Find what you love and let it kill you!!

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started!!”

This is my most favorite quote, although it has been more than two years since I’ve posted the practice of beginning a blog with a quote persists; old habits die hard don’t they. Plenty of interesting things have happened over the past two years and the urge to write a post on each of them was overpowered by laziness or rather the deficit of time.

Off late I have been associating myself with art a lot (one of the reasons i don’t have time to blog) not that am very new to it but it helps me in so many ways."Art therapy with Madhubani" the workshop gave me the chance to impart my expertise and make people experience the wonders of coloring. Am pretty sure you must have guessed what this post is going to be about, my style of writing has rusted but then we can always bounce back cant we.

The recently published 'Varnikaa' opened up lot of avenues to me. I got to meet lot of different kind of people, not just that random strangers commented on how good the book made them feel and that was the one thing which pushed me into doing something that would make more people experience coloring. Thus the idea of doing the workshop evolved. It wasn’t an easy path, on one side there were all the arrangements to be made and on the other hand there was this humongous pressure to perform well. Lot of homework was to be done, time was running out and i wasn’t entirely sure how it would all end.It was the "i don’t know how I’m going to do it" phase and slowly the D day arrived. The agenda was prepared, what i was going to speak, how i was going to do it but the one thing that didn’t happen was practice. We had received many eager phone calls on the workshop so I had to make sure to live up to their expectations.  The beauty of the entire process was that not only did i impart knowledge but learned a lot.

Being an IT professional most of the people i'm surrounded with are from the IT background (not professionally but personally as well). But this workshop gave me a chance to meet different kinds of people not just from our country but from other countries as well. There was a doctor, graphic artist, people from the business background, designers, students, musicians and of course our very own IT crowd as well. Each of them was associated with art in some way or the other. We see countless people in our walks of life and each one goes through something or the other like work pressure, living in a foreign land with none or very less friends, losing a loved one, trying to live up to other's expectations. What matters is how they overcome it and i'm very glad to be a part of something like that. I could say we got a chance to make a difference by introducing them to a new hobby, in helping them overcome stressful situation. It was indeed a very memorable and educational day.

Sometimes we plan to do a great deal of things but end up not doing it due to the voices that instigate doubts, what if it fails or what if it doesn’t go well. Conservative, pessimistic mindsets that prevent us from doing what we want to do and in the end the idea just remains an idea or an ambition left  unpersued, dreams remain unfulfilled. It is at times like these where we need to suit up and start working towards it instead of worrying on the outcome. When we stop planning, do things out of impulse we achieve things at a greater extent and out of nowhere we receive all the support that we need to fulfill our dream. I could say that I have reached that point in life where i could say with pride that I did it!! At times its the omg how did i do it phase but if I can do it so can you!!!!!

Ramblings of a Sachin Fan !!!!!

                     There are many people who manage to capture a million hearts,why won't it be that way there are plenty of platforms and many great people in each of it. Anyway in a very big country of ours there are quite a few legends  why are really popular for their uniqueness, like for instance our favourite Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh who is really famous for his silence.People quote him as a example of the most impeccable and advise others to follow his behaviour taking him as a role model (er well it sort of happened to me as well). Or our very own Rajini, ahh well who wouldn't know him for his style,humbleness and the most popular jokes over the internet .These people have their own uniqueness.They are popular,affirmatively;everybody's favourite,not very sure. But there is this one person who has made sure that he stays firm in the hearts of the people,right from little kids to the elderly everybody loves him and the haters constantly talk about him than his fans.His announcement for retirement shattered a billion hearts,nevertheless people would never stop talking about him. 
                               Born in this Cricket crazy nation one cant help but follow cricket and who wouldn't love Sachin Tendulkar. I don't remember when i started watching cricket ( i was very little i suppose) but the his name has been etched on my mind forever. Being in a family that watches cricket his name is etched in my head for a very long time. Although Lance Klusener is my most favourite player i wouldn't mind sachin sharing that spot with him. As a kid I can still remember the times i used to jump in high spirits whenever he hit a four,at that time I probably didn't know what a four was but still i used to celebrate every time he hit it.
                               As i grew up i came across many people (my ill luck was that most of them were my close ones) who loathed him. Sometimes i used to feel like punching their jaws whenever they spoke bad about him but then why to argue with an idiot and get down to his level to prove that he is right.Am sure many of us would have faced such a situation, especially during the times he was blessed with a very bad team and he had to lead them which he wasn't able to do successfully or whenever he failed to win a match since he wouldn't have had anybody to give him a stand and people would blame him as a non match winner that he is just selfish enough to play for the world record (snorts !!!) The best part i love is when people say that the match in which Sachin scores a century would be a match where India would lose ( wonder why these people didn't find a place in NASA).People always find a way to criticise someone rather than appreciating whatever that is being done.
                               For someone who is a Sachin fanatic i find it very hard to select my favourite moment (since i like every match he plays) but one of my favourites would be his massive 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 world cup. Cant believe that was ten years back (feels as though it happened yesterday). Back then i used to switch off the telly when Sachin's wicket falls,well am the same even now (old habits die hard). 
I would consider myself blessed to watch him play live,not once or twice but thrice (thanks to my DAD). Although he didn't score much in all the three matches watching him live on the the field was something unexplainable,his presence in the stadium was reverberating,it was hard to believe that he managed to unite so many people at a single point.These are surely the most cherished moments of my life.
                                  Considering the fact that all good things must come to an end if it really painful to see him announce his retirement. The one question i believe that would be on everybody's mind is that who will be the next Sachin of the Indian team,now considering that to be improbable i suppose there might be a chance infinitesimally. Wonder what Sachin would do next,where would we see him ?!? In the commentary box perhaps !! Having poured out my heavy heart I would like to dedicate this post to my fellow Sachin fans !!! Hail Sachin !!!  

