05:30

A while ago Id read an article how to maintain and nurture friends. Yeah .. like a marriage friendships too need to be nurtured.
But this got me thinking what kind of friends need nurturing. Are they worth the time and energy I take to nurture the relationship?

Most of us get carried away by the bling of some relationships. Some aspects like material wealth, personal looks weigh in where they should not have been. Of course as always 'we' are far wiser than we realize!!!! The signals are all there, but we chose to ignore them. Some signals Id noticed more often..... people don't bother to call you back.
Well.... these friends are what I call Friends for Laughs. They want you just for hanging around and having a great time.

Ironically and fortunately Ive friends who have stuck around with me through all those storms ... even after I didn't work on the relationship.
At some of those trying times, its those true ones who take the trouble of calling and speaking to you. Helping out with all the stuff without even asking. In short those friends I know I can call at midnight and rant or talk.

And yes, this is the reason why am writing a blog on friendship even after theres an older post.

Moral: With one life to live, Id better pick my friends wisely.

lol.
As for my 'Friends for Laughs' Ill have the last laugh.....
lol !!!!!

सम्बरिद्ली !!!

2008-03-04T16:58:00.001+05:30

Sambar Idli ... thats the better or higher end version of the normal Idli Sambar.
Some enterprising person must ve hit on a brilliant idea of serving the idlis immersed in the sambar , and ofcourse at a higher price than the usual Idli Sambar.

Well.. thats my latest fad. I seem to have it almost on a daily basis so much so that the guys at the South Indian restaurant I frequent know it.
So after a savouring Sambar Idlis in Hyderabad.. :) my verdict.

The Best... Swathi Tiffins @Somajiguda.
Heavenly!! The Idlis so soft and tender , the sambar at just the right temperature and consistency.... and yes they are served very hot.
Well.. ofcourse there s no place where you can sit. You will have to have it standing. A must try when the weathers a bit chilly.

The Worst Ive had so far.. @Woodlands. They serve Button Idlis and dont even bother to ask about the ghee they add.

The other good places @Anand Vihar, Shanthi.

RAS

2008-02-26T15:15:00.000+05:30

I was just reading a blog - http://cultureswithin.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-ras.html
Reticular Activating System or RAS for short.

Gave it a try and yes it works.
I thought about what would be my top aspects in my dream job. Listed em out and 'wished' for one.
And you wont believe it, but I got a call from a firm offering me a position with some of the aspects. And got a second job offer with some of the aspects id listed out. Weird!!!
Try it does work.

My guess is, Id shortlisted all my likes and focussed on them. So when any events happen Im more likely to spot what I want because my mind has already focussed on it.

And oh yes having lots of fun with this RAS. Trying to get a meeting postponed with RAS. Lets see if this works.

Flexibility

2008-02-15T14:27:00.000+05:30

A while ago, I was discussing with a couple of frens on older Generations ... n the stuff.
The talk went like the current generation being pulled between the Older and the Future ones. And the result is a lot of stress, low self esteem (in some case), misunderstanding (in most cases)...

My take...
Change is one thing thats Constant. Notice the paradox?!!
Every generation has their own share of responsibilities as well as flexibilities. The only difference here Flexibility with a Responsibility.
Everyone is responsible for his own destiny using flexibility in right way reaps and wrong suffering.
What is constant all through our attitude, confidence and courage to stand by our decisions.
Signing off with the oft repeated quote ... Destiny favours the courageous.

am Back

2008-02-14T10:41:00.000+05:30

Thought of giving a long break.
But with lots of ideas zooming and lots of incidents to write about ... how can I?
For today... was thinking what if I got what I wished. Like even the most impossible of thoughts coming true.
My first reaction.. maybe Id die from the Happiness. :)
Yeah read it right .... Ever heard of anyone Dying from Happiness. Guess that would be my reaction.
Or Id be hospitalized with the Intense Happiness and might even become deranged. Is this whats called Bliss?
Both of the facts seem so contradictory.
Maybe thats the reason I dont get what I wish for.

Think about it. Think about those wishes that might make you so delirious.

Good Bye

2008-02-06T09:56:00.000+05:30

Thanks all for the lovely feedback.
This is the last post for a long time to come maybe.

Again thanks for your time and the lovely comments people gave me.
Adios!!!
As always have fun n take care.

Journaling

2008-02-04T18:14:00.000+05:30

A while ago, Id blogged on Happiness.
In response to the blog a fren commented on Journaling. What follows is an excerpt of a mail from a fren.

I can cover everything I can think of about Journaling. It's nothing novel. It's just what people do when they say they write in a diary. But Journaling is more to do with being honest and not to share that book with anyone. I usually don't revise anything I write unless I got some gems in there. So this is what you do..

1. Buy a nice/pretty notebook or just use a regular one. I usually get inspired by the book. So I have a fancy one.

2. When you get up in the morning, after you get freshned up - just sit down in a quiet place and write 3 pages. The minimum is 3 pages/3 sides but you can write as much as you want. You basically need to write anything that comes to mind. Don't judge. Don't write it for someone. Just dump anything that comes to your mind.

3. As this goes on for few days you will have a lot to write. Over a period of time you will hit the core feelings, thoughts, thinking patterns inside your mind. Then you would experience something like 'aha' experience.

4. Be consistent. You can write as many times you want to in a day, but you must make sure this is the first thing you do in the morning.

5. Enjoy writing it. It may be painful/helpful based upon what kind of feelings you are botching there.

6. It's kinda different from Blog because here the audience is only one - you.

7. You can write it as a letter to someone too. My wife does that. She writes it as a letter to Swami. But I can't do that because if I refer to Swami then I get this bad feeling in my stomach that He is watching me and I am doing something wrong and this prevents me from being honest in my writing. So I just write to no one. Just a brain dump.

