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 !!!

Gently Falls The Bakula

Its been a long time since i wrote a book review and the reason was that i was stuck in the complexity as to which book to write about.In came the surprise and the perfect solution to my confusion - 'Gently falls the bakula' by Sudha Murthy ,the wife of the famous Narayana Murthy of Infosys and one of the board of directors of the organization (well i guess who doesn't know it). Okay now this books isn't about gardening although i wouldn't have minded if it was but then as usual the title of the book was misleading (poor me).

                          The bakula is supposed to be an ancient and sacred flower well known for its fragrance. According to the author it is profound in the northern parts of Karnataka.The story revolves around two people who share a bakula tree since childhood and how it unites them in spite of the odds like family feuds,ego clashes etc.But the story doesn't end there though and that's where the author creates a twist.

                         Shrimathi and Srikanth belong to two different families famous for their feud. Shrimathi being the smarter or rather the intelligent one excels Srikanth not only in the history essay competition but also in the board exams and becomes the state topper and him getting the second rank in the state.She chooses history as the major and he chooses science and since they ended up choosing different paths and wouldn't have to compete with each other anymore they decide to be friends (wonder what would have happened if both of them had chosen the same stream).

                      Time flies and so does the intensity of their relationship and they end up marrying. Shrimathi being portrayed as a calm and down to earth person bears the kind of treatment given by her in laws and sacrificing her love for history for the love she has for her husband she drops the idea of doing a PhD and moves to Mumbai with him.

                Yes the fellow is in the IT field and i don't have to elaborate on that since most of us know how it is to be in this field. Srikanth's focus on career is inversely proportional to that on his wife and soon he becomes the general manager (the author covers 10yrs in 2-3 chapters..not bad though) of the organization.Shrimathi having had enough is tormented and embraces her love for history leaving her workaholic husband behind and him not paying much attention to it.

                     I loved the book for few reasons..one being the fact that the moral is so very oxymoronic - give your ambition the first priority /never compromise on your loved ones for your dreams.The other being the way the author had described the various historical facts of our country (the lady has truly made a great deal of research).Now for the bloopers, the story was so very sober.It had an abrupt end and lagged logic.Of course considering the fact that the book was a translated one maybe it had failed to convey whatever it had wanted to convey.I have mentioned the entire story in the blog unlike my previous ones since i really didn't feel like recommending the book although it isn't that bad or maybe i felt that way since this is the third time I'm reading a book by an Indian author (no offenses meant) and it really wasn't up to the mark.

                  Finally i would like to dedicate this post to that friend of mine who surprised me on my birthday with this book. Thank you Arjun for making my day and also for the silent message which reminded me not to lose out interest on my passions no matter what !!! Gently falls the bakula - not as fragrant as the bakula but worth the read !!!

That awkward moment !!!

             The title of this post is really a famous one,thanks to facebook. But then i really couldnt help but implement it as a title since it is so very apt to the experience i encountered.So i just finished a long vacation and with the effect lingering around i thought of sharing a funny incident that happend to me.

                      Most of us know the cultural differences between that of our country and the others. Although globalization has changed most of the practises there are quite a few which has remaind the same.Well let me stop this boring rationalism.This post is about my travel to Singapore.Now i mentioned about globalisation since the airway in which we commuted offered people complimentary drinks.Not the h2o but the hydroxyl - CH3CH2OH (thanks to organic chemistry).Ahh yes this is such a common thing,especially these days but still it was quite unusual for us(since it was our first trip abroad). 

                   So when the air hostess announced that the passengers would be offered complimentary drinks jubliation arose from most parts of the cabin.Me being busy shooting pics (well yeah even in the cabin too) kept my listening skills at bay and wondered the reason for the hushes that appeared suddenly.The realisation stuck when i saw the air hostess bringing the trolley with peculiar bottles in it.

