Brainless Beauty!!!

Tip Tip Barsa Paani...

Remember the old Hot Bollywood Rain Song...well yesterday i had been humming this song along with many other rain songs from all the woods (Tollywood, KollyWood,Bollywood,Sandalwood...) for almost 3 hours enjoying the deluge in Bangalore with the entire traffic coming to halt. For almost 4-5 km stretch of the road came to stand still. I could see the amount of frustration being vented out by the public with the amount of honks overshooting the normal decibels. It took me more than 3 hours to reach home completely wet(if you travel @ of 0-5 kmph, according to standard speed- distance-time equation i guess i justified it..and such is the traffic woe) . However i enjoyed the evening as suggested. I still remember my childhood days where i was never allowed to get wet in the rain for my parents were worried that i would catch cold and probably many other diseases. I always wanted to get drenched in rain in a no man/womans land. I experienced such kind of pleasure once when i was alone in a kinda forest and it was pouring and i felt i am very close to the nature , i felt as if i am sleeping in my mothers lap such an awesome feeling to experience the natural shower. But most of the general public feel that if it rains it creates many a hassles. Isn't because of the lack of proper infrastructure to be precise proper drainage system, we dont collect the rain water at all(How many houses in bangalore have the rain water collection pits?) If only we act smart heed to the advices given by the experts in rain water harvesting it would have been a different case. But for now until those advices come to practice i will still enjoy my self getting wet singing the guilt number meaning..."let the rain fall and reduce distance between the hearts..of course between mine and the nature's...

what type are you?

When i took this personality test some 4 years back the result was an "ENFJ". Not sure if my type has changed over the years. Well the types can be classified as based on the 4 different categories

* Extroversion - Introversion (E and I )
* Sensing - Intuition ( S and N)
* Thinking - Feeling (T and F)
* Judging - Perceiving ( J and P)

The first criterion defines the source and direction of energy expression for a person. The extrovert has a source and direction of energy expression mainly in the external world while the introvert has a source of energy mainly in the internal world.

The second criterion defines the method of information perception by a person. Sensing means that a person believes mainly information he receives directly from the external world. Intuition means that a person believes mainly information he receives from the internal or imaginative world.

The third criterion defines how the person processes information. Thinking means that a person makes a decision mainly through logic. Feeling means that, as a rule, he makes a decision based on emotion.

The fourth criterion defines how a person implements the information he has processed. Judging means that a person organizes all his life events and acts strictly according to his plans. Perceiving means that he is inclined to improvise and seek alternatives.
The different combinations of the criteria determine what type you are. So if we do the permutations and combinations we end up in sixteen types. So in this world every person more or less can be categorised in to one of these 16 types. Every type has a name (or formula) according to the combination of criteria. For example:
ISTJ
Introvert Sensing Thinking Judging or
ENFP
Extrovert INtuitive Feeling Perceiving

If you are an " I " doesn't mean you will be strictly an introvert, it will be more degree of being introvert than being extrovert. Same holds good with any of the types. The point i want to drive is each type is unique on its own way, and the way we tend to establish a connection with the fellow human beings depends on the type. Not everybody can jell well with every other person, its some common traits that makes you attract towards the other person and establish the connection. And a lot of falling into these types depends on how your surroundings have been since childhood. The art of decision making is also driven by what type of personality you are. Sometimes people tend to decide based on emotion others judge the situation putting their principles on high esteem. Its very interesting to talk about these personality traits in detail and draw parallels to things happening in our lives. But i am not a guru in human psychology to write in greater depth as we already have so much information floating :)

is it a DEAD END??

Early exit of the Indian team might have been forgotten but the things taking turn on 10Dulkar looks like never ending. From all quarters there has been a big hue and cry asking for his retirement and his behaviour/responses to the media. But as he says did we sit back and asked what is it going through his mind? Every time he walks into the field we expect him to score a ton after all he is a cricketer isn't is his job to fire all cylinders...If we take a closer look of his 17 years stint with Indian cricket he has been consistently performing..atleast the statistics show..Remember the last world cup?? who has been instrumental in taking the team india to the finals...and one bad day by him and the entire team costed us to forgo the world cup. The same thing happened this time too...we had the entire teams performance at stake and we didn't move to the next stage. So do we blame Only Sachin for this? Or do we blame the entire team...sac everybody and go for a new team altogether.....Probably somewhere something went wrong..did we try to analyze the situtaion..did we try talking to our players...Instead we want Sachin to retire from the game. I am not saying he has to continue playing for his life time...but doesn't he know or capable enough to decide when to take the decision of quitting the game....We have been with him whenever he has made the team win the matches..today when we see that we haven't proved worthy enough at the world cup we shout at top of our voice against him....Can't we try to be with him at this rough patch of his life, support him,make him regain his confidence and contribute to the game of cricket for couple of more years and let him retire gracefully....Dont we know the amount of expereince he brings to the team....Instead of peer pressurising him to retire, probably he should go back play some domestic cricket get some good touch and then come back and fire, we are yet to find one more 10dulkar for the team and may be him being with the team is a good sign for the upcoming youngster to be groomeed and fitted into his shoes. Well my gut feel is its a not dead end for the Great Legend and I am sure he has good amount of cricket left in him and contribute to the game and gracefully give way to the upcoming champions than forcefully for he has so much of potential and he has proved it many a times ever since he has been playing for Team India. Yes, he is indeed beginning to age, and it is showing in his performances, but that does not signal or hint towards any decline. The hunger, the humility and the desire to score runs is still within him. And come on folks for almost 17 years he has has been away from the family had been thinking only about the game and contributing for it (though would have made enough money through this) , earned millions of fans do we think this the way a person of high esteem needs to be treated?? I am sure a few tons in the upcoming matches will pacify the fans/media and start praying him again....thats how we have always been...GOD or DOG based on a situation.....We must agree he is god's gift for the Indian Cricket and has taken Indian cricket to a different level altogether and he ate,drank, slept cricket and there is no doubt neither about his attitude nor his performance and he will still be role model for many a upcoming cricketers.

Every Little Act Counts...

Last week i had been to pilgrimage center supposedly one of the richest ones in the world. Though have visited quite a number of times its always been a rush in rush out kind of trip. But this time its been unusual. I had quite an amount of time to spend in and around that place. Honestly i don't remember when is the last time i sat for almost 2 and half hours just sitting and let the brain do it work. I was sitting on the foot steps of the guest house to wait for the clock in my mobile to show 18.30 hours. I would have spent this 180 mins reading a book but fortunately i didn't have that privilege too. So i decided let me just observe the surroundings or rather the people around. I was trying to observe the patterns among the devotees who visited this place and the behaviour of the inhouse crowd. Right next to the foot steps there is a Tea-Center, indeed i analysed the amount of business he does on an average. Though the t-wala is doing a great business publics sipping the t-cup and just leaving the cup at its disgrace inspite of being written on every possible place not to litter. Almost every person who opted for the disposable cup has not taken just one step to put this in the bin which is hardly few meters away. However one guy has caught my attention. This reminded me the 'Safai waala's' character in Munnabhai MBBS who is on job . He is clearing the litter everytime some body spoils that place and that too with out any sign of frustartaion/anguish. He is always on prey for the litter to be cleared as soon as he finds something. If you tell me what is the great deal in this for he is being paid for the job, well the amount of deligience and perseverence he is showing in his work is what caught my attention. He is constantly eyeing at this place while doing the work on the road side some 100 mts away, walking all that way to clear the disposable cups - for he is not only making sure the road, the garden is clean he is also making sure that the work (disposing the cups in the bin) supposedly to be done by the devotees is being completed by this person. We know we are not following the instructions in this so called sacred place yet we want God to favour us in every possible way or rather grant every wish of ours creating inequations ourselves.
Though it seems like a small thing all these small events (inequations) lead to big ones in life which ultimately we would want GOD to resolve and thats what you have come here for and you are just adding more variables to your inequation and making GOD confused whether he should solve the worries bugging you or the worry you are creating to others . Since my ears were wide open i could hear people criticizing the way things are being handled by the in house staff , a thought crossed my mind they have the leisure to talk and make fuss about the system but they dont have the time to follow a simple instruction of disposing a cup in the nearby bin. Anyways i was impressed with the guy who was doing his job walked up to him told him that he is doing his job well, gave him a hug and handed him a small token which otherwise i would have put in the Hundi assuming that it reaches God... for I beleive in "Service to Humanity is Service to God" ...Pobably this small act of this person has earned him the status of GOD.....

