Mother knows best

My dad told me recently - "I as a father has been mostly concerned with the whats of your life. What to get, where to put you etc. managing finances etc. But it has been entirely your mother who has made you into what you are, cause it is she who made you learn the hows of life. My mom did the same too"

Mothers have vision and that is something which has been proved time and again in everybody's life. God created mother as he wanted to make sure he is there to demonstrate His selfless love through a form. And every mother is an epitome of Godly love. Many religions worship God in the motherly aspect as the Divine mother who watches over all of us.

But there is always a problem, we sometimes never understand that mother knows and does certain things with a reason. I very recently realized my mother's vision. I never knew it was one of the most important things she did. In fact whatever I am today, I realize has been because of her vision and foresight.

My mom is an excellent math teacher. She has been teaching students for over 2 decades now. However when I was in school, whenever I used to go ask her help with some problem be it math or science or even tussle with my friends, she will say "Try to figure it out by yourself and if I find time I will help you". Most times she could never find time and I used to sit all by myself trying to solve the problem with a lot of cribbing that my mom could not find time for me. I became and expert at sitting and hitting my head over a problem, even if I could not solve it. Eventually I could solve it.I did score good marks and I sometimes used to boast to my mom that it has all been my effort. She used to sometimes give me a problem and ask me to solve it. She used to say "I know the answer, but I want to know if there is a better way". It never occurred to me as to why she did all that. I used to crib "You don't help me solve my problem and you give me more though you know the answer also". But then I would sulk and nevertheless try to solve it. I used to play cricket with friends in my colony and there would be bet matches with neighboring colony people and whenever I brought an issue to her, she would say "That's your problem, you must find a way to adjust and play with them. Either do that or you stop playing cricket. All this while my dad used to observe me and keep a studied silence or may be give a knowing smile.I could not keep away from cricket though, so I learnt to adjust with all those bullies".

Then I came to University and study computer science and there again independent problem solving and the tenacity to sit over a problem was one of the key requisites. I could sit easily(even if I could not solve the problem)and people used to appreciate my tenacity. Many of my friends used to get irritated that even if they tried to tell me the solution, I would still want to try solving it. A most common phrase they used was "Stop grabbing the keyboard from me". There has been times where I might not get a simple problem but would insist that I solve it rather than look up at a reference or ask a friend. I used to wonder why I was like that.

Even in life situations, whenever I told my mom about an issue, she would say "Nobody can deal with your problem, better than yourself. Besides do not repeat the same mistakes. She used to get particularly irritated if I repeat mistakes or if I have not behaved like a gentleman. She used to say "May be others can do the same, but not my son. I don't want you to be like that. If ever I come to know that you have compromised on your integrity, then that will be the last day you will speak to me. And she used to insist that I apologize to people whenever mistake was on my side ". When I used to turn to me dad, he used to give me the same knowing smile or be a silent witness depending on the gravity of the situation. It was like"I could not agree more with your mom". I used to wonder why my mom is being particularly strict with me. In addition to my problem, she used to add this extra bit too. And my dad was giving me that knowing smile or keeping that studied silence always.

Recently my mom posed a math problem to me and said "If you want I will give you the final answer. Just figure out the approach. I said no don't tell me the answer, I will try to figure it out. And then when I called up my mom and told her :"Mom I am not sure but is this the answer,she asked me the steps and then my mom told me:" I knew you would one day become better than me. I am proud of you". And then I realized...All this while she had been nurturing me to grow into an independent problem solver. Not only that in making me face up alone to life problems, she was teaching me the art of living. Today when I look at whatever little I have accomplished in life, whenever I try to sit that extra hour, try going that extra mile, face up to adversity, or apologize to my friends for mistakes, I realize that it has all been because my mom trained me that way. Tenacity, independent problem solving, perseverance, facing adversity without compromising values are virtues which every management schools talks about. Those are qualities required for any profession. Those are life skills and my mom knew whats best for me.

I now understand the meaning of my dad's "knowing smile or his studied silence". He knew it all along that my mom was teaching me life skills.

So the next time you think you mom is saying something which does not make sense to you and your dad simply smiles or becomes a silent witness.Think again. Because "Mother knows best".

Proud of you mom. Proud of you dad.

A life without failures is like a poem without punctuations!!!

Failure - now that's a dangerous word sometimes makes us feel chill and we keep running to make sure we avoid failure at all costs. I too like all mortals has been like that. Saari umr ham mar mar ke jee liya har pal tho ab hamen jeene dho jeene dho(that's a lyric from a song in 3 idiots). Implies all our life we die to keep living !!!!In the process we keep accelerating with the brakes clenched tight. We are afraid to let go. We are afraid of losing.Result is burnouts!!!

Of late I have realized that it is the failures in life which has taught me a lot. Without it I would never know who I actually am rather than mere perceptions about me. It is like a litmus test.

Every failure is an opportunity to know oneself better and more importantly correct mistakes. Failures help us evolve into better and stronger beings. Failures help us grow. You cannot be a good singer if you always sing a simple song you know well !!!

Just like the toss of a coin yields 1/2 sides so does every action yield a success or a failure.

Success does not matter cause anyway it gives a good feel. But what happens is success is also a loss in one way. A person who has been successful always runs a huge risk. He has not learnt to deal with failure. I found this by my own experiences. Success is definitely an imposter and it makes us chicken out and always play defensive. I guess failure is more honest cause it tell you the truth on your face and whip you. But only a torn muscle shapes better :)

How do we treat failure?

Let me share a personal experience.