                           Being a non alcoholic person i didnt show much interest to the stuff that was being brought and i continued with my photo shooting process.Since i was sitting farthest (near the window) i was engrossed in cloud viewing. The air hostess brought the trolley newar our seat and my father who was sitting near the corridor mistook a green coloured Carlsberg tin as sprite and i was explaining him what it actually was and we were having a chat. Suddenly the air hostess asked me if i would like to have a whisky,when i refused her offer she asked me if i needed a Carlsberg and when i refused again she just gave me a smile and moved forward without paying attention to my parents ( not even a glance in their direction) which was when my mum pointed out that i was the only person who was asked the question among the three of us (myself,mum and dad).

                    History repeated itself on my way back to India..since my parents had already encountered the scene all the three of us ended up laughing after the air hostess left. Well that was one memorable flight journey alright !!!!!

Infinitesimally Impossible

The word infinitesimally although is a large one the meaning it conveys is something different. I came across this word while studying quantum physics at school. Quantum physics a subject which has fascinated me to every bits and it never ceases to fascinate me. Now let me stop the train of thoughts on QP since that is not the topic of this post (maybe i should write about it in the near future though).

                 This post is about my disability. Yes i do have one and a very common one. This disability would be shared by many other fellow human beings. It is something that i could find in my palm and unable to let it disintegrate since the absence of it shatters me.Well yes it is my very own phone. I have got so much attached to t that, instead of typing this post it about my disability i had typed this phone is about my disability and had to rewrite it.

                   The world is in our hands,thanks to the mobile phone.It is the second thing to which man gets addicted to (first thing being facebook). The device has helped us in so many instances although originally it was created only for talking now it is created in such a way that we wonder what is it that this thing cannot do. Well let me stop my essay on mobile devices right here. I get carried away way too much don't i ?!!

                  Okay so it's been almost twenty months since i became the owner of my darling phone and i must say am so very proud of owning it.Right from improving my multitasking abilities to making people envious by flaunting about it(laughs) and responding to my official mails in record time i literally grew up with this phone. It has become so very dear to me that am unable to bear the partition (now that's a sad story of mine).

                     I suppose most of the people would have gotten addicted to their phone,who wouldn't with the various features that is available. I fell into the same trap or rather the wormhole.Right from making calls,chatting with people,texting,downloading songs,listening to music i can do whatever i want and do it concurrently.Isn't that cool no wonder my TL calls me the walking wikipeda (i don't know where the connection lies).I hope they include the fastest qwerty typing or the maximum number of times a phone can be dropped contests in the next Olympics,i really have a chance of winning a medal for our country.

 

                      Now that my phone has crashed i really feel the disability to adapt myself with a not so wonderful phone.It is almost impossible to be without my phone.The essence of initiative is taking action and keeping that in mind i have taken steps to revive my long lost love. I hope i tend to be successful.

Bagging IT

Giving a pause to my book reviews am back with another post of mine. Sticking to the thought that i should write atleast one blog post per month is becoming a bit difficult, nevertheless i somehow end up writing one thanks to my saturday work schedule. Ahh yes i work on saturdays too..although most of my friends know about this now i get a chance to let the whole world know about it. 

                 This month july is really special to me. There are quite a few reasons for it but the best one is my relationship with the IT field. It was on the first day of this month exactly two years back, i had begun my career.I still remember the day very clearly(seems as though it was yesterday) and i wonder how time flew.It was and will always be one of the most important and cherished days of my life,the part of my life which helped me in learning more about myself." A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions"

                  As we grow we realise that many things learnt in the childhood becomes meaningless,I'm not quoting about education(ofcourse that's a different issue) but about the other things like the way we treat another person,the way we behave or treat another person due to which sustainability becomes a gruelling race.

                   I still remember the day when a senior at work asked me if i have entered 17th standard (summing up my years at school and college) just because i didnt know something which he knew. Ofcourse he was such a snob and at that instant two things dawned upon me..one that i was put in a barbaric land where any kinds of display of intelligence is stupidity unlimited and the second one being my notion to not treat my juniors in a similar way.Two years down the lane it occurred to me that people behave in such a way when they feel intimidated.They behave in such a way so that they can pull you down. Unfortunately this i realised, is the heart and soul of the IT industry. The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence which ultimately is a mirage.

                             True i really learnt a lot of things and my patience helped me a lot in various instances..i came across different types of people who both amused and annoyed me at the same time. A person once told me that we could never have friends at work place and at that juncture i found some ambiguity in the thing he told. But now there is a role reversal and i have ended up telling the same thing to many people.Period !!