The Secret Effect !!!!!

I wonder how many of you have read the book called 'The Secret' ?!? Now this post of mine inst going to be a book review but it is about something that stuck me instantaneously and  I just started jotting this down.For the past few weeks I've been trying to complete a single post but my mind being a bit preoccupied slash sluggish didn't give me the chance to  finish a single post,sigh !! But then i wouldn't blame my mind anyway since I was the one who had kept it highly busy.Let me finish this boring banter about my mind,perhaps another blog post about it someday. 

This incident that happened four years back,it wasn't something highly significant.Me being in college then was busy preparing for my semesters (i believe,chuckles!!) and simultaneously listening to my favourite radio station - 'Chennai Live'. The thing that I loved about Chennai Live is that they not only play international music but the shows were highly diversified and mind blowing.So there I was mindlessly skimming the pages of my book,listening to the show on books(Ah yes books,the sole competitor of my chocolate cravings) and authors.There were plenty of them who kept uttering the word 'Secret' which made feel a bit ashamed,that i didn't know the existence of such a popular book and made me curious as well.After thirteen odd hours i was able to possess the book (well yes i did waste time in the net) and I started reading it up.Now for those people who don't know about this book,it is something about the thought process- seek and you shall find (line stolen from Inferno,laughs!!!) no matter what it is you need it and you will get it somehow. Not exactly a self help book but something that left me musing over it for a long time and I ended up suggesting people that they take a look at it.I would say that whatever is given in the book is so very true although many of us haven't realised it yet,like me. Until this moment i didn't realise that i don't have to deliberately slash consciously think about something to make it happen.

Zoning back to reality here I'm at work and today being less strenuous made me surf the net and i ended up reading these meaningful comic strips created by several cartoonists. Suddenly this thought popped up and realised that this career of mine what what i had wanted long back. I still remember it now, eight years ago i was this bookwormish teenager and my father had instigated my liking for Dan Brown's works which made me end up with 'Digital Fortress'.Although till date my favourite work of his has been Angels and Demons,DF has a special place in my heart,it was the book that made me discover the arena of cryptography,forensics blah and blah. At that moment i was wondering if such career aspects would be possible in our country and i so wished i could pursue it.Well then time did roll out and like plenty of other people i too finished my bachelors in engineering and landed in this corporate world.The surprising aspect is that my career is more than just remotely related to what i had actually wanted.

I realise that Rhonda Byrne has made a fortune by putting forth a simple thought.We are what we think,product of our thoughts.Perhaps things would be different only if everybody knew this or rather like how i discovered the secret now.Finally i have to give myself a pat on the back for breaking the jinx that made the completion of a blog post a Herculean task and having completed this post in a record time of ten minutes (PHEW !!!!!) .After thirty two odd posts i have decided to become a bit selfish and dedicate this post to myself, after all i have found a reason that would make me grin all day.Perhaps everybody will be plastered with a grin when they are hit by the secret effect !!!!! 

Bollywood per se !!

Old habits die hard !! This is a famous quote and is applicable to most of us.We all have various habits and one such ardent tendency of mine is (or rather was) newspaper reading.I was once this person who would start my day at least by scanning the contents and drinking up as much as i could.But then yes time plays its game and changes our priorities and gradually my newspaper reading time dwindled till it became nonchalant and of course i hopped to another source as a replacement to the newspaper and that was the one and only Google news.This thing ,Google news is the electronic version of the Deccan chronicle more of the masala factor and less of the actual thing happening.