========================

When I was in school, we used to play cricket with just a bat and a cricket ball. No guard nothing whatsoever. I used to be a fast bowler and was a pretty good one down batsman as well.There was this guy called yusuf who was one of the fastest and the best of us. I would always look for opportunity to avoid Yusuf more out of mortal fear. I used to make sure that I defend the last ball of the over previous to Yusuf's so that I stay at the other end and every opportunity for a single I used miss for fear of Yousuf. One day it so happened that I had to unfortunately take a single the last ball of the previous over and I did not know Yusuf was to bowl next. A chill ran down my spine when I saw this guy coming to bowl. For some reason grit overcame fear. That moment I clenched my teeth to face him cause either I hit out or get out. What happened was history. I had an estimate of where he pitches and it usually was just short of length. I played it on the up and hit the first six anybody has hit of Yusuf. Everyone was taken aback for nobody had ever hit him for a six. He came back with vengeance with a bouncer. I smashed it for a four. And then on I was always looking forward to face Yousuf. Best is it changed me from being a defend sheet anchor batsman to be a hit out or get out guy :) from Dravid to Veeru in a single six.

The most important thing to understand is no success or failure is permanent. And success in something or failure in something does not mean we succeed or we fail in life. Never take it personally. All of us are winners in the final reckoning...always!!!The key is to take every failure as an opportunity to analyse what went wrong and take impersonal logical steps to correct it. We must have the attitude of an impartial witness. I do agree that sometimes we fail due to no fault of ours. Then it is time to just let go.

Life is a 20-20 match. Instead of sitting in the bench for fear of facing Shoaib Akthar, lets go and bat right in opening. Face the Shoaib akhtar of life, you never know...you might hit a six like Harbhajan, even if you are clean bowled how does it matter anyway....it is better to be bowled for a duck than to never bat at all !!!

I remember the lyrics of a superb song in "Kal Ho na Ho" by Sonu Nigam....

Har ghadi badal rahi hai roop zindagi Chhaaon hai kabhi kabhi hai dhoop zindagi Har pal yahan jeebhar jiyo Jo hai sama kal ho naa ho

translates to=> the clocks ticking...life is running and constantly changing...live life to the fullest...you never know if there is a tomorrow...

The Blissful Sweeper

Most of us have a lot of complains in our life, and most often it is about the quality of work we do.

We crave for 'self-actualization'. It is true that creativity is an inherent potential of the brain and the need for intellectual satisfaction is a basic necessity. But then we go on about our work in a drag drag fashion sometimes wondering if we chose the wrong profession.

The below phenomenon which I see everyday really changed my view of life and work.

Hopefully my dear readers too will have a fresh new look.

Everyday as I go for my morning jog towards the Koramangala park, I see a section of the pavement being swept by a sweeper. He always sweeps only about 10-15 feet. I jog on the left side of the road and generally avoid him. The reason is I always hear him sing out aloud and took him to be insane. But I used to look casually towards his end and may be give him a glance of pity!!! Yesterday morning, I took the right side of the road, just for a change and I actually forgot I was heading headlong in the direction of the 'insane' sweeper!!!

And then I came right to the place where he sweeps. It was too late by the time I realized I had reached right in front of him. I expected a resounding trash from a broom from an insane sweeper. But I was astounded by what I saw.Here was a completely sane man, singing away to glory and sweeping each step with complete bliss. And I think I reached as he was just finishing the section. And when he completed the last stroke, he raised his arms with the broom in hand and claimed glory, as if he was Alexander who had just won a battle.

I will never forget this though, he then looked at me and gave me a beaming smile. I was reminded of a quote by Elizabeth Kubler Ross which says

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”

I could definitely see the inner light beaming through his face. I felt ashamed for having thought of him as insane. Here was a saintly sweeper who though he swept just 10-15 feet was doing it blissfully everyday with complete enthusiasm, taking the concept of "work is worship" to a new high. I think he was experiencing "nirvana" in every sweep with no care for tomorrow but with full focus on "now".

This phenomenon shows how we keep complaining about life taking everything for granted and lead a drag-drag existence. The below snippet from lyrics of the title song of the movie

"Dhoom-2" says it all....

Dhoom again 'cos all I wanna do
is steal the show somehow
Dhoom again 'cos all i wanna say
is hey the time is now
let nothing get you down
go out and paint the town
let's shout break out
come on once again lets hear it
Dhoom machale....

So lets make every act in life an act of celebration, every work a worship...

Dhoom machale...dhoom machale dhoom.....

Decision Making

Decisions, decisions, decisions, something which makes us really wonder as to why there are so many choices in life, something which reminds us that we are blessed enough to have so many choices in life,something which makes us curse ourselves(bad decisions), something which makes us heave a sigh of relief(good decisions).

All of us have been at cross roads in life, may it be life decisions or career decisions,

decisions certainly shape our future, our life and yes decisions definitely define us.

And it is because decisions have such impact on our life that we are really really scared about making decisions. But the irony is whether we like it or not, we definitely need to decide no matter how much we procrastinate or run away from it, we have to make decisions in life.

A great leader is one who decides and pursues the path taken to its culmination no matter what the odds are. A leader should first of all have the personal conviction and confidence in his line of decision making and as to why he takes a path. But then endless thinking and thinking too far ahead would lead us nowhere. It is enough to approximately know the height of a peak, endless contemplation would result in a situation where we don't even have the courage to take the first step. Think, decide, act and forget about thinking about the decision.

Emotions and decisions are always at war. It is again the heart and brain story. I always think that it is prudent to postpone decisions, and never decide when one is at an emotional high, may it be happiness, sadness,anger or whatever. Leave it and come to it later and think with a clear mind. List down pros and cons impartially and take a decision. There are people who say "listen to your heart", well there are some situations which may seem so, but I would always say, thinking with a clear head always helps avoid embarrassment and regrets later. There is a saying "A spoken word or a shot arrow can never be taken back"I will leave it at that.

No matter what happens, we must courageously pursue whatever we decide. Doesn't matter if we end up in bitter failure or eternal glory. It is always worthy to have some goal in life and pursue it with all our will. And yes by goals I mean worthwhile goals, which do not compromise integrity and character. And never ever hurt people. I read this nice quote somewhere "Never say or do things now which would make you regret later". That sums it up.