Cool off.....

2008-02-04T17:46:00.000+05:30

A driver is pulled over by a policeman. The police man approaches the driver’s door. “Is there a problem Officer?” The policeman says, “Sir, you were speeding. Can I see your licence please?” The driver responds, “I’d give it to you but I don’t have one.” “You don’t have one?” The man responds, “I lost it four times for drink driving.”

The policeman is shocked. “I see. Can I see your vehicle registration papers please?” “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” The policeman says, “Why not?” “I stole this car.” The officer says, “Stole it?” The man says, “Yes, and I killed the owner.” At this point the officer is getting irate. “You what!?” “She’s in the trunk if you want to see” replied the man.

The Officer looks at the man and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes five police cars show up, surrounding the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

The senior officer says “Sir, could you step out of your vehicle please!” The man steps out of his vehicle. “Is there a problem sir?” asked the man. “One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner” replied the officer. “Murdered the owner?” asked the man in disbelief.

The officer insists, “Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car?” The man opens the trunk, revealing nothing but empty space. The officer says, “Is this your car sir?” The man says “Yes,” and hands over the registration papers. The officer, understandably, is quite stunned. “One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving licence.”

The man digs in his pocket revealing a wallet and hands it to the officer. The officer opens the wallet and examines the licence. He looks quite puzzled. “Thank you sir, one of my officers told me you didn’t have a licence, stole this car, and murdered the owner.”

The man replies, “I bet you the lying bastard said I was speeding, too!”

Another One.......

A blonde chick found herself sitting next to a lawyer on an airplane. Bored, the lawyer kept bugging the blonde wanting her to play a game of intelligence (lawyers like easy prey). Finally, the lawyer offered her 10 to 1 odds, said every time the blonde could not answer one of his questions she owed him $5, but every time he could not answer hers he’d give her $50.00. The lawyer figured he could not lose, and the blonde reluctantly accepted.

The lawyer first asked, “What is the distance between the Earth and the nearest star?” Without saying a word the blonde handed him $5.

The blonde then asked, “What goes up a hill with 3 legs and comes back down the hill with 4 legs?”

The lawyer looked puzzled. He spent nearly an hour, looking up everything he could on his laptop and even placing numerous air-to-ground phone calls, trying to find the answer. Finally, angry and frustrated, he gave up and paid the blonde $50.00

The blonde put the $50 into her purse without comment, but the lawyer insisted, “What is the answer to your question?”

Without saying a word, the blonde handed him $5.

Post Lunch

2008-02-04T16:07:00.000+05:30

After a good lunch (am getting the hang of it. Eating a lot more than what my body can use.)
The previous blog was acidic, aggressive. Well couldn't suppress the spirit.
A bit of gyan for the poor gals.
Why some relationships make it to the altar while the others don't.
I strongly feel all girls are a bit psychic. When two people are making out , those little incidents that escape notice... these are the warning signs that the relationship wont work. He doesn't bother to introduce you to friends. You are basically a secret. Second, You are given a pseudo name on his phone list.
Third, The two of you try to keep the relationship a secret.

I think those are some of the most common and easily spotted 'signs'. Yes, it hurts but at that point I think most girls do know that the relation ship will never be a happy one. They still hang on trying to salvage or make it work. Each time giving their best shots. (I think guys have this way of thinking .. if the relationship doesn't work lets at least have a good time. The end doesn't matter for most guys. Its only the journey thats important and worthwhile... my my I'm turning out to be some pathetic K-serial dialog writer. Guess time for me to send my resume to Ekta Kapoor.)

Well ladies spot anyone of the above 'warnings'... be cautious. Spot all of them... drop it. Walkout, atleast its you who is calling the shots.

Hehehe after all the gyan .... its going to be the same mistakes again. After all falling in love is half the fun. But is it worth the pain?

See... I told yeah am in knots.

Happiness

2008-02-02T17:44:00.000+05:30

Am bloging this after one of those low moments.

I feel happy when
-I buy a gadget.
-theres a new dress.
-the weighing machine shows an 1/2 kg less.
-a luved one calls.

Actually there were a lot others ... talking on the phone to a couple of frens, the satisfaction after ive completed a book, reading comics, chandamma............... not any more!!!

Dont trust people as I used to.
Am turning out to be a maniac.... actually am already one.
Watch Out!!!

Am still in quest for my lost self. Hoping good times come!!!
My instant solution... am going out for a drive. hmmm today am going to see how far out of hyd I can make it alone.
PEace be to all...... see I told you am gone bonkers. I did warn.

Samaritans.....

2008-01-31T15:27:00.001+05:30

Yes ... there are some good samaritans around!!!
Was driving back home on Sat night @12.00. The traffic lights dont work at this time, most people drive with the least regard for any rules. Empty roads, absolutely no traffic who would miss a chance. Anyway was driving home and taking the right near Stanza @Himayatnagar. Saw a truck and ignored that he was speeding and honking too. Thought since thats a bigger vehicle he d slow down and I wouldnt have to slow down. Donno who in their right minds would think of bigger vehicles giving way for smaller ones. My Maruti800 is such a teeny weeny vehicle compared to the hugs truck. And all I had to do after going home was sleep. God knows why I was in such a hurry!!!!! and NO I was NOT drunk.