Seven tips for making yourself happier IN THE NEXT HOUR

Have come across this excerpt recently...

Seven tips for making yourself happier in the next hour.

You can make yourself happier – and this doesn’t have to be a long-term ambition. You can start right now. In the next hour, check off as many of the following items as possible. Each of these accomplishments will lift your mood, as will the mere fact that you’ve tackled and achieved some concrete goals.

1. Boost your energy: stand up and pace while you talk on the phone or, even better, take a brisk ten-minute walk outside. Research shows that when people move faster, their metabolism speeds up, and the activity and sunlight are good for your focus, your mood, and the retention of information. Plus, because of “emotional contagion,” if you act energetic, you’ll help the people around you feel energetic, too.

2. Reach out to friends: make a lunch date or send an email to a friend you haven’t seen in a while. Having warm, close bonds with other people is one of the keys to happiness, so take the time to stay in touch. Somewhat surprisingly, it turns out that socializing boosts the moods not only of extroverts, but also of introverts.

3. Rid yourself of a nagging task: answer a difficult email, purchase something you need, or call to make that dentist’s appointment. Crossing an irksome chore off your to-do list will give you a big rush of energy and cheer, and you’ll be surprised that you procrastinated for so long.

4. Create a calmer environment: clear some physical and mental space around your desk by sorting papers, pitching junk, stowing supplies, sending out quick responses, filing, or even just making your piles neater. A large stack of little tasks can feel overwhelming, but often just a few minutes of work can make a sizeable dent. Try to get in the habit of using the “one minute rule”—i.e., never postpone any task that can be completed in less than one minute. An uncluttered environment will contribute to a more serene mood.

5. Lay the groundwork for some future fun: order a book you’ve been wanting to read (not something you think you should read) or plan a weekend excursion to a museum, hiking trail, sporting event, gardening store, movie theater—whatever sounds like fun. Studies show that having fun on a regular basis is a pillar of happiness, and anticipation is an important part of that pleasure. Try to involve friends or family, as well; people enjoy almost all activities more when they’re with other people than when they’re alone.

6. Do a good deed: make an email introduction of two people who could help each other, or set up a blind date, or shoot someone a piece of useful information or gratifying praise. Do good, feel good—this really works. Also, although we often believe that we act because of the way we feel, in fact, we often feel because of the way we act. When you act in a friendly way, you’ll strengthen your feelings of friendliness for other people.

7. Act happy: put a smile on your face right now, and keep smiling. Research shows that even an artificially induced smile has a positive influence on your emotions—turns out that just going through the motion of happiness brightens your mood. And if you’re smiling, other people will perceive you as being friendlier and more approachable.

Some people worry that wanting to be happier is a selfish goal. To the contrary. Studies show that happier people are more sociable, likeable, healthy, and productive—and they’re more inclined to help other people. So in working to boost your own happiness, you’re benefiting others as well.

Feel happier yet?

Thanks to the "Men in Blue"

After a dismall performance by the men in blue, team India has shattered the hopes of millions of cricket loving indians. As a matter of fact if we take a closer look into the actual loss as projected by the media its accounting to 200 crores of rupees be it in the form of advertisement or sponsorship and others. But looking at the team performance we need to to think if our team really deserved to get into the super 8 ? Frankly on Paper the Indian team has the strongest batting line up but how far have they been successfull. If we look in to the last couple of years other than the sub continent grounds we have actually lost most of the series abroad which indeed was an indication that our supposedly strongest batting line up isn't sufficiently strong enough to pull into the next round of the world cup. Though the team has perfomed well under pressure at times, we lost to a minnow team and changed the entire expectations. But if we actually analyze the situation Losing and coming back home is indeed good if not for team India to the rest of the indians atleast and to the economy as such. For instance there are at least 8 crore subscriber for the cable and satellite coverage, of which at 3% would be world cup lovers. Since that India didn't make it to the next round only 3% would watch the next 28 matches.

Had only India made into the final , men in blue would have played another 7 matches which means atleast 58 lac population would watch the match result of which 4810 crore hours of productivity would have been lost.Added to these health problems, students preparing for exams would be under pressure and lose concentration in the examinations and many others like these. Since we saved 4810 hours ultimately contributing 817 grand crores of rupees to the GDP.

The amount projected as loss because of team not making into the next stage is less as compared to this otherwise It would have been another 350% loss. Indirectly there are organizatons like the electricity board which has benifitted a lot, for your idiot box to run it requires 45 wattage of electricity. So if the number of viewers after 12pm reduce we might save 135 watt per head, overall the EB would have saved 3.24 laks of KW of electricity. So if we switch of the tv for the entire cricket tournament for each match runs in 8 hours pre-post discussion together the board would have saved 8.64 lakhs of KW and can be distributed efficiently to required parties.

So overall the its only for the advantage of the Indian publics the team India's loss has made up, so there is no use in people hurling stones at the cricketers house for their poor performance. On a lighter note there are stories going around that the "Main Candidates" for India's Loss / or Not making it into the final 8 stage is Former Prime Minister "Mrs Indira Gandhi" - Yes she is on the One who has actually helped East Pakistan to be emerged as "Bangladesh" and then you know the rest of the story.....and "Our Mythological superHero 'HANUMAN' - Had only he destroyed the whole lanka India would defintely have moved to the next stage

WTS...!!!(Women Thume Salaam)

Today the world celebrates "Women's Day" so i thought why not me too put in my thoughts on them on their day!!! Women have always had heir sphere of influence on me be it my mother or my teachers or my friends, they have inspired me in many a situations. However I always wondered/felt It's tough being a woman. The world wanted female emancipation, but did we really get it? It appears that all that women gained was the right to do two jobs. One at home and one in the work place. Working women get a bad Press if they have kids. The reality is that most women have to work in order to pay the bills. I don't want to bash the entire male population, far from it. A lot of men pitch in with child care and household chores. A lot don't. But these pressures can be eased off wit they way they balance their life.

Did we make a rod for our own backs, ladies? World War II brought a new respect for working women, as they worked the land and joined the labor force in the munitions factories and so on. In the 1950s, most of them were back in the kitchen again. As the next decade progressed, they started to come out again. The 1970s was a battlefield, when working women demanded equal pay for equal work. A lot of burnt bras have gone under the bridge since then.