                              Two years and three projects later i realise that i have fallen in love. Yes i mean it..i really am in love and it is so very profound that it brings tears to my eyes. The romance which i encounter makes me speechless at times (most of the time rather).I'm ending the usage of cliches here but i cant help it can i..i'm so very in love with my work, since i spend atleast 54 hours a week with it i'm one step behind addiction.This has crafted me into a workaholic which astounds me at times : who ME ? a Workaholic? since when ? Well it was since the moment i realised that i have fallen in love with the work i do..something that keeps me going on when everything else pulls me behind.

                         So here iam sitting at my workplace on a saturday afternoon not knowing whatever is going on in the outside world as iam binded with work..i understood that i am getting used to it irrespective of the aghast reactions i receive when i tell people that iam working on a saturday. Somehow it gives me a sense of pride since it helps in defining the new 'career-girl' ME.

I've got your number !!!!!

"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all "

 - Oscar Wilde


                          This quote is one of my all time favourite and being an ardent follower of it i thought of beginning this post this way since there is a connection. Many authors weave their magic spell in such a way that the effect of the book doesn't wither off even months after reading it.I felt the same way with 'I've got your number'. Ahh well i didn't get some body's number or whatever but Poppy did and that's how her life changed.

                            Poppy is a physiotherapist who loves her job. She gets engaged to Magnus,a super genius doctorate holder who sweeps her off her feet the minute he sees her, by bestowing her with the family ring thus making her his fiancee. Poppy is highly excited and at the same time worried about spending the rest of her life with the Tavishes.

                           The book begins with Poppy losing her engagement ring in a party. With no luck in finding it and her handbag being mugged along with her most precious possession - her phone and ends up finding one in the bin along with a name tag.Finders keepers !! Instantly she makes herself the owner of the phone only to find that it belongs to Sam Roxton's ex PA.Sam wants the phone back and thus begins the connection between Poppy and Sam.

                            At the course of time Poppy turns out to become Sam's temporary PA and by reading all of his mails(adapting the face that they share the same inbox) she gets to know everybody in his organisation which plays a key role in the end.The twist in the story begins when the number obtains a msg saying that the person's fiance has cheated on them. Whether it mentions that of Poppy's or Sam's is something the readers have to find out!

                                Throughout the book Sophie Kinsella maintains her trademark which is the hilarity. For instance the way Poppy distracts the Japanese delegates or the way she covers her palm with gloves in order to hide the loss of her ring or the way she cheats the Tavishes in scrabble with Sam's help is simply rib tingling (a trace of Becky Bloomwood). The way Sophie has adapted the text messaging concept is a perfect portrait of the reality.Although the book is funny it fails to reach the usual Sophie Kinsella mark.The author sounded a bit like Laura weisberger or Danielle Steel's books.

                               The characters are a bit too many which confuses the reader a bit. The best part of the book is the 'Footnotes', this is something new by the author and it definitely makes it's mark.On the whole this books begins in a very new angle and ends up like a melodrama.Of course the book does have an impact on the readers like the other Sophie Kinsella books with the intensity being a bit less. On the whole this is one entertaining ride, the tag like being the best - 'one ring and he's yours' .

                   This is my third book review on the row and i would like to thank all those people who keep motivating me to write such reviews. So i dedicate this post to all of you people out there who have been a positive influence !!!!!!!

Stupid guy goes to India..

Am back with yet anoter book review. Thanks to all my friends who had given a wonderful response to my previous book review which was a real boostup. There are very few books which triggers the reader to keep thinking about it even after the ending and 'Stupid guy goes to India' is one of them.

The author is a Japanese named Yukichi Yamamatsu and the book is about his experiences in our very own national capital Delhi. I've had my very own experiences in the cithy but Yukichi's book actually baffled me.Not that he wasnt just true but i was surprised that every person receives the same kind of treatment by our fellow country men.
 The beginning of the book shows Yukichi planning to weave the popular comic culture called MANGA is a non Japanese land. The introduction is highly hilarious but at the same time brings down the security level of our country,nowonder the terrorists are able to walk into the country really freely. So Yukichi finally makes it to India with nominal funds in dreams of releasing manga in the country. He is mislead though when he finds out the we arent new to comics.The manner in which he is received by the hotel staff and the way they fool him with the charges is absolutely hilarious but he lets the cat out of the bag. With that Yukichi establishes his base in the country. The next thing he does is begins his quest for apartment,This is really the important part of the book.