The truckwalla didnt slow down and I had a narrow escape. Hit the brakes on time and just missed ending up under the trucks tyres. There were a couple of guys around and they did help me in getting the car to a corner and talking the driver into giving some amount as compensation just so that it wouldnt become a police case. And yes they fixed my car too!!! Guess a first Aid. Luckily nothing drastic to both me nor the vehicle. I could nt believe people actually help and care!!! Unfortunately, me still dazed I didnt ask them their names so that I could thank them. Good Samaritans do exist!!! My faith in mankind rekindled.
Called a fren of mine. Funny part was I was joking with a fren that I was in an accident and in a hospital a couple hours before this happened. Well, Is that funny?? not to my freind though. My first reaction to my fren .. I couldnt stop laughing!! Is this whats called shock?

Anyways....am still around kicking and healthy and my car in ship shape with all the denting work done. Looks even better than before the accident.

Love n Hate

2008-01-31T14:24:00.000+05:30

Everything is fair in Love and War. Is it so?
It gets really irritating when some people dont understand a firm No.
The very same people who were just short of God Incarnate are now the worst anyone can think of. Out comes the psycho. Sly references to a past best forgotten, black mail... et al. Just so the person can get their way.
Doesnt work. Back to the pleading, begging and crying...this too doesnt work. A vicious circle of torture.
It takes immense power, self confidence and ofcourse Love to let go of a person with dignity.

Not many gentlle men around!!

Well... thats the best way I could write keeping the persons int he dark and maintaining the anonymity.

a Positive Turn

2008-01-25T15:47:00.001+05:30

There were those initial days... like when Id first joined in a job, when thinking of going to pizza hut or any of those outlets was expensive. Driving to office was a big NO. and Autos were simply expensive. Shopping only once a year and that too just the bare necessities. Splurging was unthinkable.

Now a days.. I jus dont recognize myself.
I hangout @Pizza Huts, Coffee Days where on an average the bill comes to 300 bucks. (Id have fainted at the thought a couple of years ago) I shop to ease my mind at times. I drive a LOT adding to the pollution (not the traffic, I drive on deserted roads).

And well it shows. Its hard to get rid of those calories.

Thankfully, I still havent lost the habit of walking to ease my mind at times. I walk a lot, and most of my frens hate me for it. I force most to walk while catching up.

Couple of changes this year.
-No more eating out @Pizza Hut's.. Ive found the best replacement I could for hangouts and eatouts. IDLI!!! If at all its eating out I stick to Idlis. No rice absolutely.
-Walking when I cant get something out of my head. It keeps me focussed on the road instead of downing a coke and a pizza and just gossiping with frens.
-Water my tonic to revitalize. Ive rediscovered its benefits. I religiously drink at least a bottle a day.

n' Driving... naaah. Thats one I cant kick. But Ive reduced. I dont drive out often. And taking an auto to any place is simply out of question.
Bought an mp3 player and I make it a point to walk to nearest bus stop and wait for the bus.

Healthy times ahead.

Count my blessings

2008-01-25T11:43:00.000+05:30

Am fortunate that Ive had a good education. Ive a family to fall back on. Ive a job. Ive a roof over my head. Ive got a wonderful set of friends to fall back on ... no matter what.

So... what am I complaining on....

Thank You God!!!

I DRINK!!!

2008-01-24T17:00:00.000+05:30

:)

hehe yeah am finally drinking.....
After, procrastinating for over a year, Ive forced myself finally to start drinking . Don't remember, when Id started to stop drinking. I hardly had a glass in a day and funny how I could still stay healthy.. maybe its those cups of coffee that kept me fine and sane too.

Took a long walk after lunch.. love hitec city.. lots of places where you can go take a walk. nice. Finally a place in Hyd where you can actually walk without being hit by a vehicle.n coming back to drinking...I must thank the office staff here. They religiously put a bottle at the start of the day. And this just reminds me to drink. Well, since Ive resumed to drinking after a long hiatus maybe its going to be a while before I increase it to maybe 5Bottles / day.

No harm in hoping. Just hope I do it. :)

Incase you are wondering whts this fuss about all this drinking... Im refering to Water. hehe

n' Oh yes drinking Water helps and works too. This is from a firm follower of water therapy. Combine this with a good exercise schedule my bet you actually start seeing the results pretty soon. And oh yeah watch out for those endless compliments. :D

my Evil Half

2008-01-24T16:00:00.000+05:30

I'm at my evil best. :) (wish there were nice smiley's to insert)

I was at an IT Park today and yesterday too for lunch.I wish I had the entire day at my disposal. Its fun to watch people here. (people watching @VIT in a forthcoming post)
Just could not miss how most people Id seen were on the heavy side. Almost all of them don't ever exercise, eat the most unhealthy stuff there. The canteen boasts of the best food at subsidized rates. Guess, people here binge on food and thats an understatement.

I just couldn't imagine how much people ate. The amount was so much. Id ordered for curd rice and @20 bucks/plate , that was way too much. Three people would have a fulfilling meal with that one plate!!! Its disgusting to see people eating so much and wasting so much as well. It angers me no end to see people pile food and then waste so much. Yes, even eating too much is a waste. You are endangering yourself doing that.

And .oh yes I hardly see anyone walking. People take the elevators as opposed to the stairs. How I wish Id seen people taking walk round the IT park. Yeah they can say that they ve got lots of work n blah blah..... n funny how there isnt a Gym. Am not sure if they have a recreational facility.

What got me thinking on this is after having more than what I can manage for lunch (just so that I dont waste) I happened to see labourers working on a construction and having lunch together. All of them were fit and looked healthy. I guess they were the healthiest in the entire neighbourhood, notwithstanding the fancy stuff IT people flaunt (cars, watches...).

See I told yeah am not in a good mood and the blog is a major way of venting my anger.