Today, we have women judges, politicians, surgeons, entrepreneurs so on. It would be a brave man who said out loud that he didn't want to work for a woman. Has all this opportunity come at too high a price? Working women seeking good careers are postponing having children until later and later. Some of them sadly, find that they have left it all too late. There is a lot of pressure on women not to take a career break. They're frightened they'll fall behind their colleagues and miss chances of promotion. Women are supposed to have so many choices today, but biology is the real mistress.

The working mom is not by any means new to our society. Women have been in the workforce for as far as you go back in .....They are the bearers of children and they breast feed the next generation. That is a privilege. For working women who have to rush back to work, putting baby into child care, it's an emotional wrench. Coming home from work at the end of the day, means compacting quality time into a brief period. As we all work longer hours, fathers miss out too. How many working men and working women get home too late to give their child a bath or read them a bed time story. These precious years pass so fast.

It’s not a great secret that even nowadays men and women don’t have equal rights and opportunities. It’s not so visible in Western countries but in Eastern ones the heading role of the men is evident. I hope that in the nearest future the situation will change for the bells have already begun as women are competeting to get the same job as men in all fields. Women are already try themselves more in science, business and politics. It’s known that men are more theorists and women are better in practice, so women can invent new things, which men are not able to. It will be very useful to combine men’s and women’s knowledge to reach the real progress in science. Practical female mind should be more used in politics and economical sphere so I suppose that by the end of the twenties women will play the same role in the ruling of the country as men do now. It’s natural to women to think about the future and to care about the children, so they are the most peaceful politicians. May be we would live in the peaceful world if there were more women in politics nowadays.

There are some areas of life where women can be much more successful than men. They have all the necessary qualities and talents for it. I mean such spheres of social life as art, culture and education. Women are very sensitive, they often follow not their mind, but their senses, and the intuition often shows them how to act in this or that situation. Women are always full of new ideas and plans; they are creative and emotional persons, all these qualities will bring art and culture to the higher level, art won’t be separated from life and it will reflect the reality.

Education is the most important aspect of life, because the children are our hope for future, they will change this world, that’s why it’s necessary to bring up children in the right way. The woman is the mother first of all, nobody knows what the child needs, how to teach him and make him interested in subjects better than she does. Mother’s feelings are the strongest and the most sincere, so I think that more women should take of the role of forming school and university programs and to develop the education. It will be very effective and bring appropriate results.

So in the future women will be busy with science, politics, and education etc., but it doesn’t mean that woman’s role as housewife and mother will be forgotten as indicated in the very beginning, its all about striking the right balance. The technical progress will make the housing much easier, it won’t take much time to make supper and to clean the carpet and there will be left enough time for children.

The future is giving a great chance for women – they can be absolutely independent, most of them will be able to earn their living, to bring up their children and not be afraid for tomorrow. But I hope that this freedom and the possibility to earn real money won’t make the women pragmatic and they won’t forget that woman is the ideal of beauty, harmony and peace. Woman should always stay effeminate, kind and wise. Woman’s wisdom keeps everything in order. Their mildness and calmness save men from aggression and wars. Man and woman make each other complete and it’s the greatest secret of the harmony in the world. That day we will break out of "Men are from Mars Women are from Venus" and in unison agree that both are from the same planet indeed.

Cheer India!!!

With the world cup ceremony round the corner off late we get to see and hear only about cricket, and as usual the media is killing its time with dedicated hours only for the WC. The last time i followed up on cricket regularly was 4 years back in during the final days of my college. I still remember the day When India took up the challenge of facing the world champions and in the end like any other "Aam Indian" i too was disappointed. After this over the last 4 years have been hearing a lot on the Indian team but didn't follow any of the ODI series regulary. But with the world cup approaching fast i am here speculating the chances for India making it the Finale and winning the cup. Though don't want to get into the technical details of the teams strengths and weaknesses would definitely vouch for the "Men in Blue" has the caliber of repeating what their seniors did way back in 1983. With a good blend of experienced players like Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly and the young blood of Robin and Pathan India has the strongest batting line up with limited Bolwling resources who can prove fatal to the opposition, needs to really focus on the Game for the next few days. My professor used to say All it takes for India to win a world cup is "Passion with fire in the belly " . Absolutely the team has to realize the Billion people's hopes, concentrate on the game show their perseverance and deliver under pressure with right frame of mind with clear strategies in place. Like many other folks i can be critical of the team but now that the team has already entered the battle field all we can pray for is that they perform well and bring laurels to the nation for It not only earns them Crores but also to the advertisers and a mere joy and satisfaction to the Publics. So I too join for the "Men In Blue" to Cheer them up saying "Come On India Dikhadoooo....."

Rokh Sakho thoo Rokhlo..

'Sir, baat mein kaayade ki karta hun/ desh ke fayade ki karta hun. (Sir, I talk sense and it's all about benefiting the country.) That's Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad for you, presenting the 2007-2008 Railway Budget in parliament Tuesday with his true business acumen.

This time around, the railway minister chose to sprinkle his budget speech with Hindi and Urdu couplets, and unflinchingly began by comparing himself with Lord Krishna for bringing about a miraculous turnaround in the Indian Railways.

But the touch of modesty was not missing; he shared the credit with the railways employees.

'Lord Krishna was acclaimed as Giridhar when in a moment of crisis he lifted Mount Govardhan on his finger. However, he did this with the supporting hands of thousands of his fellow villagers,' said the minister.

'Though people are giving me the credit for the turnaround of the railways, with all humility I would like to share with the house that this miracle has been possible because of the tireless efforts of 1.4 million railway employees,' he added.

Lalu Prasad began his budget speech with a guzarish (request): 'Ho izaazat to karun bayan dil apna/ Sanjon rakkha hai maine rail ka ek sapna.' (If you allow me to, I would like to disclose my dreams for the railways in the comings years.) The Opposition was, indeed, not obliging, but he continued.

Crediting himself with ushering in a new work culture, he added : 'Navajis hai sabki, karam hai sabhi ka/ Bade fakhra se ham bulandi par aaye. Tarakki ke sare mayaron se aage/Naye dhang laaye, nayi soch laaye. (I am grateful to everyone and am very proud to have reached this stage, ahead of all milestones of progress with my innovative work culture.)

Outdoing former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in his proverbial use of verse, Lalu said: 'Maana ki badi-badi baaten karna hamen nahin aaya/ Magar dil par badi kaarigari se naam likhte hain. (I don't know how to boast about what I do, but I have the skill to write my name on people's hearts.'

Talking about the 'record-breaking performance' of the railways in the recent past, including the increase in passenger and freight earnings, and the whopping Rs. 215 billion projected profits for 2007-2008, the minister said: 'Jitna ab tak dekh chuke ho, ye to bas shuruat hai. Khel tamasha aage dekho, dariya dil saudagar ka.'

Loosely translated, it means: 'This is just the beginning. Watch out for the fun as you witness our future generosity.'