                 Off late I've been seeing(thankfully not reading) a lot about the suicide of the so called famous actress Jiah Khan,Priyanka chopra's dad passing away..Sanjay dutt in jail..bla bla and the list goes on.Okay so the female had a rough patch in her life,ended her life pathetically bringing in a lot of shame to her friends and family and the media is promoting the news like that of an Indian landing on the moon.She has written a really lengthy letter (which most of the people i know shared in Facebook  about her being sexually abused,aborting a child and what not.Why does the media have to make a big issue out of this,just because she was a Bollywood actress?!? Her parents instead of blaming her boyfriend should have taught her all the morals needed to lead a decent life,she should have taken responsibility for her actions instead of ending her life in such a disgusting way.

                    There are many people all over the country who are being abused really badly,aborting a child and breaking up with their boyfriends does that mean all those people should end their life in a similar,cowardice manner!!! This would bring a whooping reduction in the country's population.. Had this been the case Dan Brown could have used this concept in Inferno instead of the complicated bio war theory which he has managed to write about in 700 odd pages (chuckles!!) Added to this the other day i glimpsed that some fellow who was the reason for Jiah Khan's murder had a difficult childhood,sigh poor fellow..seeing that news made my heart ache.Gosh who didn't have a difficult childhood ?!? Anybody with a truckload of homework and the pressure to score more marks would agree with me i presume.
             So Priyanka Chopra's dad passes away,now that was really a news that i was most thrilled to see.Perhaps he was a nice man,perhaps yes maybe he was important to her and she being a very popular person on earth did need some media attention.But prolonging the same thing for over a week makes it as funny as it doesn't seem to be.There are many people all over the world losing their life due to cancer and there are many people who lose their fathers' don't they deserve the same treatment then !! 
                            Maybe these people or rather the stars didn't want such kind of attention but isn't Bollywood paving its way into many things these days.Like for instance the other day a friend of mine was telling me that her client asked her if she would dance to celebrate Diwali which i later assured her that it was surely the resultant of watching too many Bollywood movies which had created such a gumption.This thing is somewhat like the outer circle in Dante's inferno and i presume it is surely bound to grow in the future.I suppose one day our country should change its name from India to Bollywood which would be thoroughly delightful and maybe that would be the day when the country develops,not because of the various feats but because of our dear old Bollywood !!!
               Well so this time i really didn't know to whom i would dedicate this post of mine,maybe to all the blessed souls who manage to tolerate the antics of the media !! 

Confessions of an Online Junkie !!!

As my mind squabbles i realize that the frequency of the thoughts gushing out is relatively high when compared to that of a normal instant,i wonder how i can put an end to this tug of war going on in my mind.Well that isn't something new to an online junkie like me.Yes I'm a big time online junkie and I'm really proud about it,most of us are i suppose.Now an online junkie like me is always active (well that is an understatement) over the Internet,which of course includes the hours slogged at work..trying to find something new..downloading stuff..Finding stuff about someone a.k.a playing the Scotland Yard,my Mum keeps reminding me that i should make it a part time profession (Chuckles !!) The fact which i wanted to focus in this blog is that when

i was busy browsing..swimming..ripping the Internet world apart i came across certain new forums,ones that are rapidly gaining popularity - the confessions/proposals page. 

The confessions page i believe was started as some kind of an open forum where people could voice their opinion boldly without revealing their identity,ironically it is some kind of an anonymous platform.This went on from Colorado and spread all over the world..there is even a confessions page named after the school i studied in wherein most of the stuff i find are hilarious,such a time pass during brainstorming moments.

Another kind of a confession page is the Proposals page  where people can easily reveal the secret admirer quality of theirs.Although this was really funny in the beginning these days it is turning out into some kind of a matrimony page,it would give the leading matrimony sites of India a run for their money.It indicates that every damsel and knight is in search of each other. People not only post their interest in some other person but they also post all their personal details right from the occupation of the parents to the colour of the latest handkerchief.People who have just finished school,college,ones who are working etc post that they are in need of a relationship,displaying a list of requirements which is indeed pathetic.not that am against such stuff but aren't they supposed to try these stuff with people around them..perhaps an high school crush?These stuff have taken desperation to a really new level. I find people frantically in search of a partner,whatever happened to the concept of falling in love ( I admit..i read hell lot of Chick-lit !!!!) ??? Or getting to know someone in real - flesh and soul.I sadly find many of my friends active in such pages which makes me wonder why they are in such a hurry to make such things happen, shouldn't things happen on its own? 

If sleeping beauty was imposed to such a state then she would have been sleeping for the rest of her life since prince charming would have been busy finding his princess in the proposals page.Maybe Archie Andrews would have put an end to his love triangle by finding someone else other than Betty and Veronica or i wonder how the famous Twilight would have ended...Edward would have posted- hi am a vampire male who is drop dead gorgeous..i can fly and i never sleep..female vampires who can match my looks are free to ping me..Maybe Twilight would have escaped all that trolling after all !!