Finally, I would like to give a whole new perspective about decision making. In the figure above, I would like my readers to just reverse the image. What we will find is no matter whatever path we take, we all finally reach ourselves. Confused??? We decide and we choose paths in order to find out actually who we are. That's the philosophical and practical view of decision making. This effectively removes the fear in making decisions and pursuing it, for any decision would just be a journey to understand ourselves better. Life is a learning experience and decisions help us to apply that learning. All outward journeys, finally end up inward, within ourselves.

Thus there is actually no loss or gain in the grand scheme of things.

There are therefore no good or bad decisions.

I leave it to my dear readers to contemplate and send your views on it.

Tintin - My initiation into the world of literature

I was never fascinated with reading or writing or any kind of literature for that matter.
Till about class IV I never read anything except my school homework and textbook and I was always a "night before the exam crammer". In fact the cramming went all the way till class XII and only in my post graduation did I actually "refine ".

There was this guy called Karan Das in my class who used to bring Tintin books. His vocabulary was very good and his spoken English was outstanding. My entry into the world of reading was actually mere curiosity and may be some child like jealousy that Karan could speak better English. The book called "Tintin and the broken ear" captured my attention and imagination. It is a book with a green cover depicting a red Indian, an American boy and a snow white dog rowing in a canoe. I asked Karan if he could lend me his book and he agreed. One book led to another and I must say he was quite selfless cause he never asked for anything in return from me. "Broken Ear" led to "Red Rackham's Treasure" and so on. I guess he had lent me around 6 books in a row.

In those "golden days" of my era, I was called " a whiz kid in class" and on top of it, everything I wished would happen, I would get anything I wanted...all this with absolutely no effort or cost from my side :) Why I say this is because, there was an obscure government library close to my house and the biggest wonder was the only English books they had were Tintin Books. I later came to know it was donated by one of my seniors in the neighbourhood who had out grown Tintin books. Lucky me :) I then went on to read "The Shooting star", "Red Sea Sharks", "Lake of Sharks" etc. and almost all the Tintin books of that era. Believe it or not, the "week magazine " also was running a series on Tintin and I could follow snippets by snippet of a story every week from my school library. I read "The Castafiore Emerald and Flight 714 that way". Thus I read almost all Tintin books without spending a single penny. God and the Universe must have conspired to fulfil the innocent desire of a "not so innocent" boy :)

Be it "the absent minded Calculus, ever Red-faced Captain Haddock, gullible Thomsons, quick witted Tintin, Snowy- the dog with a conscience and yes the infamous villian Rastapopulous",
the characters of the comic are so very well depicted and each character is etched in memory.

This craze led me to pick up "Doctor Who books" on which I have already written an article in this very page. Thankfully Doctor Who books also came to me on a platter, I read 86 of them without spending anything. And by the time I got hooked on to Doctor Who books I became a voracious reader. I definitely want to make a collection of all these books and make a good library, but I am not sure cause these days no matter how hard I try or how much time or money I invest, things never seem to go my way...dame fortune seems to have deserted me :(

And as I sit back and cherish those days, I thank my stars and wonder if those days will ever come again when the best things and whatever I wanted in life used to come to me from the ether without any effort and ya free of cost.

The Art of Mountaineering - (climbing the mountains in life)

I am not Edmund Hillary or Tensing Norgay and no I am not talking about climbing up a real mountain. But then everything else in life is a mountain to conquer. Most of us look at the sheer height of the mountains to climb and get overwhelmed so much so that we are so paralysed that we do not even have the courage or will to take the first step.

Every task/venture/mission we take looks like a mountain first. But an experienced mountaineer knows that every mountain can be broken down to peaks,mounds and steps.Instead of being overwhelmed and numbed by the sheer size of the mountain, he quickly gets to work. He finds out as to what parameters are available and how he can make the most of those. The mountaineer makes calculations of the height, the effort estimate etc. and makes a list of things needed.

I like a dialogue in "Lord of the Rings" where the hobbit who has to take the ring to its culmination stops numb thinking about the sheer difficult of the task. He says "its impossible". But his friend says "Yes it looks impossible, but then lets atleast try to reach the next mountain for starters". They then go on and reach the destination.

There are many unknowns but nevetheless make the first step. Every task starts with the first step, then mound after mound, peak after peak till we reach the final destination. I will not say every mountain can be conquered but then it is better to make an effort and fail rather than attempting at all. This is because failures are the greatest teachers.

And the tools for mountaineering are 4P's.
Patience is a virtue,
Perseverence is an art,
Persistence is the key,
Know always that perfection is a myth.

In the end, there may be many wars lost but the key is to win the battle. And winning the battle means learning lessons. We may have scars, we may be battered and bruised, we might succeed or fail but the sweet taste of the "salty sweat of effort" is priceless and more satisfying than anything else.Above all make sure to enjoy the journey also. No mountain is beautiful if you have just reached the peak and not enjoyed the beauty of the mountain.

Sing heigh ho Sing Heigh ho there is no time to be sorry, this life is jolly !!!

Professionalism in life and relationships !!!

From my journey so far, I have come to realize that professionalism applies not just when it comes to work, it makes sense in every walk of life. Professionalism is a life style. It is the art of living life and work. Values and ethics punctuate it, the professional gives it life and defines it.

Whether we like it or not, we are actually alone and each of us have our own paths to carve out of this island we are put in. At the same time, the way we carve our paths is important and finally it is not just whether we carved the path that defines us, it is the way we did it that is going to leave it permanent.

All of us are aware of professionalism in work and so I leave that to you cause companies already speak volumes on it. For me being a professional in work is like being like a commando.
Precise, lethal, independent but works as a team and does a clean job. That's the sum and substance of it.