Interesting stuff

2008-01-24T11:35:00.000+05:30

I was chatting with a fren of mine and he directed me too an interesting site
http://www.joyfuljubilantlearning.com/joyful_jubilant_learning/

One topic that got me interested was how people respond to us.
Am a rotten listener. I think a lot and If I get an 'idea' am in a hurry to share it, most often by interrupting the person.

And its worse if its a KT. The person should be highly organized and stick to the schedule. Thats difficult when am on the scene. Chandra was quite exasperated at the end of the KT. I kept interrupting him at a drop of hat for any doubts. Actually I pride myself on my thought process. Its never organized. Just zooms back and forth over lots of functionality, validations, and I keep thinking of loop holes where I can catch a bug. The downside is that you lose track of the functionality thats to be covered. The upside-- its fun, catch the person off track, and yes you do get lots of bugs.

Botttomline its fun my way but a pain for the person giving the KT.

Well, after reading the blog you d be wondering what am aiming at?Thats me.. totally unorganized, haphazard, abrupt(so too with people) n lot many others. :)

New Company

2008-01-21T15:28:00.000+05:30

Joined a new company today. And this was my first day here.

The differences so far that Ive seen... Lots of paper work. A process for everything. Everything meticulously documented... phew... there must be lots of documenting here.

My older company had none of this long winding stuff.. you wanted something.. shoot a mail to the concerned person and get it approved within a couple of hours at the max.
Well .. all things and process do have an advantages and their downsides too.

But what I miss so badly is lack of open space, TT table. I sorely miss these two. Smalll tough my last company, we were fortunate to have the entire terrace to ourselves.
Its a pain to have lunch in a small cubicle.

Well.... since the new company will eventually move to their own premises , things should start looking up.

And forgot to mention , what I miss very very much ... its a MAC. Got so used to one , now I eel it a pain to use Outlook, searching for Address Books... lots of stuff that was so simple then.

Looks Matter

2008-01-21T14:02:00.000+05:30

A while ago I happened to read a blog where the person had written that Good Looking people were at an advantage. I agree to this only to a part.
Yeah, compared to the rest good looking people have it easy at times.
And when it comes to Love, they are at a disadvatage here. Everyone wants to date and court them. But, when it comes to commitment, majority backout coz things that didnt show up at the start of the relationship matter now. Familys views, Frens views everything matters now.
My view good looking people are at a disadvantage here. Everyone would want to date a hot babe, but noone wants to take her home to show to their moms. :)
Thats life.
Atleast thats what most Indian men are. They have the 'guts' to only court women. But, bring up any sort of a commitment , watch the men run.
If someone were Ugly..
-Not many would court em.. but the only person who comes along loves the person with all their heart and will not bear to let go come what may.

To Remember Me.....

2008-01-20T13:31:00.000+05:30

The Day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intent and purposes, my life has stopped.
When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine.And dont call this my deathbed.Let it be called the Bed of Life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.
Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman.Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain.Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grand - children play.Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist form week to week.Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body and find a way to make a crippled child walk.
Explore every corner of my brain.Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that someday, a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.
Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.
If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow men.
Give my sins to the devil. Give my soul to God.
If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you.If you do all I have asked, I will live forever and ever and ever.

KISS Principle

2008-01-16T15:44:00.000+05:30

Invite everyones views on this principle. ofcourse, please dont GOOGLE for it. Just write in your comments on what it could be.
n' for people who already know what the principle is all about, .... dont spill the beans.

Taare Zameen Par

2007-12-28T23:39:00.000+05:30

Finally, one Bollywood cinema you can goto without leaving your brain at home.

A nice movie with a great message.
Just wish every child has a Nikhumb in thier lives to unlock those li'l geniuses. Teaching Kids is the greatest profession and thats why we still remember our teachers.

Its a pity, on how teachers are shown in a bad light in movies. Ofcourse, we dont find such teachers too now a days. How many Nikhumbs do you come across in your average school. Sadly, None at all.

Education is one great gift anyone can give to any child. No Wealth, No riches can ever replace that. n' the opportunity to teach and to mould those tender minds is an Privilege not many get.

Im thankful to all my teachers at school. :)
I am what I am coz of them and ofcourse to my parents.

Soothing Drives

2007-12-28T22:39:00.000+05:30

This is one way that Ive discovered is a balm to my mind. Ive used it on a number of occasions , slipping out for a much needed drive during the lunch breaks.

One way nearest to my place is Necklace Road. Nice Place. Deserted most of the time. A place where you can be alone without being lonely. Tough most of my frens disagree. Its quite a safe place if you stick to your vehicle and dont venture out on foot alone.

The only downside is the fuel. Until I find an alternative to soothe those frayed nerves, its Drives that has to do.

Quick getaways- Necklace Road, the Flyover near the secretariat (its deserted most of the time).

n ofcourse how can I forget my faithful Maruti800. It has kept me company through all those lows. Seriously, sharing with inanimate things does work. You can rest assured that your secrets remain a secret. Sounds Weird???
A womans best frens - Dogs, and automobiles :P (err.. did I miss something??)
lol

a Year Passes

2007-12-23T12:22:00.000+05:30

One more Year passes by. Funny how quick time has gone by.

Cherish this year more than others.

When compared to 2006, this has been a very trying year. Yet I cherish it. The 'real' Friends and Family have stood by me n helped with all those low moments.
The year 2006, got me lots of friends. 2007 has sieved and given me those lifelong ones . Only those who have cared have stayed back. The rest Ive no clue!!!

This is an ode to all of those special ones.