- Courtesy - Too many to mention

400 Kms 8 Hours ..Fast & Furious Just for a 15 Min stay???

Last Evening me and couple of my old buddies decided to attend a reception of one of our ex-colleague. We set off from Blore at 4.45 PM. Initially the drive wasn't that great at all for Blore Traffic is like BSNL Telephone line "aapka dial kiya gaya number Philhaal Vyasth Hain.Krupiya Thodi Dher Baad Dial Karen" . I really wonder at times why are the roads always loaded with vehicles somehow got into the city outskirts after an hours drive and then guess what, its time for my friend to shift the gears, switch on the IPod (As the FM Signal was weak) and zap through the empty roads connecting to Chittoor. It was really a good drive through those sexy S curves. we had stopped at Kolar for a while to fill fuel into our stomachs (One in a week I forget to take lunch) . It was one of the Best MD i had . The drive continues with all my favourite AR Rehman songs. I enjoy these long drives provided you have music system in your car and atleast 3 albums of AR and defintely RDB one among those. Ofcourse on the way we met lots of Einsteins (The tractors carrying tonnes of Hay) and Sardars (Lorries filled with stock ) . Overtaking everybody on our way for the roads are so smooth and good i am sure you are bound to drive only at 90-100. I didnt even realise we drove for nearly 4 hours and soon we reached the reception point. Thinking we landed up late and were cribbing that we should have started an hour early,soon we discovered that the reception has actually not begun. Quickly we grabbed our dinner and posed at the video guy who was actually walking with the switch board on his shoulder and lots of people in the queue for food as if they are some refugees who haven't had food for days( I really wonder if they are remotely related to the bride's at all) . Soon the Bride and the Groom were on their gruelling excercise of standing for the next couple of hours. We grabbed this chance since most of them are busy trying to figure out where the food is served we greeted the couple handed over the Gift, exchanged few words took couple of snaps and left from the venue. Actually the Groom was delighted to see us ofocourse he had to be for we drove down almost 200 KMS just to shake his hand and wish him good Luck for the rest of his life for he is getting married. Soon we stared, hardly we were there for 15 Mins. I never imagined in my life i will go all the way 200kms to hug a friend. Way back we encountered lots of these Huge trucks which gave us an impression the entire Car Show Rooms in Bangalore are empty , no wonder there is a steep vehicular population growth. Stopped at CCD-Cafe Coffee Day to have a MasalTea - one of the Best CCD's i have ever been to. Way was listening some of my Kishore Daa's Goldy-oldies . Soon I was back from where i sarted. Truly "The Ends never Justify the means" as we spent only 15 mins for what we set out for and 8 hours of almsot continuous drive. It was 1 Am when i hit the Bed, even in the sleep i can feel myself still in the inertia :-). Yet Again Rai I appreciate your stupendous Velocity of Driving skills.

When is V's V'Day ???

Will Mr V celebrate V-Day as his day some day? For this i think i should depend on the kindness of my so called "Princess". I always used to believe someday my princess will come, right now she took a wrong turn and lost the way and is too stubborn to ask for directions. But will she really come out of my fantasy world someday and allow me to sing "Pehlaa Nashaa..." ?
People ask me don't you you have Girl in your life? I reply i don't want a girl I want to have a "woman" in my life and she is always with me.

I can imagine she must be the cutest and warmhearted and I wish her to be part of everything i do, she is the one whom i draw inspiration from. But does she know that I love her? What is that i have to do for her to convey the message across? Why is that she is never willing to come right in front? But what if she comes will I able to tell her how much i care for her, how much i love her , how much i have been longing for her? I always wanted to tell her the very feeling itself excites me, makes me go mad, but what if someday she walks across me, will I become speechless? With all these thoughts and questions she dances gracefully deep down in my heart making me smile not only on my face but in my heart as well.

If she gives me an opportunity to show how much i love her, Will take her to all those beautiful places on the river side and just spend time hand in hand, face to face , eye to eye all day long and make her feel with just my eyes not uttering even a single word conveying, "My heart to you is already given, Oh princess, do give yours to me, We'll lock them up together,And throw away the key".

If she asks me Quantify me the Love for her, i will respond her "A hundred hearts would be too few To carry all my love for you".

Every time my mind asks my heart How long can you wait for her?, It feels "Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity."

I am for sure some day she will realise how much I love her, for What I need to live has been given to me by the earth, But Why I need to live has been given to me by her.

The day she feels my love I will ask her "Will you be my Valentine?" and that day will be V(ijay)'s V-Day for she too has decided I am "The One" for her.

I am losing!!!

Well this is definitely not a sequel to my earlier post of the stuff lost but still the jinx of loss seems like not giving up at all. Off late the common question i am hearing is "Have you Lost......" Yes i am talking about my "Weight Loss". Though i never cared for it Whether i gain/lose weight but over the last 3-4 weeks it is bothering me a lot, as every second person i meet asks "You have grown so thin" "Have you been consciously losing or it is an unconscious loss" and many more on my very structure of my body. So to clear the doubts of these Questioners and mine i checked the wikipedia first : According to wiki - Weight Loss is in the medical context is reduction of the total body weight which can mean loss of fluid or muscle or bone mass or fat, apparently it is of two types - Intentional (Nowadays it is the Big Market just a call away...) and Unintentional. I should say i fall in the later category. Indeed it turned out to be true when i validated it quantitatively, And i really lost quite amount of weight . So it is a case of Unintentional Weight Loss and i need to act to it before the actual repercussions are initiated. But what has actually triggered this loss is it the erratic diet schedules or the burn out with those less hours of sleep? Whatever it might be i need to take care of it before this puts all the exciting stuff i do at Stake. As my friend says before you take care of every damn thing of others take care of yourself. Yes its time for me to concentrate on my diet and appetite and let me see if in the next few months i can really put on what i lost !!!!

The Good..The Bad..The Ugly

It is very strange to believe that when you are happy that god has given you eyes to watch out this beautiful world at the same time reminding you that you have tears associated with those may be good and bad for happiness and sorrow always go hand in hand otherwise your life is never equally balanced. Well my last week experience has all the tides that Life generally consists of and that makes me give the title of this experience as "Good Bad Ugly". It all started with my preparation for my official trip to Ahmadabad.

15-01-2006 : Its a holiday for the company but i had to work and was working pretty late. Somehow manages to pull off from work at around 9.30 PM. Was heading back to home, on busy main road my vehicle stops abruptly, would have been rammed by the truck coming behind, but thanks to "Newton's First Law of Motion" - was able to pull on to the roadside with my presence of mind as the external force. And then vehicle rejects to start at all that's the Ugly part. It was Good that my vehicle stopped few kms away from my office. Somehow managed to push the vehicle till the premises. Parked the vehicle and booked the office cab, Bad Idea as i had to wait another 45 mins to get into the cab.

16-01-2006 : Manages to get vehicle from my friend(so generous to trust on me though:-) ) . Though the vehicle is perfectly fine i had a bit of bad time with it also. Somehow the day passes off.

17-01-2006: Have too much of stuff to finish off but very less time in hand. Have to catch the flight at 4.20 pm meaning i have to be in the airport by 3.45 pm. With all the confusions on my travel plan and the accomodation with my travel desk personnel i mange to push off from office 2.45 PM. Reached home at 3.00 PM, didn't even realise what stuff i had packed, in the midst of all those confusions i leave home to drop the vehicle that i borrowed at my friend's place. I asked couple of autowalahs to drop me at airport none of them was ready. Finally some moolah saves me and i reach aiport well before the time 3.40 PM. Boarded the plane reached Chatrapthi Shivaji Airport. Atleast we have one Good Airport matching those ISO9001 Standards. Had a transit and boarded the flight to Ahmedabad, reached Ahmdbad and managedto get an accomodation.