Professionalism in life and relationships is something I would like to focus on. In fact we can apply all professional ethics to relationships also.I have realised that it is very important to respect boundaries in life. In all relationships, give in your best, but with a detached mindset. This is because even among closest friends there are invisible boundaries(unfortunately). In every relationship, always be aware of the limits and boundaries and start respecting it. This is because, a spoken word, or a careless mail is all it takes to hurt people and destroy relationships. And once trust is broken, sometimes it does irrevocable damage. Once relationships are robust, then there is always a trade off cause you have accepted people but then people are complex and so are relationships. And sometimes there is not always the same consensus between people. There is one way traffic in friendships also!!! In relationships also, it should always be on a level field. Mutual respect, mutual commitment and mutual understanding is a must and never take people for granted. We also need to realize that there is nothing called selflessness, atleast in the fast moving material world. A thick skin is therefore a virtue :) Try to be as sincere as possible and don't go out of the way overdoing things.
Relationships take time to nurture and build, so patience and perseverence matters a lot. It is built on trust and make sure to give your best and more importantly leave the rest.
Finally just like in the professional world, sometimes even the best of friendships might have to part ways, and so it is also prudent not to burn bridges or bad mouth people whatever the issue may be. Try your best, cause all conflicts can be resolved by talks but then if it is still a no-go then always part in a friendly note cause you never know :) People are people and every person is a unique individual and worthy just like everyone else :)

An ode to "Apples" and "After Apple picking!!!"

My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass
I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough
And held against the world of hoary grass.
It melted, and I let it fall and break.
But I was well
Upon my way to sleep before it fell,
And I could tell
What form my dreaming was about to take.
Magnified apples appear and disappear,
Stem end and blossom end,
And every fleck of russet showing clear.
My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.

And I keep hearing from the cellar bin
The rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth.
One can see what will trouble
This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.
Were he not gone,
The woodchuck could say whether it's like his
Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,
Or just some human sleep.
===============================================================
This is one of Robert Frost's most famous poems. One of my personal favorites.
In fact this is one poem which inspired me to think in terms of poetry.
I never thought I would pen down a poem :) those days. But I guess in those happy go lucky days in school there was nothing to inspire a poetry!!!

(The poem has so much to contemplate in depth about one's career, the path one chooses, about burn outs and the question of "Is one really happy with what one does?" "I leave it to my dear readers to contemplate more on that and share your views".)

I specifically remember this poem cause we had a section in our exam paper called "Poem Essay" and I loved this poem so much that I wrote in "Apple" flowery words( about the author, and the intent of the poem.

What resulted was unexpected :( My English teacher told me. "I want to see your parents".

Oh oh so much for Apple picking. I guess I had picked a stale Apple :(

My English Teacher then told my mom "Your son will not pass his English exam this way". My mom said " But his English is so good and I don't see any problems with his essay". The teacher said " Yes thats precisely the problem!!! Your son writes in such a high language and for every essay he writes, I have to spend an extra half an hour reading his paper and trying to interpret it. He writes at an M.A English Literature level. And people evaluating his paper will never have that patience. Let him write in a simple language so that he gets a pass mark". I was elated in a way but also terrified that I might fail in English :( in my X board(bored) exams .
I was asked by my mom and the teacher to tone down and simplify my language so that people would understand !!!! hmmm it was like asking a Yamaha RX-100 to ride like a Hero Honda...Bajji Bonda :)

Second thing I like about the poem is because of Pomme(Apples)
See Pomme gave birth to Poem(crazy analogy...but worked in my case).
I love Apples and hope to do some Apple farming someday :) if not own one.
May be someday as Robert frost puts it in his another famous poem..."Way leads to way..."
I might end up in some farm(or my own)picking apples and when my instep arches pain
I would recite this poem about pommes and I am not sure if I would actually like apples then :)

Hats off to Robert Frost and his poem on pommes:)

Let me go and get a juicy apple to eat(like Tom Sawyer after a "hard day's work" )!!!

The Answer is Blowing in the Wind

Blowin' In The Wind (Bob Dylan)
====================
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

The above song is a famous piece from Bob Dylan.
It talks about walking the path and what it takes to be unshakable.
A true master piece.

Penned down some of my thoughts about this below:
=================================================
Life is not devoid of disappointments and every disappointment leaves scars.
But it is these scars which turn into stripes and the final question is:
"Have you earned your stripes?"

It is only when the heart tears that it grows stronger.
No matter what happens, truth,tenacity, perseverance,endurance and courage is what we need with us to move forward in life. But there are also times in life when we need to just let go and move on as well. Do your best...leave the rest.

We are mere travellers.Everything in life is a learning experience.
So when we fall, when we fail,when we are dissapointed:
we need to stand up, wipe away the dust,clean up the wounds=>allow it to heal,
ignore the scars,imbibe the lessons,grow stronger and move on...
Apply the lessons learnt make sure that mistakes are not repeated

Doctor Who Books

Doctor Who books were perhaps the only story books available in our school library. When there were other people of our age reading Hardy boys and Nancy drew, we were reading Doctor Who books. In class VI I used to wonder what kind of crap the book would contain and the mere look of those books used to put me off.

It was a kind of idle curiosty that made me pick up a book called Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters- my first Doctor Who book. That was in class VII. I then found that it was about time travel across the space-time vortex. And that was the beginning of the race again time :) Others in my class also got hooked on. We were a set of 5 people and every week it was a book a day. We each used to borrow a book and finish one the same day and exchange it amongst us. We aimed to complete 4-5 a week.

We literally ate,slept,talked and walked Doctor Who through VII,VIII,IX and XI and yes we were not allowed to borrow books in X and XII for obvious reasons. There is a set of 72 Doctor Who books and we used to write down in our school diary whichever book we read. My count was 65 to be precise. And then we left school and I have scourged book shops and the internet in vain for the books.