    Thus he begins working on the indian version of the famous manga with the help of various assistants who he manages to find. This part shows the sluggish and the carefree nature of the Indiand which is quite opposite to the Japanese who are well known for their rules and orderly way of living. In the end he manages to publish the book and whether he manages to sell it in the streets of Delhi or not is what you will have to find out by reading the book.

    The hilarity of the book is the trait to be cherished and enjoyed by the reader but at the end we could feel that the seriousness has been concealed by humour. The manner in which we Indians have been projected is something to be ashamed of. On the other hand every other country has it's own good and bad. An Indian in Japan would receive the same kind of feeling with the language barrier and maybe a different level of perfidy. The book clearly shows the difficulties a person would face in a foreign land minus the global lingo-english.

    Although the ending was a bit abrupt i really enjoyed reading the book. It made me wonder why Yukichi never tried visiting another city which might have given him a better outlook of our country.The translator has done a very good job in creaing the english version or rather the hinglish version of the book. It is an eye opener to all of us and maybe we could try to improve ourselves in the hospitality section. On the whole the book is a joyous ride and my first ever manga read.

I finally dedicate this post to all those people who are away from home in a foreign land and making the best out of it.
 

"Almost Single" !!!

Sometimes the title would indicate what the content is about, although we wonder how the very few words could summarise something so big. I hope that the above statement would be agreed by most of the people.Perhaps it would be correct with a wild guess, but for how many of us does it click? I suppose that the title of this post might indicate that it is related to me in some way or the other. Till now I have blogged on various subjects...from cycle rickshaws to my travel experiences in chennai,movies,boredom,etc.This time i wanted to write about something different and the moment i laid my eyes on this book i decided that my next post would be about it.

I found this book lying in my friend's rack when I was prying around [the usual ;)]. The cover page was a bit unusual for a book by an Indian author. I have read various chick lit's from all over the world and I was very much surprised to find one from our very own country. The Washington post had declared the book this way - "cheeky new writing breaks shackles". I ran home so that I could begin reading it, somehow I forgot the famous proverb-appearances are deceptive. Well the book wasn’t just cheeky, it was too cheeky.

The lead - Aisha Bhatia is twenty-nine years old and is single, though she is ready to mingle she seems to be very unlucky when it comes to finding her perfect man. Self-actualized people are independent of the good opinion of others. But this female is far more than independent which is a disturbing factor. She works as a guest relations manager at a hotel in New Delhi and is quoted to be an ardent traveller. Yes she is an ardent traveller to the night clubs, pubs and bars of the city. She tolerates her job which requires her to wear a sari everyday which she casually drapes over a jean which is the after effects of a hangover. She hates her boss who is a big time jerk who shuttles between his wife and his girlfriend a.k.a his sister in law(Seriously!!). Aisha bonds really well with her friends, a gang which is an embodiment of friendship comprising of a gay couple-Ric n nic, a divorcee- Anushka and a very hip girl - Misha who is constantly ends up with the wrong man. The hero of course is an NRI who is a perfect package - handsome, ultra rich and loves the leading lady.Like every other chick lit the hero is a guy who is really very rich and the leading lady an ordinary girl next door (sort of) person. 

The book comprises of experiences of all these people which are in the bollywood meets Sophie kinsella style or rather Hollywood meets Advaita Kala..Whatever!!! Aisha who is supposed to be an intelligent and independent woman fails in terms of morales..She is found to be constantly boozing and doing things which could probably be possible but unacceptable. Though such characters might be found in some or many parts of the Indian capital it isn’t acceptable when it is related to Indian women in general.

Although the author tries to be original, globalization has made us to read the chick lit's from the west and the context is found to be more than just similar. There is a very thin line distinguishing the content from that of the popular chicklit's .