Shopping in Charminar

2007-12-20T16:41:00.000+05:30

Donts:

Wear heavy or expensive jewelery
Carry fancy cell phones
Venture in Late nights
Absolutely No Driving

Its the best place where you can pick good stuff at really low prices. Some places that I frequent are Mungalal for the clothes. Pretty good party wear.

Never a shopping expedition to Charminar is complete without the yummy Jelebis, the colorful Bangles. Some of the best and beautiful Bangles are sold here. Since, there are a number of shops selling bangles you can bargain and get the price down.

Ofcourse, most people have qualms buying stuff in these places. The color might run and theres no guarantee on anything.

n Driving in Charminar. I attempted it last Sunday. And, guess that qualifies me as a v.gud driver.:P
Venturing into Charminar, without an idea on the way is a bad decision. The numerous gateways confuse. You are at loggerheads which way you should head for. Best way is to remember some eateries , sweet shops. Better still, get a good place to Park your vehicle and walk.

And the Best way is by Bus.

Wonder why the authorities dont make this place vehicle free. It was really appaling to see Charminar against such a backdrop. Shops, poeple milling around with the chaotic traffic. Actually you cant even appreciate the beauty of Charminar in the noise. Thankfully, there is some barricade around the structure. Or else there would ve been some shops inside the minars too!!!

Since its a monument, hope the concerned officials make the entire area vehicle free or else have the same system as in London. Any vehicle to pass through Charminar should pay some amount. Makes Sense!!!

___________________

2007-12-20T14:47:00.000+05:30

My minds a blank now a days.

Dont do much these days. Topics to write on dont come easily.

A total mute today.

Topics I can write on:

Shopping in Hyd :P
Driving??
my Thoughts (not many there now)
Colleagues (nah, dont want to turn up a hornets nest at this stage )
Frens
Books

Blogging (So many posts in just under a month. Being jobless is getting to me.)

a Touching Story

2007-12-19T16:44:00.000+05:30

A girl and guy were speeding over 100 mph on a motorcycle)
Girl: Slow down. Im scared.
Guy: No this is fun.
Girl: No its not. Please, its too scary!
Guy: Then tell me you love me.
Girl: Fine, I love you. Slow down!
Guy: Now give me a BIG hug. (Girl hugs him)
Guy: Can you take my helmet off and put it on? Its bugging me.
In the paper the next day: A motorcycle had crashed into a building
because
of break failure. Two people were on the motorcycle, but only one
survived.
The truth was that halfway down the road, the guy realized that his breaks
broke, but he didn't want to let the girl know. Instead, he had her say
she
loved him, felt her hug one last time, then had her wear his helmet so she
would live even though it meant he would die.

Is this true?

my Company

2007-12-18T17:39:00.000+05:30

This is an ode to my Alma Mater.
Ofcourse corporate companies do not qualify for this. But, effigent has been one for me. Ive learn t as much here.

The first impressions are always the best. My entry into the professional field couldn't have been better. Its more like a school and even the environ, the informal way it functions and how closely knit every one is makes it so.

Maybe being a small company helps. Every employee feels a joint responsibility towards the company. Decisions to be taken need not go through layers of red tape. You have a bright idea, you prove it. You grow quick. Lets say the opportunities to grow are more. More challenges. You are pushed to your limits.

New technologies are experimented. In short you are your own master. n yea how many companies of this size are on Mac OS. not many. Actually none.

The first day here was fun. The initial days as an inquisitive trainee, where you lap up what you are thought, you explore new avenues(exposure to Mac, which not many people have). Try to improvise yourself. Ofcourse, the first lead too makes a huge impact and more so if its on a trainee. The team functioning as a family. We didnt have the facilities as we currently have now. We didnt have a vending machine, no month end bashes. I guess that was the reason why we socialized more than now. Each of us sponsoring for Samosas, sharing lunch and we even had Pot Luck. I sound like an old hag reminiscing about the "good ole times".

Coming to my team, we had team meetings (Weekly or Fortnightly). This is one method that works and time tested too. You get to interact with everyone. Share Ideas. Encourage the bonding among everyone. In short you function as a one. Miss those.

Changes got new people, new methods and a whole lot of new facilities.

Every thing has its downsides too. Unnecessary politics among others leave a bad taste. Hopefully am leaving on a positive note.

Sincerely wish its coffers increase manifold. :D

Driving in Hyd

2007-12-18T12:17:00.000+05:30

Last evening I was on my way to Hitec City via Punjagutta. People in Hyd, must know by now how crowded it is.

Atleast It not a nightmare as in Mehdipatnam. That place is one big NO for driving. People there have absolutely no regard to Traffic Rules. The lights Red and noone even bother s to stop and the traffic cops not even attempting to stop the law breakers. One time to avoid the route-
**After Namaz
**At around 2-3.30pm - This is the time when the St.Anns college closes for the day, n the lane s a total No-No. Everyone in a hurry to leave and ofcourse, the boys gawking at the girls and trying to catch their attention attempting some stupid stunts.

n Back to yesterdays drive to Hitec City. Theres absolutely no Lane sense here. People just keep changing Lanes when they please. Thats tolerable up to an extent. But what is not is when people wanting to go right, blocking the way.
It irritated me no end , when theres this big hunk of an idiot blocking the entire way . He was real lucky that I was in a hurry.

Forgot to mention that they arent any Zebra crossing in Punjagutta. But that s no excuse for people to cross roads when the light is Red. In case theres an accident the person driving the four wheeler is at fault. Why don't people make use of the FOBs? Not many do that.Oh yeah, even places where there is an FOB like in Mehdipatnam, noone bothers to use it. They just cross the road as they wish bringing the traffic to a standstill, making a fool of themselves and everybody.