A fortnight back I went into an old book shop in T.Nagar Pondy Bazar. And wonder of wonders there were a set of Doctor Who books lined up. I rubbed my hands in glee as if they were a meal fit for a monarch. I asked the book shop owner and he said Rs.50 a piece. There were 25 books in all. I told him that I would take all if he gave me a deal. Little did I know that this guy had graduated from Harvard Business school. He said "No way....you know nobody has bought this book for the past 20 yrs". I told him "Well rest assured nobody will buy it for another 40 years if I don't buy it now and walked out with a pain in my heart". He then called out to me and gave me a deal Rs.30 per book. I thought Rs.20 would be fine but then my greed for the book overrode the money and I bought the entire set of 25 books. And yes I read a book a day with the same old relish. I wish I could buy all the 72 and my quest will be to make a collection. Well atlast I have a definite aim in life :-) !!!

Doctor Who????

============

For those who survived till this line and are curious about the book and would like to know more. Doctor Who is a an exiled Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He roams the universe in a space ship which is called TARDIS(Time and Relativistic Dimensions in Space). It looks like a police box though it is designed to adapt to the surroundings. His favorite plabet is Earth. His space ship is defective and will seldom land where he wants to. And so he wanders through space and time and fights the bad guys. The Doctor is a scientist and thats why he is called Doctor and since people don't know his name they ask Doctor Who? The Doctor has the capability to regenerate and so has different avatars :) (see the photo listing 10 faces...its all Doctor Who.

Doctor Who->Dasavatharam :)

Below are a set of links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/

http://www.drwhoguide.com/

Chennai Ennai poda Vennai Endradhu

Chennai....I landed in Chennai(by bus) from coimbatore to take up my next venture.I had already contacted some brokers to find a house for rent and all of them had assured me "Sir just come von or two days in advancu onnum prechanaey ille we can easily get you a house/flat/PG" and the rent they said seemed to be nominal and I thought ok so its just me going there and I get a place in a jiffy. But some gut feeling(which has never failed me) made me go 4 days in advance which included a weekend.

I had already called up a close family friend of ours(whom I address as uncle) and he asked me to come down and stay with him till I found a house. I was greeted by the exorbidant chennai auto fare(and I thought well if Coimbatore is like that then Chennai ought to be more expensive). I said to myself "sappa matter..don't worry once you figure out the place everything will be fine". Uncle and family were hospitality personified and I had a great day because it was Varalakshmi pooja and I also sang some songs(thanks to their patience :-)

And then it began....uncle said he will accompany me to the place since I was to meet the broker and I did not know anything about chennai. I knew some places thanks to google maps and I was proud of being the tech savvy guy who had figured out the places,advertised in sulekha and managed everything through the internet. I called up the broker and he said one PG twin ,fully furnished,with AC,fridege and all is available...and just 5 minutes from your company....man very impressive.Now all I have to do is go see the place pay the advance and then shift. So simble you know...Then I reached the place...after travelling for an hour and a half the broker took us by bike along a dusty road and his "justu five minutes" had already exceeded 1o minutes by bike.I thought ok walking for 10-15 minutes will be a good exercise. We reached a house and then we went upstairs. There was no fridge,no AC. He said sir they will fit it soon....and then he showed me the room. It was about 18*10 and there were 2 cots already. And he said sire you can put your cot there. I asked "what about the other two?" Well sir there are 2 people occupying this room and you have to share with them and there is a common bathroom there. I asked him the rent and he said Rs.5000 per head.

Oh my God this is the limit. I walked out of the place. I called up all the other "contact numbers" I had and all of them replied"already occupied".We decided to get back home and I had this feeling that this was not going to be easy at all. We reached home at night cause we had started late afternoon and the places is quite far off. Then I rummaged through the internet. Found as many numbers as possible. Then we also rummaged the news papers next morning. I had already made 20 calls the previous day and I had around 30 numbers with me today. I called up each number and the response was one of the below:
"Sorry sire aalready aacupied"
"Sire this house is new very big and it is far caarporate use and then rent is Rs.30000"
"vokay family aar bachelor...voh bacheloraaa we don't give to bachelors sire"
(I certainly did not want to get married to get a house...and though it did sound the easiest way out)
And in all I had just 2-3 numbers which said they have a house. I went again and scouted the whole day.The first 2 were absolute waste and then on the way we got one more person who said we could see a house the next day. Uncle had also spoken to his relatives in that area. We then visited all the places...most areas were not good and the houses were worse. And the rent charged was nothing less than Rs.5000....I was willing to pay that but none of the houses semmed worth it.I had one option of moving in with a person in a 1 BHK. I called him up but then lady fortune deserted me there when he told me that he decided to take in his buddy. Hmmm so much for the promise he gave that he would keep it open till sunday evening. Then we finally reached the last number.

Finally it was a flat,rent was around Rs.10000 but I could find roommates. And the house was good and the locality was ok.Only thing is I had to walk for about 25 min each day to the place where my company bus would come.That would mean a walk to nearly 1 hr a day. But then I thought thats the best to do considering the situation. And finally on monday I shifted. I have not included some more funny experiences with some really weird people since this has already become very lenghthy.

Then came the ordeal of finding a roommate. First I advertised in the internet and I was sort of becoming a house broker expert...calling people and showing them the house and explaining this and that 2 BHK bath attached and so on and so forth. Finally a colleague of mine was looking for a roommate to take a house and I told him I have a house and I am looking for a "house mate " and he liked the house. Finally he moved in. I had thus scouted almost a large chunk of chennai to find a house. I thank the internet and our family friend uncle (who accompanied me everytwhere and helped me a lot)with all my heart..cause without them I would have never found one.

Among my experiences the real disappointment was when the brokers turned out to be turncourts. Overall coming from Bangalore where there was an air of sophistication, here I was disappointed by the way they interacted with you. But I guess may be thats because I did not have to interact with that many brokers/house owners to get a house in Bangalore.I had found one in just half a day.I like Bangalore better cause yes the weather is too good. The infrastructure is much better. I do hear that the sub urban trains are a boon to chennai but you need to get used to it to like it. And above all people TRUST BACHELORS.