18-01-2006: Had a very good breakfast left to the venue where i am supposed to enlighten the crowd having been sent all the way from blore. Had a prettly late lunch as the person incharge had an instinct that i have lunch on a very irregular basis (probably my physique has given him that idea). Some how the session concluded at 6.45 PM..as the saying when there is nothing else to thing thats when you reach a conclusion. I was completely drained off. Somebdoy advises me to check out the biggest mall in Ahmbdbad. I was really amazed at the cities roads so wide not much of traffic jams and above all very less crowd. One whole street of Malls much much better than Bengalooru i should say but not much crowd and the crowd that i was looking for. Just besides the Krishna temple is this Huge Mall called "ISKON MALL" coming up , a very good example of exploitation of the brand!!! The days ends with a nice sumptous dinner. So far everything is going in my way. "When everything is coming in your way, it means your are in the wrong lane" but i didn't realise this until i wrote this blog.

19-01-2006: Had to catch the flight at 3.20 PM so had enough time in hand and its after 2-3 weeks i guess is slept at peace for about 8 hours , got up at around 10ish, took my own sweet time and checked out the hotel at 12 pm. I thought why not check out the Sabarmati Ashram when i had so much of time in store, soon i landed up at this famousplace in Ahmdabad. Such a serene place, not much crowd, entire gyan on Mahatma the only leader that India has produced over the years, after having assimilated the information in the ashram spent sometime to with my earphones hooked on. Reached airport at around 3 PM since i didn't realise how time can fly just like that..thinking i was too late looked at the chart and realsied that flight is delayed by nother 2 hours. Somehow kills the time by putting in the thoughts that have been wandering in my head, i almost wrote 2-3 articles on diffrt subjects, thought that will publish them as soon as i land up in bangalore. But never knew that these articles had some bit of bad luck associated. Reached Mumbai and soon as i got out of the airport realsied that i missed the stylus of my new Mobile phone. An indication that a Big loss starts with only such small things.

20-01-2006 : The previous night mumbai traffic drives me crazy, i felt Bangalore is a Better Hell than Mumbai. Really tough to hop from one place to another. This day i had to finsih some of theatre stuff, so had the expereince of travelling in the local train. I relaised people just dont have time for anything all they knew is to rush ..rush and rush..and ofcourse spit at every nook and corner and paint the City more Red and Red!!!..Probably Everady Batteries should use the mumbaikars "Give Me Red" - You will get more than what you ask for...Shifted from my firend's place to the guest house as the universe was conspiring to make me the event to occur. After travelling in auto for an hour where i spent monies by which i would have taken train to the next big station Pune and come back also i believe.

21-01-2006 : The Day arrives for which i have actually landed up in mumbai.Its the "Mumbai Marathon". Got pretty early just to say good luck to my fellas who were on a mission to clean the cauvery basin in Bangalore, soon i was ready in my shorts and the new Sneakers. Had a good B/F and set off to Aazad Maidan. We were in total 30 in number. The atmosphere at Azaad maidan was really inspiring so much of crowd had gathered to run!!! I couldn't belive myself. Finally we here the Gun Shot, and we were on a roll shouting slogans making noise to make sure people recognise us we have come all over from Bangalore and ofcourse the NGO's for which we volunteer. It took almost an hour to complete the Dream Run for there were lots and lots of people running. Each one running for a different cause some running for the protection of tigers, other for Child Rights, few for Women Empowerment somebody for HIV and soon i lost the count of causes as i passed across. It gave me feeling "Running is no more a Race, It is a Religion". It was an aesthitic feeling to run on the marine drive of Mumbai, there were small kids handing down bottles of water to the runners at intervals encouraging the full and half martahoners. Running amongst the crowd with cheer girls engouraging, the Navy band in full swing and ofcourse the deafning music with all the latest item numbers. Soon after the run we reached a restaurant to grab something for we were too tired, but had to wait an hour for the food to be served. To kill the time we came on the roads and were cheering those full marathon runners. I still remember "Dr. Roy - 74 year Old running the full marathon 42 KM" I was just cheering him up and soon our folks started with me. This really made me feel "Nothing is impossible - as long as you have the will power to do it..remember the Alchemsit when you want to achieve something the Universe will conspire to make it happen ..we just need to listen to our heart and follow your dream" Indeed thats what Dr. Roy was Doing, apparently he finished the run in 5hours + whereas the younk folks took more time. Truly he is an inspiring icon. We were cheering rest of the runners who were almost few kms away from the finishing line. Few runners who were almost giving up started to run again with our words "Little More to Go...Keep Running..". Soon the restaturant opened had a sumptuos lunch and was heading back to the guest house filled with those memories ..with the vibrant atmosphere throughtout the run..i got a feeling Mumbai Rocks, would definitely like to come back the next year and run the Half Marathon (21KM).

So far it has been Good Expereince and probably few bad things which you might have to figure out. But here i had to come across an Ugly incident.

2.30 PM : I have reached the guest house, we were supposed to have the meeting but wanted to freshen up and then go for it. I reach to my room and guess what i discover, my Baggage is missing. The Fasicnating looking bag might have prompted the person to break into the room and steal the same. But more than the Bag the stuff with in it is what i miss. I had my Laptop which has now become part and parcel of my life in the bag, and the backup thumb drive 2 GB, and other important accesories except my mobile phone and wallet . For few minutes my mind went black as i was not worried about the Laptop but i was worried about the Intellectual information of 60 GB that I lost the effect of which will be felt within no time. All that things that excite me, the entire background information of the same is in my laptop and have never taken backup. All those months of hard work has vanished with in those running hours. Though lodged a police complaint with too much of running around i couldn't restore what i lost. I had to postpone my flight for another 2 hours to finish the FIR exercise just to avoid any hassles at the work place.

Managed to get to blore at 11 pm and with all this mishappenings i still manage to walk from airport to my house though 2-3 kms away as walking is something that makes me rejuvinated and at down-times it really helps if not it will atleast make you more tired and forces u to sleep.

The lesson learnt "Take Backup of you Data regularly" thats the bright way of looking at things..however this will still pinch me in some corner but do i GOI (Get Over It) by saying it it just the ill luck that is associated with it had gone. Apparently there was parallel accident that happened at the same time in Blore which makes me feel more in the dumps.

I am not sure if i have to blame myself for the jinx of things happening as i am not able to understand the pattern of the ill luck being associated however from one sweet corner i get an advise "take a breather and take one thing at a time"..but how do i tell you the moment i take the breathe in and leave out some other thing gets stuck and makes the breath out really tough. Yet to come out of the those cluthces but Do i brood over and keep cribbing or just sing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", yes though little down in the dumps i dont want to be silly chumps and want to look only at the "Right Side of the Life" reminding us "the Last Laugh is always on Us".

With the awesome Expereince of the Mumbai Marathon and the not so good experience of my Baggage i am signing off just because i have exceeded the word limit of boring you!!!

Remembering Swamiji!!!!

Well how many of you rememeber this day ? A great soul was born on this day who has created ripples among the peoples with his outstanding speeches. We create very good noise on the birthdays of the so called celebeties - movie stars, cricketers and luckily the latest add on being Business leaders. But have we ever given importance to those souls who actually inspired these celebeties? Why dont we give importance to his luminous perosnality? We talk about the reel Heroes who are not the real Heroes..but we do have an oppurtunity to talk about the Real Hero..Yes Let us all remember him and live up to what he always wanted us to :
"Give Me ten people who are selfless, I will shake India" . Let us become one in that ten for whom he always waited. Its us who to take care of the world, let us stop procrastination and lets start doing something worthy to the fellow human beings for "Worthy life is the life of the person who lives for others" !!!!

Happy Birthday To My Real "Swamiji" - Swami Vivekananda!!!!

Rewind 2006...