Aisha meets Karan in a most embarrassing situation and somehow makes her way into his heart. Various other incidents help the leading couple to get closer and circumstances separate them. The book ends with Aisha getting down at Bhopal from a running train in the middle of the night (déjà vu anybody ??) and catches a flight to Mumbai to meet the man of her dreams and they unite finally.

The book takes desperation to a new level which is supposed to seem real but unfortunately fails. The champagne brunches, gay soirees and the dilemmas of hip young girls (not so young by the way) on the lookout for love and matrimony would work really well in the west but it is too soon to render Indian people this way. The parts of the book like the panditji(dude),a bossy house owner,the stupid boss,the bollywood moment-karva chauth..etc.that are named to be funny are highly pathetic (am still in search of the person who has called the book as the one with a wacky sense of humour).

The only good thing about the book is the depiction of friendship between the lead characters: the only non perturbing part of the book. The author is sensible enough not to tamper it any way, which was the only factor that kept me going till the end. A single afternoon is enough to read the book which was like watching the desi version of the Friends TV show or the inbetweeners or the recent blockbuster how I met your mother. Sadly the new breed of Indian women who are trying to draw a balance between their cosmopolitan life and an orthodox society are exhibited in a very bad way.

"Almost single " by Advaita kala - a book to read when there is no other go and you are stuck up with it !!

'The individual woman is required a thousand times a day to choose either to accept her appointed role and thereby rescue her good disposition out of the wreckage of her self-respect, or else follow an independent line of behaviour and rescue her self-respect out of the wreckage of her good disposition’. I dedicate this post to that special friend of mine - Tiyasha Sinha who has inspired me by being a representation of independency, whose constant encouragement has helped me in continuing this wonderful hobby/passion of mine !!!

Tucking it away in a scrapbook...

         People seem to get nostalgic about a lot of things they weren't so crazy about the first time around.Thinking back i realize that it has been more than an year since i visited this part of my life the part that has always been something i relish.

         Funny that i always manage to fall sick in the last week of december almost every year,time was passing like a hand waving from a train i wanted to be on which is perhaps why time is called to be slicky.Well now i dont want to elaborate on the part of me being sick nor is this post supposed to be about time..

        This day is the end of the year 2011 and the reason for nostalgia is that around same time three years back i discovered my passion towards blogging.xReading the first blog of mine brought lot of memories..the first one being the reason as to why i started blogging...thinking about it now now brings smile on my lips. Hats off to the sweet lady who was responsible for helping me add another feather to my cap...
        Going through my first blog i somehow connected with the old me..well now this post isnt going to be 'a christmas carol part 2'. But i just wonder how it would be like if each one of us attain a similar experience..maybe things would seem to be different after that..

        The person who i was three years back seems to be vaguely familiar to me now..she has written about her passion towards writing and about satisfaction.Comparing her with the person who iam now i discovered that the passion hasnt wuthered off yet and makes me feel that there is still a faint chance for me to kindle that flame..I have always been a reader,that too an ardent one.I have read at every stage of my life and i still continue to pursue it and yet i cannot pretend that the reading i have done in my adult years matches the impact on my soul that the reading i did as a child provided.

        With the new year on it's way and constant prodding from few friends of mine i decided to pursue this auxillary activity which makes me feel so good.There would be many instances which would declare that times would change,people change,something new would happen to us every moment. But the things that wouldnt change would be dreams and our aspiraions and the intentions which would never prevent us from chasing it...

         I would dedicate this post to people who have been there to remind me and help me out to be the person who iam now and also to the people who havent been there for me or the ones who have not been able to walk with me entirely because of which i was able to do things by myself...With this new hope i plan to end this post of mine which is the way i have spent waiting for the clock to tick it's way to the arrival of the year 2012 !!!!!!!

What is it that makes me get on this thing?