So my overall first impression considering that I melted like butter under the sweltering heat of disappointments was "Chennai enney poda vennai endradhu"-thats a famous dialogue by comedian vivek in a movie. And yes he is right. But then my workplace is good and my current bread(sorry idli)is here and perhaps I will learn to like it :-)

My First Flight

I had never thought traveling by flight could be a great experience, probably I was biased by the fact that I had not traveled by flight at all. That is why I never gave it a thought, in fact I used to say to myself-"well it’s a great technology, but sheer waste of money. I was the only person in my family who had never boarded an aircraft. I had gone home on Nov first week and my mom said next time why don't you fly down to Coimbatore. You are the only one who has not traveled by flight. I told mom-"Verudhe endhina paisa kalayande(Why waste money) besides if I am destined to fly I will".

Nov 15th evening my PM called me and said there is an urgent implementation to be finished and I was to travel to Kochi. I quickly called up "Friends travels Madivala and said Chetta Cochin lekku oru seat urgent aaytu venam-adhey A/c bus thanne".Then my PM said forget the tickets, apply for domestic travel and said the tickets could be collected from K2 (Koramangala Wipro office). On reaching K2 office, I was handed a nice little envelope and inside it was the to and fro FLIGHT ticket by King Fisher Airways. Mind blowing I could not believe I was going to fly the next day morning.

Bangalore Airport 5:30AM my aunt dropped me @the airport. I went inside,did not have a clue as to what to do and thanks to another PM who was also a close friend of mine I managed to reach the plane without problems. I went in not able to make sense of which was my seat number and thanks to the air hostess, I finally managed to find my seat and like most times there was no one sitting next to me!!!Memories of TV shots of Twin tower and other catastrophes came racing, enthusiasm took over fear....5,4,3,2,1 and lift off I was air borne and yep I never once unfastened my seat belt throughout the journey as if that is going to protect me if something happended!!!

Bangalore looked like a gray city with silver nitrate spilled carelessly all over. Then came the sun rise....The sun appeared on the horizon, a pink color and then slow and steady He arose in full glory. A rotating gold ring shimmering and standing out, captured my attention. It was a clear day and there were no clouds and the sun started blinding everything else from my view. So I turned to the breakfast served...did full justice to it though I knew from my historic trips to ooty and shabarimala that I vomit at the slightest twist in the hairpin bend. The plane did swerve at some dizzying angles to the left and I shifted my attention to the newspaper. And then lo the landscape changed to an endearing green-God's own country and why not? The picturesque landscape reminded me of brocolli.It was as if the entire region was filled with broccoli cultivation amidst clear silver streams. Then came the landing....I felt as if I was in a race bike which was in mid air and Then suddenly gravity pulls it down. The tires came down and then I did feel relieved that I was back on earth. It was an experience which brought back my childlike enthusiasm and I felt very happy.


December 3 there I was at Nedumbasheri airport after 2 weeks of back breaking work. Now that I knew the process of boarding and checkin, I was pleasantly surprised that I had not noted one of the "other beautiful aspects of Kingfisher”. Vijay mallya says,” The crew is personally selected by me" and why not...the King of good times certainly has an excellent eye for beauty, especially when he chose the customer coordinator at the airport!!! Though I had to wait for half an hour before boarding, I never felt bored!!! I then boarded the flight and I did notice ;-) the airhostess this time. The flight took off again and I did not want to waste time on the mundane attractions of life. I tilted my head towards the window. I could see Bharatha puzha-well I think it was or some other river whatever it is was flowing right through the landscape flanked by lush green "broccoli". It was a cloudy day and it was a wondrous trip. I would say this was much better than the onward journey. I was flying above the clouds. The clouds were like loads and loads of cotton thrown over the mountains. I remembered the serials like Om Namah Shivaya, Mahabharath etc...where in the Kailas and Palaazhi, the abodes of Shiva and Vishnu are filled with clouds and man I did feel like a God. Then came the sun mercilessly blocking my view, but this time the clouds effectively shielded him and it was wondrous to see the cotton clouds turn into shining silver. The landscape shifted to boxes of organized buildings at first and then into utter chaotic boxes.....yes we reached Bangalore.... the flight will land shortly came the announcement. Then the same landing I kept hoping that the wheels don't bounce off.

It was an exciting and exhilarating trip to be cherished forever ad moreover the best part of all of it was that it was sponsored by the company!!!The best things in life do come free sometimes when you least expect it!!! No idea whether I will get such journeys again but I am not looking forward to it cause it is best when it comes unexpected.

"Bhagwan ki Jai Wipro ki Jai!!! "

Miracles for recognition?

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-09-07-voa53.cfm

In the above link the article says there is a need for one more case of miracle healing in order for Mother Theresa to be declared a saint.Why do people want "miracles" to declare a person as a saint? Mother Theresa has lived her entire life for humanity and that makes her equal to God.Why should someone do something which is super human in order to get the status of God or Saint?The problem is we believe that God cannot be human and He/She should be someone who is of angelic countenance and does super human things.Why this sort of a mind block?

There are people amidst us who dedicate their entire life selflessly for humanity.Most often we recognize them when they are dead and gone.Mother Theresa deserved to be called a saint when she was living itself.Why wait for someone to be dead and gone or await a case of miracle healing to declare the person as a saint?
Religion is a tool for aiding Humanity and not viceversa.Most of today's problems are because we have used religion as a tool for war.Religions sprang up to guide humanity towards good.If there is no humanity then there is no religion.

Mother Theresa is such a great human being where in she is helping the poor and needy even after she has left her mortal body through her institution.Her entire life is thus a miracle if that is what people are searching for.To selflesslesly love another human is a miracle in itself.It is the same reason why I adore Mata Amritanandamayi cause I have witnessed with my own eyes how she consoles and helps people sometimes for 24+ hours a stretch for days together.Miracle or no miracle such people are worthy of worship.