Everybody is busy shopping, few making plans where to head to and many more things happening, for we can hear the bells ringing to welcome the NewYear!!! But here i am introspecting how has the year been !!! As i see over the years transforming myself into a better individual adapting to the changes around me, year 2006 has much more than this. I should say i have become more open, going towards the greater degree of being Extrovert, new add ons being diligence and perseverance into my life. I have learnt a lot with the people around me in the companies i worked and the social groups i volunteer- all the factors mentioned i attribute them to the groups i have been working for. Also this year has been the year of HIA ('Huge Information Assimilation) which i have been constantly trying to catch up on over the last 25 years and i think this quest for knowledge will be alive and will grow as has been happening the equation being directly proportional . Yet again this year i volunteered for another group called "Clean & Green" where my whole perspective of looking at life has changed and this group has actually transformed me into something which i cudnt believe myself.

If year 2004 Dream-A-Dream has imbibed me Empathy Not Sympathy , 2005 VODO has instilled me the some the best time - risk- management - networking - and many more soft skills which i apply at my daily work , 2006 C&G made me realise Beyond everything there's something called "Nature" and you need to embrace it, care for it as you care your mother, this group indeed has brought me an attitudinal change within myself as it made to get down to my knees and made me feel "A big problem is to be treated as a Big Oppourtunity".

As i always reiterate the fact every passing day is learning expereince for me and so is an year. Like all those beautiful moments you do have some off days and some incidents which make you feel bad , i realised i need to live with it and probably learn something out of it than cribbing over it for we can never escape out of Murphy's Law.

I have travelled a lot this year - trips to MekkeDaatu, Sangam, Galibore, Pearl Valley, Muttathi, Bheemeswari on a regular basis, then trip to SITA, Masina Gudi, Top Slip and a business trip to singapore along with the two trips i made to Vizag this year and recent one to Kanva reservoir.

On the theatre front i have been given the charge of "Production Manager" though burdened with extra responsibilities i have enjoyed it a lot be it closing the sponsorship deals, back stage work or co-ordinating with the cast, PR work and also giving music for the plays. We were able to pull off 8 productions succesfully this year and i enjoyed every moment of it.

On volunteering with Dream-A-Dream computer workshops i thoroughly enjoyed teaching kids which tested my nerves but in turn developed lot of patience, co-oridnated couple of workshops, monsoon miracles event and now part of the fund raising task force designing the strategies on the same to envisage the organizations vision.

On the Social entrepreneurial aspect, formed "power of we" with friends -as part of which conducted a traffic workshops, interfacing the NGO's with their needs and most importantly ran the "Bangalore Marathon" for the first time in my life - A real feel good Factor till date.

Switched company after slogging in for year and half to a Bigger MNC with a new profile and slowly got adjusted to the work environment but still lot be explored and yet to contribute my full fledged efforts.

As mentioned earlier volunteering with C&G - trying to mimize the "litter menace" at the often visited public places across the caurvery basin - learnt very good stuff and met some wonderful people who had an tremndous impact on me - be it on appreciating the beautiful places of nature or those long hours of treks or on how sensitive we need to be on human relations and a lot more.

Over the years though have been very sensitive and sentimental i have never showed it out. But few meetings with this wonderful person has actually made think where i was going wrong inspite of doing all the exciting things in my life - i have been a good engineer, good volunteer, good friend but not a good son.. for me my family has always taken a back seat. And having spent a day with this person's family i realised the missing link and when i shared the same she comes out with this beautiful lines which still echoes as i re-read it several times - "after all that they have done for us if we cannot give them what makes them happy, what is it that we have achieved in life?" though soundz simple yet a profund thought. Now that i roped in this person let me dedicate few lines confering a title "influential person of the year" :

I have known her for the past 9 months to be precise 9 months 9 days cutting the HH:MM:SS. For the First time when i met her i have titled her as an "Angel" - indeed she is, i discovered it over the period of time when I got along . Those hours of talks over the luncheons we had( though embarassing i have to say i made her pay always), minutes of chats on a regular basis be it general or for the cause we were working for have always had some valuable gyan with few funny moments of ayyooo...yupppaa...non-offensive blunt shut ups etc.. I have come across many women in life but never met such a sweet person, a person whom i always look up to. She has been the same sweet person every time I have seen her or talked to her and that says alot about her character. I was always amazed by the way she priortises her chores with due importance to perosnal relationships with family - relatives and friends. Always ready to extend that helping hand even before asking for it. I have many more incidents to narrate but would like to keep it to myself as i read somewhere which i rephrased it to my convenience "Don't ever tell everybody everything. If you do, you start missing everybody". I know for sure our paths are different may not have the same stories as i had over the year but how this person walked into my life and carved a niche in my heart is a story i will tell my grandchildren but for now i adore her dearly for she has touched an untouched corner of my heart with those beautiful lines making me realise where i have been going wrong.

Overall It has been great year so far with many interesting people around learning a lot from them . With all those sweet and sour moments that went through the year i hope the odd numbered Year 2007 will be evenly balanced and has much more exciting stuff in store . Since the dawn of the year happens to be an year more wrt to my age - i would like to make simple birthday resolution of - sleep less, gain more gyan, see new places and be more socially responsible.

Give Me A Break HoneY!!!!

Suddenly all the love songs on the FM are uninteresting to you, you feel like shutting the doors, spending most of the time alone , thats for you to realise the relationship has gone awry!!!. And the more you try to be in solitude without any discussion with your partner the more it deteriorates your condition. Everybody knows the break-up of a relationship is emotinally difficult for both the parties. I have seen couple of break-ups in my family where the concerned had really tough time for GOI (Getting Over It). Though i beleive in the institution of marriage which is supposedly according to Hindu Myth - is a relationship for 7 lives - off late the very belief in this institution has gone for a toss. Just when you are getting associated in a realtionship you think this would last for ever, you would see places together, you would do things together. But what happens after the marriage - soon you discover he/she is not the same as before and you start realising you need a private space and many more dreadful thoughts all leading to "Break-Up". But couples should realise a break-up is a loss the end of something that was special and important to you.The grief you feel can be similar to the grief you experience when someone dies. You will miss the person -the special things you did together, the long talks you had, the private jokes you shared. You may wonder what might have been or simply miss being part of a couple. Maybe your he/she is the only person you've ever met who shares your passion for a certain type of music or art. Until the thought of dumping each other crosses your mind there are still chances of re-aligining the relationship. Even otherwise i strongly feel you should give it a try to see if you can recitfy what has gone wrong in the realtionship. Probably if you dont feel like discussing it - write it down what are the cirumstances that instilled you this dreadful thought, what are the expectations - write down everything possible. Each of the couple should know this and should probably strike a solution rather than merely dumping each other. You have to remember when you can break one you can break another one too (even if you think you can get over the previous one with a new relationship). If you feel guilty for each other for breaking up thinking that you hurt him/her you should realise that still there is a room for you to get attached.
I have never heard of couples breaking up in my father's generation, but lot many in the generation after him : Is it because of the the sweeping structural and cultural changes - the scoiety to which we are exposed encourages this kindaa stuff. If that is the case i would defintely want to live in the era of grand parents than in this so called "metro-cosmo" culture.

Probably the break-ups before marriage makes sense than after - atleast in the earlier case you have had good study on the realtionship - and thats when you decided to take it forward or not , and once you decide and enter into the instituion of marriage - breaking up after a few years is something that needs to be pondered over and over again.