Unless and Until the flyover in Punjagutta gets completed, its a paradise for Jay walkers, Law Breakers.

Lingaraj

2007-12-18T10:52:00.000+05:30

People from my company might be wondering why Im dedicating a topic to a colleague.

Am referring to a temple in Orissa.

A beautiful temple on the outskirts of Bubaneshwar.

Since me n krsna had nothing to do, we headed for the temple. The temples a beauty n, like most temples there It was dirty. The Pujaris there trying to make a killing with the piligrims.

They ve this way of making you promise some money, or some grains, in Sanskrit. Just that both of us understood Sanskrit and declined half way through the promise.

Orissa thrives on Pujaris. There are priests everywhere in petrol bunks, in hotels....

Konark

2007-12-14T12:12:00.000+05:30

No words to describe this marvel. Its colossal, a beauty in stone even in its ruins. Cannot fathom, how impressive it would ve been in all its splendor.
It amazes me how anyone could bring forth such exquisiteness in a stone. It stands for eternity, a mute spectator to the ages that pass by.

All we can see is the temple surroundings, the outer part. The Temple has actually been filled in. The Guide said something on Magnetic Stuff. Well, I didnt pay any attention to what he was saying. Who d want to waste their time, when in a place like this.

You can find the story and other details at:

http://www.indiantemples.com/Orissa/konark.html

An ideal trip to this place would be, a drive along the beach and see the Temple at Sunset and Sunrise.

Haa and cant forget the usual hawkers. The beads that some of em were selling were pretty. Bought a couple of em, ofcourse after haggling. Started to bargain from half of the price.

Konark

Taptapani - the Eternal Spring

2007-12-13T20:50:00.001+05:30

The long awaited blog on Tapatapani - awesome Hot springs.

Orissa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd

"The bubbling hot spring of Taptapani lies deep in the forests and high on a hill around 50 km from Berhampur. The waters, believed to have medicinal properties, are also piped directly into the bathrooms of the Pantha Niwas (tourist bungalow). The beauty of the rolling tribal inhabited hills is an added bonus." - thats what the Govt Tourism site declares.

My Experience:

I was looking forward to soaking my feet in the soothing waters Id find, after a tiresome journey of 6-7 hours in a 4 wheeler.

What Id actually found was a tiny trickle that was walled off. You could only take in a few drops of water and yeah I concede to this - it was warm.

Unfortunately, I dont have any pictures to show. We were so pissed off, with the hours of journey, that all we could do was just keep quite. So far the experiences in Orissa were dismal.

People going to Orissa, avoid Tapatpani.

Actually Ive my doubts on had we actually been to Taptapani. The Govt site cannot flaunt and promise so much when actually we didnt see any of it.

It was a mindless journey to nowhere.

Actually, Ive got an Idea of doing the 'Bakra' series (courtesy: MTV) on travelers who go there. Their reaction to the trickle that they actually see after such a long journey is worth the try.

Other ideas, the place can be suggested to anyone who you have a grudge against.hehehe

This blog was long due. New Year revelers to Orissa watch out!!!!

Simplicity Sells!!!

2007-12-13T15:00:00.001+05:30

TEDTalks: David Pogue (2006)

An Unforgetable Trip

2007-12-13T14:25:00.000+05:30

This was an year ago. Keeping with the trend, a few of us thought of going on a trip at the year ending. But we did buck the trend. While eone I knew was heading for happening Goa, we were going to .... any guesses .....
Orissa!!!!

We didnt have any inkling on the destination. We were a group of 9. That was the right size. We should have had a whale of a time. We actually started for Orissa without a plan on where we 'd stay, where we d travel to first!!!! n we were software professionals... so learned blah blah..

Any traveler worth his salt would ve told us that it would be a failure or we d have to face difficulties.

The trip started on a positive note. We hogged on Biryani(authentic Hyderabadi Biryani from Paradise) in the train, before we even reached Hyderabad outskirts. Had a gud nights sleep. The next morning had breakfast at Vizag station. Finally in the evening after the usual delay of a couple of hours, we reached Bubaneswar.

I missed out on the Train Trip. The first impression of the Chilka Lake while on the way the Bubaneswar is unforgettable. The first thought immense, peaceful, serene.

After a good nights rest at some hotel, a breakfast and nothing to do, we were on the lookout for a conveyance to Puri. The group split up. One went in search for a vehicle, which was difficult to find being the holiday season. The travel agent made a killing. The rest of us went to the Lingaraj temple. (The trip requires another blog dedicated to it.) and the Orissa state museum. Wonder how many locals had actually visited it. The other team could fortunately find a Qualis.

The next day we had signed up for a State tour to Puri and Konark in a rotten State tourism Bus. Rotten coz its con justed and the Guide just wouldnt stop yapping away.
We reached Puri in the noon. Beautiful temple. A pity the surroundings were so dirty. It reeked of filth, flies and the stink. Absolutely, no basic essential facilities.No rest rooms, hospitals... If id my way Id have gladly given the temple a miss and headed straight for the Beach.

The lunch followed at again a state guest house, where the guests fought over the food, plates , water n what not.

We again headed back to Bubaneswar via Konark and Pipili. Konark was awesome especially in the sunset. Must go back sometime. This was the only place, where there was a semblance to something of an order. I actually saw a queue at the ticket counter. If at all anything worth seeing in Orissa, its Konark.

Headed for Pipili next. God knows, who in their right minds would go to this place. Its an entire village selling the same stuff of table lamps, wall hangings and even the same patterns. Not one of em was different.

Haaa nback to Bubaneswar. Time for a good nap.