God cannot be someone sitting in an antiseptic corner of the universe.God must be the most human of humans.We keep waiting for the heavens to open up and rain down angelic beings to come down and help us.We even forget our friends and relatives who wish good for us.What happens is that in the process we forget the ordinary mortals amidst our midst who do extraordinary things without expecting anything in return.We must start recognizing them this moment because we are all mortal.Once we start to recognize and start to emulate them then the entire humanity will be redeemed.

Managing Defeat

In my article "The Chewing Gum analogy" I had written about equianimity and the attitude of a chewing gum.And like everything in life it is always like things are easier said than done.How to stay equianimous and face defeat?Well until I faced a real defeat in life I could not write about it.
So here comes how do we actually manage defeat?

For that we will see what is defeat actually?
Defeat comes in different forms=>polymorphisms!!!

i)There are instances in life where you get defeated no matter how hard you try.For example a friend of mine got excellent marks in the XII entrance but still he could not succeed in getting an MBBS seat because those seats were reserved.With tears of blood he watched people with lesser marks getting admission.But this is also a form of defeat cause you feel dissapointed cause you did not get it though you deserved it.

In this instance we can say it is dissapointing and frustrating but then the attitude towards it can be like this: I did my best and still I did not get it so it means there is something much better awaiting me.We must move forward with the attitude that OK I did not get an opportunity to climb the Kanchenjunga cause I am climber who can conquer the everest.God always reserves the best for the last.So we can move forward with patience,awaiting and working toward a better tommorrow

ii)Then next comes defeat which you just cannot reason out why
(I am assuming the male gender this is equally applicable for the other sex also)
An amusing example can be that of a guy who gave all his heart for a girl and she chooses somebody else.Let us assume that this guy is of fine character,good breeding and balanced.
But still she did not choose him.Why?Well nature works in strange ways.The girl chooses that guy for reasons which only she knows.Even God cannot mess with free will.So what should be the attitude of this guy?Just because team India lost inspite of Sachin scoring a century does not mean that Sachin is not the best batsman.It is difficult to accept but life has to move forward.There is no use brooding over and breaking your head about what went wrong cause you will not be able to understand no matter how hard you try.
Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter.Just like case i)God must have decided hey this guy is just too good for this girl.She will not be able to manage such a guy.I have designed a more compatible person for him.And yes lets not be unjust to the girl cause she got the best one she can manage and is compatible.A Toyota cannot run if it is fitted with a ferrari engine and vice versa.This does not mean Toyota or Ferrari is a bad car.Each is a class apart and serves its own purpose.So he must decide Ok I am a ferrari and let me race forward in life cause I am born to race and win a grand prix and not like the toyota->ride smoothly and put children to sleep!!!

iii)Real Defeat due to lack of planning,purpose and preparation.This is the most serious of the three but easiest to handle cause yes we are the culprits. Here we should have the attitude of a real postmortem.We must unforgivingly and impartially analyse why we went wrong.We must learn from others,adopt effective study and problem solving techniques.A sense of application and purpose is a must.

Above all no defeat/problem in life is worth losing ones sleep. We must have an attitude of surender to God and a deep sense of acceptance.Only inner change can only help cause we cannot just change the surroundings.

One Chewing gum is over whether it is success or failure.
We must move on in this glorious journey called life looking forward to better,happier,exciting and wonderous journeys ahead.
We deserve the best!!!

Problem Solving

Whenever we get a problem,for most of us the problem becomes a part of my psyche and that is the biggest problem.Slowly as I develop some really thick skin in the IT industry I begin to understand that a problem(may it be a bug/life/someone else's problem) is a seperate entity to be tackled and once we dissociate ourself from the problem it becomes easier to solve.

I usually follow this method when I get a problem I used to move away from myself and observe me from a third person's perspective treating me as an object faced with another object called problem.In this way I am able to take an unbiased view and yes dissociate myself from it.This removes anxiety and personal bias especially when it comes to life problems.

Every problem has a life cycle,the start where the actual problem is pose here it is as big as an unknown godzilla(God's illa->You feel even God is not there to help)
then is the understanding phase where we actually know the problem,then comes understanding the cause and then root cause and finally when the problems root cause is undertstood its almost solved that is when you get the smile on the face(I knew it look)

Some people are better problem solvers that is because they have perfected the art of solving it.I believe it is in the process that the key lies.Each person has got some "best practices" when it comes to problem solving and it will be good if all of you people reading this can put in yours as comments so that i will compile all this and perhaps release it as a book!!!

The Chewing Gum analogy

"Success and Failure are both two great imposters" is a very famous quote....
Life is to live no doubt but the attitude we take towards life is more important.
In Life there is no permanent joy similarly there is no permanent sorry.

Life will be more easy to handle if we consider each instance of life as a chewing gum....where in we chew the gum till the juice remains.Every moment of life is a learning experience.We must take only the happiness/good out of the instance and enjoy it to the fullest.we should at the same time imbibe what it has to give.We should however remain unaffected(thats difficult of course).

Most of us are either guilty of swallowing it or letting the remnants "stick on"
We tend to forget that the chewing gum was/is/will never be part of us.Most of us are guilty of either resting on laurels or moaning on sorrow....

So if we consider life like this and disallow any instant to affect us....life will be an interesting game where we look forward to more challenges and put both success and failure behind us....

So lets move ahead lets make life more chewie....

EverNew Joy

I have always been pondering over the fact that for most of us God is a matter of convenience that is only when we are stuck or are in trouble do we seek God...so if we are happy then there is no need of God at all?!!

I read an excellent book - "The Science of Relegion" -Sri Paramahamsa Yogananda

This was an eye-opener to me.If God is not part of our daily life then there is no need for God.So what is God?What is Relegion?