Though at this junture of break-ups people talk about the self-dependance and all that crap - you should realise the emotional trauma that you would have to undergo for you to come out of it. At the same time i dont say you need to just stick to for the heck of it - my appeal to those publics is give it a thought - nobody is perfect - A simple s/w analogy -We do design systems and you introduce bugs - that does not mean you scrap the s/w - instead you go over it - analyze it and check if it can be rectified. - Though might not sound a good one to defend - but you have to give a thought of analyzing it to every detail before breaking the marriage - my worry is about all the future citizens who have to live without one of them and undergo so called one parent relationship and definitely the break up is a catastrophe as he is growing.

Though I dont have the expereince of the marriage i am strongly against the marriage breakups probably bcause of the situations that i have expereinced. So i would definitely vouch for "Honey letz take a Break - .....to Mauritius"

For all the Bongs And Non Bongs Also!!!! (A plagiarised one)

For your reading pleasure and to Ignite you if you are a bong ;-) (Definitely not my writing)

Overview:

There are two kinds of Bengalis that we know. Probashi (or Expatriate) Bangalees... a fairly large and diverse group and the other is the Bengalees who are from Kolkata. This group is incorrectly known as Bongs, as they are merely a subset.

However, this is the only group, which matters. Gokhale said of them, long years ago, "What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow."

To which Rene Descartes responded, "I think (today), therefore I am (Bengali)." Like all other Nobel Prize Winners, Oscar Awardees and most successful Indian cricket captains, Rene Descartes was also a Bong (this fact is not known outside of Kolkata).

Physical Description:
The Bong has a large head, glasses, glistening hair and dark skin. Older Bongs develop an ample stomach to balance their large heads. This happens by the age of 25. They smell of Keo Karpin. The average life expectancy is 65 years. What is even more impressive is what they do in those years. Outside Kolkata, regardless of weather, sex or age...Bongs can be seen in their Monkey Caps. This is a must-have accessory as well as a sign to recognise other Bongs.

Early Years:
While most Bongs are born with innate talents in singing, dancing, painting, film-making, cooking or embroidery, their creative talents are honed even before they can start speaking. Frequent meets are organized between infants and their successful ancestors and other relatives. MA degrees (preferably from Cambridge, or at least from Presidency or Jadobpoor) are displayed over the cots. The infant is exposed to the best of Bengali thought - Marx, Bentham, Kalidas, Tolstoy, Chekov*.

This increases the size of their heads and the height of their ambitions. Similar examples, though rare, can be found in European tradition as well, as in the case of Mozart. In India, however, Bongs have the sole preserve on such activity during infancy.

Soon, when they grow up a little, their characters are further honed in the best of schools. Here, I am not referring to the St. Xavier's, La Marts, Don Bosco's et al. They are important in the nurture a Bong child goes through. What is even more important are the schools the Bong child passes through before school and after school. Many a Bong child wakes up at five o'clock in the morning to attend swimming classes. After one hour of swimming, he attends tennis coaching before rushing off to one of the first heaven schools mentioned above. School finishes by three or so, from where, he scoots along to Singing/Instrumental Music/ Dance Classes , followed by tuition (in at least three of all five subjects). He rounds off the day with coaching on either Debating or Quizzing.

Many a Bong mom, after the mandatory afternoon nap, will carry the child along through this day, feeling equally energised with uncommon zeal. This behaviour is again not restricted to Bongs. It is also seen within kangaroos in Australia who rush along from one clump to another bush.

Growing Up:
Soon the Bong attains adolescence, doesn't find friends of his age (since not everyone is competing for the Nobel Prize or the Indian captaincy) and finds intimacy in conversation in his/her parents or the poems of T.S. Eliot and Pablo Neruda. When school ends, they move on to the good colleges - St. Xavier's, Presidency or IIT Kharagpur.

The best of them, though, move straight to Joo (Jadobpoor). However, in recent years, Dilli (Stephen's obviously), is becoming the preferred destination for some escapists. In colleges, they decorate their rooms with books or portraits of Robi Thakur (Tagore). On the opposite wall, they will have posters of Che/Maradona and Enrique Iglesias, thus expressing solidarity with Latin American culture. All of them share equal interest in the Bong-Rock (Bhumi, Chondrobindu, Cactus, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple).

Later Years:
Bongs mature early. Critics have said that they grow old early, but that is nothing but old hat. Years of toil and Eliot would obviously bestow wisdom. The reason they look older is because the sole purpose of a Bong's life is to win the Nobel Prize or the Oscars (and in recent years, captain the Indian team). With great responsibility comes great age. Add to it, the chlorine in the swimming pools and you know why Bongs grey prematurely. As far as their mission in life is concerned, they have been very successful at it.

Every Indian Nobel Prize winner has been Bong. So have the Oscar Awardees. And yes... the most successful Cricket Captain. And you have my favourite Bipasha Basu too?

Once Bongs have kids though, their mission on life changes.

The only raision d'etre for them is making sure that their progeny achieves the heights that they could (or couldn't). Hence, parent Bongs are mostly found outside of schools, colleges and tuition classes.

Diet:
Diet is as important as Robindro Shongeet. There's nothing that a Bong can't eat. However, they prefer protein over other food groups. The largest source of protein for them is fish, then meat, and then mishti (sweets) made from milk. More than fish itself, it is the knowledge of fish, which is coveted and enjoyed. Carbohydrates are tolerated if they are deep-fried in oil or if it is an accompaniment to fish. Luchis (equivalent of a Puri), Telebhajas (pakoras) and Phuchkas (Paani Puri) are the favoured source of carbohydrates.

The young Bengali though, invariably, always lives on a diet of Farex, Lactogen and Waterbury's Compound followed by Horlicks in later years.

Mating and Procreation: A few Bong end up being in relationships, which lead to love marriage:) This is sometimes shown in movies and song. However, most do not have any such social malignancy and end up marrying the woman of their mother's dreams or men of their father's choosing.

This results in mixing the right genes for the next cycle of Bongs. Love marriage, by its very nature, is random. It sometimes results in tragedy, like marrying an alien (into unknowns of another country... like India ). Hence, it is avoided, wherever possible.

Social Life:
Adda, Robindro Shongeet and Cha. Repeat. Do note that the young Bong doesn't have a social life (at least not till he wins the Nobel or gets a Government job).

Habitat:
While you may find a Bong in other places (like occasionally in offices), the best time to observe a Bong is in his natural habitat - the best of colleges, the best of schools, the best of coffee houses. It is here that he will tell you about Balzac while she will recite poetry with gay abandon. To mix in with the Bong, apply Keo Karpin to your hair and carry a jhola.

Hopefully, they won't notice your small head. Do not worry about not knowing the language, as the Bong likes being heard.

Famous Bongs:Many famous Bongs have been referred to in this extract. Hence, this section is used to debunk that big myth about Bongs. People believe that Bong men can't be hunky. If so, then what about Abhishek Bachchan (via mother,) Saif Ali Khan (via mother), John Abraham (via girlfriend), Hritik Roshan (via grandmother)... ...?? It only goes to prove that Bongs are good guys, despite their love of cracking jokes about every other community but completely lacking the ability to laugh at themselves... ha haa

WHY EMPLOYEES LEAVE ORGANISATIONS ?

Following is an excerpt that i came across recently apparently sent by - Azim Premji, CEO- Wipro to thier employees:

Every company faces the problem of people leaving the company for better pay
or profile.

Early this year, Mark, a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the offer.

He had heard a lot about the CEO. The salary was great. The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office,and the very best technology,even a canteen that served superb food.

Twice Mark was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined.

Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Mark walked out of the job.

Why did this talented employee leave ? Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away.