The next day the Qualis arrived, and we checked out and headed for Taptapani (250kms from Bubaneswar). The trip there took us nearly 6-7 hours. Ill cover the trip and the awesome hot springs in a coming blog.

Headed for Gopalpuram guest house for a nights stay. The next day we traveled to a place on the shores of the Chilka Lake. Finally the fun part of the fun trip had started. We took a packed lunch to one of the islands, treked a bit and back to the main land for some dinner. Had a good nights sleep and caught a train back to Vizag. Phew!!!!!!!

Finally. Took a Bus back to good ole Hyd from Vizag.

Home Sweet Home!!!

Moral:
1. Plan
2. Places worth the travel to Orissa - Konark, Chilka Lake

Words!!!

2007-12-12T12:28:00.001+05:30

Words have tremendous power; they can arouse emotions and they can calm them. They direct, they infuriate, they reveal, they confuse; they are potent forces that bring up great reserves of strength and wisdom.

If you leave pride, you become dear to all; If you conquer anger, you become free from worries; You become prosperous when you control your desires. You attain happiness only when you conquer greed.

What is Dharma? Let me summarize it. First, treat your parents with love, reverence and fortitude. Second, act as you speak, speak as you feel and do not play false to your conscience. Third, be calm and levelheaded and maintain equipoise. And finally listen to the voice within! - Baba

I Want to

2007-12-12T11:49:00.000+05:30

Heres a short list of things I want to do.

-Buy a SUV (Ford Endeavor)
-Teach Kindergarten kids (a definite try for eone. The lil ones will teach you a lesson on Patience and Trust.)
-Live on a Farm or a Village.
-Trek in the Himalayas
-Get a dog
-Change the way the school is in my Native Place
-Shed atleast 10kgs :D (Thats difficult!!!!)

Actually, there seem to be lots of ideas flitting by. Unfortuantely, I dont bother to notice em. Most would have made a difference. Whats it with us, that we dont take ourselves seriously?
Most of us do not want to dare, do not want to go on a "wild goose chase"!! Most of us are so scared of failure, that we dont want to even make an attempt at success.

Things I had wanted to do 10 yrs ago:

-Have my own Radio Station (That was a serious thought)
-Have a mine (I dont remember why id wanted to have one n what id wanted to mine. But do remember that it was a terrific idea for a professor to show interest in to it. The money put me off and ofcourse, the supposedly 'well wishers'. Not their fault.)
-Have myown power station. A solar one at that. The area that I come from experience severe Summers. Would have made sense instead of relying on the power from the govt.

Lots of other ideas that were forgotten. I hope I can make a difference some day!!!
or atleast I dont put off someone I might come across with wild ideas.

Did I mention Interior Designing?? Thats a passion am still interested in.

Life in a Village

2007-12-11T17:21:00.000+05:30

How different it is!!!

I remember the early mornings, lots of fresh air, n no TV to occupy your time. Of course you do have the TV there too. But with the umpteen power cuts and the limited channels, noones interested.

We d look forward to dinner time.Most times we'd have it in Candle Light or Moon light. How romantic!!! lol I remember trying to finish a book Id started in Candle light. It was total fun.

The swim in the morning. and a Brunch in the Farm. haa what a life!!!
People accustomed to the City would have a hard time getting accustomed to the quite. You can actually hear the wind blow. The only sounds you'd occasionally hear are the cocks crowing, a honk now and then.

Been a longtime since Ive been to any place so calming. Must plan to go soon.

Actually, im seroiously thinking of letting out my home to a couple of guys from the city. Am sure theyd pay a ton just for the experience.And in any case we dont have much of Man Power, what with eone leaving for the cities. killing two birds with one stone??? :P

Oh yeah the full experience of a rural life. They have to tendto the buffaloes, look after the fields, plan for the next crop, look for the right price and sell the crop.
What fun it would be and what an experience!!!

And flaunt the experience in the resume!!!

Any takers???

Fido

2007-12-11T16:32:00.000+05:30

Fido Jr, a Labrador came in to my life last year in August. Id got him to replace the older Fido, a German Shepard died of old age.

Short tough he was a bundle of joy in my family. A thorough stud :D .

An early riser.
Raising a dog is the best way to discipline yourself.

He had to be fed and taken out for a walk, all on time.

n What an appetite he had!!! voracious is an under statement. He d gulp down bottles of milk when still a couple of months old.

At first he couldnt reach the desktop and Id place things out of his way. Not for long.
He grew so much in a few weeks I had to think of places to hide. n to think of hiding lol... thrs such a long list of things he 'played' with. Shoes, Books, Pillows.

He luved the elevator. He would never take the stairs. Id carry him up the stairs until he was 7 months old. After which he was so huge that I couldnt even think of carrying him.

His favorite Ice Cream, Eggs, n chew sticks.

He was an Ice Breaker in our flats. Eone would, especially the kids would fight to take him out for a walk.

Miss him a lot. He died in May.
Time to get a third Fido.

Am I ready?

Time Management

2007-12-10T11:50:00.000+05:30

Saw stuff that Id like to share. These were in a site a fren had forwarded.

* Time Management: Master your time usage and become extremely productive
* Motivation: Cultivate burning desire to keep you moving towards your goals
* Overcoming Procrastination: Defeat the thief of time
* Goals: Set realistic goals, create action plans, and achieve the results you want
* Courage: Summon the inner strength to take action in spite of fear
* Work/Career: Build a career you're truly passionate about
* Wealth/Money: Achieve financial abundance without compromising your integrity
* Momentum: Develop the ongoing habit of success that keeps your energy and enthusiasm high
* Problem Solving: Confront and solve the hard problems of life, from business to relationships
* Balance: Enjoy the feeling of inner peace by balancing all areas of your life
* Fulfillment: Experience pervasive lifelong fulfillment by living consciously according to your deepest values and beliefs
* Consciousness: Raise your awareness and live more consciously than ever before

Parenting Errors

2007-12-07T18:40:00.000+05:30

Haaa one topic I d want to write for a long long time.