He says that

"whatever we do the ultimate objective is to remove pain or gain pleasure.This quest of mankind is to acheive permanent bliss i.e a state which is supreme pleasure without an iota of pain.However even sleep is such a state.So the state has to be one of which we are aware.Death is permanent sleep and none of us like to die.So God is this state of Immortal Bliss with complete awareness.That is called Sat-Chit-Ananda This quest towards acheiving that state is called Relegion."

So whatever we do is towards fulfilling that ultimate objective.So we can say all scientists,atheletes,people working in any sphere are all highly religious.
So we can say that there are no atheists in this world and very few really relegious.

The real objective of all Relegions is also the same.Only thing is we have missed the forest for the trees!!!

So God is in every respect omniscient,Omnipresent and Omnipotent cause we are all at every moment engaged in reaching that state.Now I understand Tat Tvam Asi meaning YOU ARE THAT!!!

So what we do is in search for happiness then why not be happy this instance itself.
Then I guess every part of Life becomes a celebration,every work a worship and every acheivement an offering.

Unheard words

I wonder how many people does a man/woman meet in his/her life....well guess there are generally the following categories....people who we
I)just meet say Hi ....Then Bye
ii)meet,talk about the weather may be general politics get to know each others name's and yes Bye
iii) ii)+ meet sometime down the line and slowly build acquaintaince
iv)iii) plus an email(usually forwards) once in a while on topics of general interest
v)slowly some acquaintances continue to keep in touch.....
vi)some of v) get into a closer loop
vii)finely filtered and they are friends

Then after the 7 doors(strange 7 hills of Shabarimala,7 doors of Vaikundam....hmmm some celestial significance....)are real core friends atleast thats how it is for me.......

But then at each level I find there are people who have made indelible lasting impressions.I have wondered why they never came through the next door!!!Well I guess most people did shut the door on me...ha ha ha ...I did not have to do it...

Seriously analyzing I find I did want a few of them who made these subtle impressions to come to my core group....iam interested in the around 50% of these who shut the door on me....kya hua yahaaan?????

I guess people who left me at <=level 4 or 5 never got to know much about me...
so that leaves say around 25% who did get in but got out....why why why?
probably level 5 they understood that they I don't share their interests....fine so may be they found me a bore...since we did not have common interests...ok so that leaves say around 5-10% who did get close to me but then opted out.....

It is this 5-10% say a liltle down level 6-7 that Iam baffled....they did know me but then closed the door....so therein lies the question why?

Ego conflicts?Difference of opinion?Fed up of me? hmmmm......no idea cause they never told me the reason....I guess those who came out of level 7 were those who
had differences but sorted it out with me.....perhaps if the others too had done the same I would have been better than what Iam.

Anyway all said and done...i do wonder why some left with unsaid words which echo somewhere within the closed doors of their hearts....leaving behind them a deafening silence......

May be just a minute or two...perhaps a slap would have made that fine difference
and may be they would have been one among my best people...but then Life is Like that
Man Proposes.....God and yes people too dispose............!!!!!!!

Life is Like This!!!!

I am on solid earth...rock solid that is...got some time now...anyway i will satrt blogging regularly from now on...I was just wondering I used to consider life as a what it is...
In school....well go to school,come back home,do homework,get marks.........
In college...a little more serious....get some recognition...only way get marks since I did not have any other "assets" to my credit...still life was fine since everybody was fine with it....there was pressure when I found ok now I have to get placed thru campus and WIPRO was end of the road for me...i got it...of course i had to slog a lot still that was well fine...the came the University rank....fine....then was the thought of PhD....felt emptiness there...then a little pressure but still I knew i will get into WIPRO and then i joined everything as fine..

Now when I am working i feel endammmooooo work pressure...deadlines is fine no problems..there are teething issues...but then now I have to think what next???
And I have to decide that like a MAN.....

Career...what do i settle for?this itself or should i find someother company or should i go for higher studies??
Life...now I guess I am a pillar in my family for I see that they are a little more comfortable....so what do I do....swaroop shuold get stabilised...2nd year next year for him..I hope he gets serious....hmmm...perhaps after that i will agin go for higher studies???!!!!
Finally marriage...when..how what...I don't want to lend a thought...it makes me scary...I find it difficult to manage myself even.....

The BIG difference I feel between college and work now is that now whatever I do there is so much at stake....responsibility...some times I feel I should not have grown up...but then there is a feeling of having reached a stage where u are happy that u are able to contribute....of having become a MAN....

So life is like this...I used to wonder what people meant by saying "Life is not an easy joke"....correction.....
This is Life...nothing is easy and certainly no jokes......
Now I understand what God meant when he said Man will have to earn his daily bread and toil....(when he cursed Adam and Eve)
Atleast I won't have 'EVE's' pain..ha ha ha thank God I am a MAN!!!

But still I believe Life--->Enjoy Maaaadi!!!!!!!!...Find enjoyment in whatever u do....I don't have a choice here ..ha ha ha

Me @ WIPRO Technologies

I have not posted for long kyon ki Iam busy working at WIPRO Technologies...employed here as project Engineer in Toshiba ODC working on my first project....hmmmm this is perhaps not the first time I am staring as an underdog anyway I have a l;ong way to go before I become a pisthu....all experienced people around me

Apparom we will be shifting to Sarjapur...before that Electronic City is a beautiful place and wonderful food.My team is cool.Arun San(Sir in japanese) is my Team Lead and Renji San my PM.Team full aaa Tamil thaaaan dhool...pinne edekke mallus fir thoda hindi...a conglomerate of tongues.

Everyday I leave at 7:20 AM from my room and reach at 11:30PM wow tahts a lot of work.As of now documentation...not yet into coding its ok.

Lot of professionalism and commitment shown by people to work...even iam amazed!!!!
Met all my former project people koteswar Ji Venky san and of course Shalini chechi...all are in heights of management...hoping to be there!!!!