After a gap of 92 days am back with another post..This is about something which i had experienced in my stay at Noida which was a temporary one..
Noida is a place which is a lot different from our very own Chennai..not only the food we eat, people are different from that of Chennai but it's also the mode of transportation that is different..People mostly travel by the metro train which is both fast to commute and cheap...the metro train is preferred over the buses ( which appears in such a way that the pamphlet in the Asian paints ad can be replaced by pictures of these buses) and the second most preference is given to the cycle rickshaws.Aahh!!! the very thought of these rickshaws makes my stomach quiver..
A ride in these rickshaws would make people drop the idea of mounting a roller coaster..the thrill obtained is indescribable ( it's something that should be felt)..So am here with my experiences of traveling by the cycle rickshaw,something which is very ordinary but memorable..
So it was a weekend and myself and two of my friends were on a shopping spree..after going through the nook and corner of the atta market and having a proper dinner (which happened in rare occasions) we decided to get back home or rather the guest house..Now one thing which i have to mention is that finding a rickshaw is highly difficult as the process involves the task called "bargaining"..so after ten minutes of bargaining we finally mounted onto a rickshaw..
The journey begun slowly and we were busy chatting about the wonderful evening which we had..initially we were very much engrossed in the conversation that we had failed to notice that the driver of the rickshaw was Michael Schumacher's brother..he was so quick that he started overtaking the cars on the road.. At the course of time he lost track of the fact that three people were sitting at the back of his seat and he went into such a state that he became deaf to my friend's wailing and he paid no attention to my 'bhaiya sambhalke' (careful bro)...Now cycle rickshaws in Noida were mostly in a pathetic state..The driver turns left , the rickshaw would turn right and we lost the count of the number of such jerks produced..the speed was unimaginable and shuddery and all that i could hear was my heart thumping..The situation went out of control and all that we could do was pray that we would reach the guest house safely..

One thing that should be accepted is that these men are experts in handling the wagon..after 25 scary minutes we finally got down at the guest house paying 30 bucks for the ride..Now i must say that the ride was one of the most freakiest i had ever experienced in my life..something i had grown out of, but never recovered from.

A new journey..a new destination...

Responsibilities are nothing but social force that binds us to the courses of action demanded..one such force kept me away from writing a blog but then am back with another post ending the sabbatical...

As i was busy travelling day and night which is my daily routine i kept thinking as to what to write about and one day as i was pondering i got the answer.. Now my daily travel routine includes stampede of various degrees,getting almost dismantled like Vicky of 'Small Wonder', improving my probability capabilities as to who would be the next one to get down so that i could get a seat..sometimes i get lucky but at times i dont..i keep meeting new kinds of people in the bus, but everyday is a new struggle..a new journey..Okay then let me stop the rantings about my pitiable bus journey..that isnt what i'm intended to write..

This thing happend a few days back..It was 7.45 am and as i was listening to Shreya Gosal's voice(in bahara)and gazing outside the window of the bus i suddenly noticed something interesting out of the corner of my eye, yes it was really captivating.The thing i saw made me speechless..there were three children maybe 10 or 12years of age and they were conversing insign language..yes sign language and they were special children who were deaf and dumb i suppose. They were so much engrossed in their conversation and they appeared very happy. They were confined to their own world and they had put on their best behaviour without bothering anybody.

Now this was really surprising because those children seemed to be very happy although they have major drawbacks and all that we do is complain and brood that things arent the way we want it to be.We normal human beings forget our manners at times and are filled with characteristic traits such as jealousy,anger, self conceitedness and what not..you name any sour quality and everyone of us would have surely experienced that at one point or the other..
Why is it that people can accept others the way they are and find ways to make things better and lead a merrier life..People even forget to smile or acknowledge someone and the worst part is that it becomes an unintentional activity..Humour is forgotten and people get subjected to something called stress which is nothing but a bogus..

I think it's time for us to wake up and lead life the way it has to be lead like spending time with our loved ones, stop making comparisons or brood about something that doent exist. Why dont we take things easier?? why dont we jus let go off things that arent necessary?? I would say that everything is upto us and the answer lies within us..I would like to end this post with the song from the popular series of the 70's that Ron Howard used to sing about 'Happiness'

"Goodbye grey sky, hello blue,

cause nothing can hold me when I hold you.
Feels so right it can't be wrong,

Rockin' and rollin' all week long"

Lets just make a difference making things around us more merrier and lively !!!!!!!