I cant believe i have made this blog post of mine sound so serious but i cant help but to post this,maybe its the highest degree of annoyance. It indeed is so lame when people post things like - am 20..so and so person..i know this i like that so whoever is interested contact me.I wonder where the art of making friends has gone to,these days the virtual interaction is fast replacing the physical one and who knows maybe it would become extinct in a while.Well now that i have emptied the pot it is dedication time and i wish to dedicate this blog to all the poor souls out there who are actively participating in this mode of communication..its high time they wake up !!! 

How good Are You !!!

"Ideas come from somewhere.People don't come up with these ideas from nowhere. Something triggers your thoughts" - Lazaro Hernandez 
The quoted lines are kind of true in my case,especially this post.I was really planning to write a new post after the debacle of my previous one. The task was quite hard..either i had a good idea and my flow was pathetic or the idea was a fiasco and my writing skills was totally good. Well now something happened and i suppose the frequencies have matched. That was due to the trigger which occurred that made my mind ticking.

It was when this particular person asked me 'how good a writer are you' for which i replied 'i shouldn't be bragging about myself'.The conversation drifted elsewhere but the thought kept hovering which made me realize what is wrong in bragging about oneself. Of course some people i know would not feel the same way which is why i define them as 'obnoxious snobs'.But now i realize why do we feel that way about certain people,is it because they spoke too much about themselves that it made us jealous or is it 'baihua or the empty talk'.

Me being a self obsessed person (yes i admit!!) realized that there is a thin line between bragging and empty talk.Obviously too much of bragging isn't really acceptable by anyone.But then another question pops up,what about the quality called modesty or being modest.Now modesty and modest are two totally different scenarios.A person who is modest doesn't want to draw attention where as the person who is succumbed to modesty is just termed as shy.Now let me stop sounding like some document from Google. I really am sort of deviating ain't i?!!

So my question is that is it really that bad to brag although it varies with situations,like for instance a person should surely blow their own trumpet in an interview.I myself have done that..everyone does which is of course the corporate term for confidence.But why is it that we hesitate to do it with strangers or someone whom we just acquaint with.Is it really that bad to tell them 'yes am really good at this'.The ME factor should be high at all stakes. That was what i realized..if we really want to show people that we are good at something we should speak up for ourselves and then of course make it happen!! 

Its not bragging if you can back it up !! Finally i would dedicate this post for that particular person who made me write it !!!

The illusion busters !!!

               Yay so the birth of the new year just happened and with people resembling Taio Cruz's song i decided to pen down the thoughts which have been gnawing my mind for quite a while. I'm happy to announce that i have successfully maintained my last year's resolution to quite a greater extent, although i haven't devised any resolutions for this year. Anyway this isn't going to be another post on resolutions,since am almost done with that topic i decided to write this post on something which i have been observing for a couple of months..something that disturbed me to an extent.Well it isn't about the popular Delhi rape case or similar stories. I decided i shouldn't write about that since it is the much talked (hyped) about subject.

                Now from where do i begin..i have always had issues with beginning my post or rather opening up the topic since the thoughts keep flowing at a greater velocity in my mind.Most of us would have heard about Brahmanism.I'm not referring to the creative aspect but to that of the religious side.A Brahman refers to the term supreme self or rather that's what i came across while reading an article.The ancient theories have defined us brahmins as supreme not that is a bit barbaric but then the reason for it was stated that the most intelligent people came from this part of the group,hypocrisy isn't it. Well it is not especially in those days.

                            There were many reasons for that statement,i'm not going to mention those in this blog post. Things in the ancient period were defined for a cause,more of a reason for which it was followed that way. But as time passed people started following it blindly and there were various versions according to their comfort level.Sadly the essence is missing these days.The way things were practised is being seriously ignored by the gen y or x or whatever.I find lot of people scoffing off the practises,mocking at it while the entire world brands them as being a Brahman. It is like they are frantically trying to move away from the originality and trying to affix themselves to the other type of living and in the end sadly they are neither here nor there. Of course this is 21st century and we having conquered the so called doomsday - 21st DEC(I'm still trying to find the person who created the sun tsunami theory..lol !! )the religious beliefs are meaningless.

                                But then sadly i find that we brahmins are the only ones who are scoffing at out religious theories whereas i find the people of other religion (Islamic..Christianity..Buddhism etc) sticking on to their practises no matter where they are.This was seriously disturbing since i found many people in the past few weeks laughing at Brahmanism..making us appear like fools which is seriously pathetic.This has lead to various conclusions about the rest of the people due to the presumptuous nature of the society.On one side i find fellow brahmins mocking at us and on the other side i find the rest of the world mocking at Brahmanism which leads to a conclusion that we are eventually being ridiculed.

                         I wonder what made me convert this post into a very serious one but i wasn't able to help it but to pour down the thoughts.Hope the new year brings about some changes !!!