Am not yet a Parent,But Ive seen incidents where Id wish the parents had some sense not to do what they were doing.
Oh yeah and since its their kids lots of em have this attitude.... like... "They are my kids I can do what I please with em. Whats your problem?"

As If they are some commodity or some thing.

There s one such incident where the parents had fixed the wedding of a fren of mine with someone in his family when he was 9 yrs and the gal just a few months old. Both of em grew up led their separate lives while all the while parents kept telling the gal that my fren is her intended husband!!! The poor gal dream t up a huge castle by the time she was in her teens. n' she wouldn't listen to the guy when he kept insisting over the years that the marriage will never take place coz he had someone else.

Now the family is in a sorry state. The gal wont let go of him. The guy cant marry the gal simply coz he didn't want to. n the elders , pressuring my fren to marry the gal!!!

In my view both the gal n my fren aren't wrong. It was the elders who put the idea in the poor gals mind.

n' my poor fren being framed a cheater what not. He must look a proper villain in his family.

The second error id noticed is a wrongly placed importance for the TV.
Most families I come across don't sit together and eat. I strongly believe that no matter what at least one meal per day should be had with all members of the family together. Please and no TV.
Unfortunately, nowadays most moms feed their kids in front of the TV. The kids grow up accustomed to the idiot box. They do not learn to communicate and so the parents miss out on understanding the kids wants.

Thirdly, No Proper communication.
Most parents of the earlier generation didn't communicate well with their parents. Guess thats the reason why they cant do so with their kids. One friends parents never tell her anything themselves. They tell a relative or a family friend and thats conveyed to the kid by the middle person. God Knows what made them do this in the first place!!!
n' the gal invariably never did what "others" told her to. She never ever opened up to her parents. Hated em for letting others command her. All the while the parents prided themselves and were under a false impression that the gal idolized em. She had no problems what so ever. Unfortunately they never realized that the Gal wanted to share a lot with her parents but , since they kept her at a distance she was forced to confess with frens. Thats no problem. But the parents never ever realized that they were missing on something.

Well all the views are strictly mine. Many might not agree with em. Each to his own!!!

am a Chronic Procrastinator

2007-12-07T12:15:00.000+05:30

Im a self confessed Procrastinator; a chronic one at that. If theres any meeting, rendezvous scheduled, I turn up 5-10 mins late. I hate to confirm myself to any time frame. To add to this I ve a problem how not to say Yes to things id not want and No to what Id want.

haha Now thts some twister.

Some say theyd like to meet me at so n so time. I promise myself that Id be thr on time . for once.

The Procrastination part comes in at this part. I keep putting off to get ready so tht am on time for the meeting.

Half an hour more for the appointed time. I start to get readyand by the time am all set the half an hour has long passed and Ive not even started for the place.

The outcome am late again.

Id sincerely like to kick this habit.

From morrow ill try to stick to the schedule. Well I didnt promise which morrow it is . Did I?

Screwed my mac

2007-12-03T13:36:00.001+05:30

I Screwed my Mac. I use a PowerMac iMac G5.

Am not sure what exactly I did on Friday evening to result in my system to lose all its default settings.
Cannot login to Mail Application as the configurations are all lost. So too for the Chat application. Cannot access the Documents, Desktop nor any other folders coz I dont have the sufficient permissions.

All I did on Friday was change the UID for the user and the home folder to /var/root. Id changed these values from the command prompt using the command - dscl (Directory Service command line utility). Now this might explain why I couldn't access any of the folders.

But what I could not comprehend is after Id reverted the changes made to UID and the home folder , I still could not access any of the folders. Id had to change the ownership of the folders explicitly.

Another strange behavior Id noticed is that after modifying the folder permissions, when Id accessed the folders I couldnt see any of the older files Id saved in the folders. But could see the files from the Terminal.

I searched for the some of the files using spotlight, and when i clicked on the folders retrieved from spotlight they turned up on my Desktop. So now I have - only a couple of folders visible on my desktop, whereas the rest remain "hidden". Note that none of these file name s start with a . .

Ofcourse any good Unix User would look em all up from the terminal.

Anyway It serves my initial purpose of hiding some of my files.

Id want totry it again but for admins in my company. They had a hard time and mighty pissed off that too on a Monday morn.
Will try it sometime.

And another update to add is that when I try to quit the applications, first my Finder crashed and then the Crash Reporter crashed follwoed by the Mail Application. Had to just restart my system.

The Emperor's Seed

2007-11-30T16:32:00.000+05:30

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different.

He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you."

The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today, one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!"

One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully.

Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about 3 weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. 6 months went by; still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing.

Ling didn't say anything to his friends. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection.

Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot but his Mother said he must be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his Mother was right.

He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!"

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down.

He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.

Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory.
If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy.
If you plant patience, you will reap improvements.
If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.

But:

If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.
If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.
If you plant envy, you will reap trouble.
If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.
If you plant greed, you will reap loss.
If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.
If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.
If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.

First Blog

2007-09-03T19:08:00.000+05:30

Why do people blog..?
some do it to rant, most to air their views..... lots of othr reasons

as for me.... started one a couple of years back.
didnt keep up forgot the details n just gave up.
guess this is an attempt to get started.. n keep track.

this posts seeing the light of day finally.
As for me I blog mainly to share my thoughts.