The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called "First Break All The Rules".

It came up with this surprising finding:

If you're losing good people, look to their immediate boss .Immediate boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he 's the reason why people leave. When people leave they take knowledge,experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition.

"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.

Mostly manager drives people away?

HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave,but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he looks for another job.

When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don 't have your heart and soul in the job."

Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious,too pushy, too critical, but they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a trivial issue.

Talented men leave. Dead wood doesn't. ..

Immediately I went and looked at this article : http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/jul/08bspec.htm

My Take : I shifted two companies - the first one though was something unavoidable, the second shift in a way i agree with the person who wrote the article. So indeed me too a talented man :-)

Unveiling my First travelAbroad

Well I am not sure how long this blog will run into but you have to bear with me. "If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things." Well this was something i picked from Henry miller's quotes and dedicated to my friend when she was about to travel to Singapore as i was sure i cannot make it to wish her for the bonvoyage. However that quote really intrigues ones self when you are out of the country. Here it goes...I had been to singapore last week on a business visit. I was excited as its the first time i will get to see a different culture altogether which i had always heard of but never felt my presence there. I was mentally prepared to expereince th culture shock ofcourse with help of my dear friend who had been there earlier. Every moment of the trip is amazing.

First things first..I landed up at the airport (after a day long hectic schedule) well in advance so i was the first one lead the crew to board the plane. Though nobody was there to bid farewell for my first international travel i was just waving my hands at the people who turned out for the fellow passengers. Had to go through a long process of secuirity cheque and finished it at reasonable time than expected. Had to kill another 2 hours, called up who can bear me and managed to bore for half an hour. The next 1 hour passed just like this for i met a veteran techie from HP based in US of A..playing the "Gyan Gyan" game. We talked and talked - ofcourse it was all about how technology changed the world , how HP & ORACLE are different. Luckily i finished half the book of "World is Flat" and i gave my gyan from that. Soon it was time to board the flight. All the while i have heard of boeing read abt it and now i am flying on Boeing...The journey was about 4.5 hours. I was a satisfied man with the hospitality of the crew inside the flight. Though had been on a jet lag over the last 2-3 days(For those who thin jet lag is caused only if you travel is sheer misconeption. It can be caused even due to mere physical exhaustion) i was exhausted by the time i reached singapore. But here i go..i was amazed at seeing the Aiport. This is something beyond what i actually heard off. That was an "infrastructure shock" for me having been in blore over the last 4 years. I thought for myself way back i will spend as much time possible in the airport. Though it takes a pretty long time to get out of the airport you will never crib for it since the surroundings are so soothening that you will enjoy every moment spent. Got out of the airport took a taxi to the hotel. I was fasicnated by the skycrapers - if singapore is like this imagine how will the city of skycrapers look like. Passing throught all those huge buildings reached the hotel. Quickly checked into the hotel - my room is in the 27th floor - and very nice view of the city from my room. Had breakfast, took a quick shower and opened my laptop to see what was my plan (courtesy prepared my dear friend). I thought i will have walk around the suntec city where i am put up and then leave to SENTOSA ISLAND. Suntec city is the place where all the BIG corporates are put up..and you have Only the BIIIIIIG MALLS around. It has got 4 towers and each tower is has a mall. Added to this there couple of other Big Malls Around. In between all these towers there is huge fountain called "fountain of wealth" a must see place supposedly the largets fountain in the world. Took a walk around all those big malls,big towers,buildings etc. Landed up at the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport if i remember it correct the automated metro trains).

And the system they have in place to get the tickets is amazing. You need not have to do any preparation in order to get to any place, just look at the map - figure out where you want to go, if no direct train interchange - all is in the map - only thing u need to know whats there in the map. Drop in your coins,key in your destination and thats it you get a card for the day. Swipe it and wait for the train, "Mind the Gap" when the train stops hop on to it and by the time the couple next to you finish smooching you are already at the place you want to be and the door is wide open for you. Reached Harbour front took a bus to Sentosa Island Resort - a major tourist attraction. Has a few beaches, some theme parks,luge.. and lot more exciting stuff including Palawan Beach which lies in the centre of the southern coast of Sentosa. There is a suspension bridge that leads to a small islet off the coast which is said to be the Southernmost Point of Continental Asia, or Asia's closest point to the Equator.. If you want to lighten your wallet and have fun at the same time this is Sentosa is the place. I could just chill around this place for more than 4 hours. Went around the place tried few of the stuff had some exotic food. Everybody who goes there has to wait till 7.45 pm for the fountain show musing the reflection and refraction of the lasers hitting the water particles creatinf a 3-d image is something worth waiting to watch explaining the importance of Sentosa. After an exhaustive day got back to the Hotel preparing for my actuial business. The rest of the three days of my stay was equally good with the majority portion of the day being spent for the purpose and the evenings going around the unexplored parts of singapore like Orachard Road (on parrallel to Brigade Road....wll lit up...since christmas is approaching with good shopping stuff)...marina square...mustafa (one of the largest and cheapest store to do your shopping. You get everything on earth here.). There are couple of pure eloctronic malls like simlin square where you get you can freak out if you are a gadget savvy. Though in the evenings it was raining i could manage to check out everything has been planned except few. The best part of Singapore is the infrastructure, the traffic system - everybody follows the lane disipline so religioulsy you can hardly hear any honkings, every vehicle rips on an average speed of 80-90 kmp and the best part is they give respect to pedestrians (even at no zebra crossings) which is quite amazing. You have digital automated system in place which let you know how much time will it take to reach you if its a peak hour traffic (ofcourse we do have RJ's doing the job in blore..). Truly i was taken back by a surprise with the traffic system in place. Added to this the place is so clean everybody takes that extra step of walking 10 steps to throw the litter which is hard to find in India. Though its quite humid and we do sweat, In the evening when i get back to my room i see that my collars have no shades of dirt at all thats the level of dirt free zone they maintain, also I had polished my shoe only once and it was neat and shining until i reached bangalore. Another quick fact i came to know is that nothing is grown in Singapore even the electricity and water comes from the neigbouring malaysia including the food nad other stuff..no wonder they have such a huge harbour. Though i was feeling lonely (it would have been nice if there was one more atleast to click the snaps for me) the people are very friendly there they smile at you whenever you exchange a glance at them. Needless to say the culture is weseternised with so many pubs and coffee shops openings up the youth spends most of the time either in the malls or at these places.

On the last day of my stay i went to MerLion Park - Statute with Head of a Lion and body of a fish - a strange animal though recalls the story of Sang Nilama Utama who found a Lion while on hunt in this Island and named the place Simhapuri. Probably he has a taste of the Sling which illusionise the body of the lion in resemblance to fish. Anyways its the trademark and awesome place to visit and you can the boat ride around the bay which covers most part of the city. Right opposite is the staute of Stamford Raffles - the founder of Singapore..no wonder all the places predominatnly are suffixed or prefixed with raffles. A nice place to walk around till the Esplanade mall where i came across a bunch little kids spent some time with them finished the last minute shopping checked out of the hotel at 5 pm. Luckliy since it was a business travel i had the chance of travelling in merc and limo around the city on couple of occasions. Reached airport well before time. Checked in my luggage and was just freaking out in the airport for almost more than 2 hours. Took every snap of it browsed internet, tried the Baileys caramelle flavour, had a foot massage covered every angle of Airport. Its just different earth altogether i felt.

I wished the indian government send some of their beuracrats , the politicians to these places learn how the government here works, how they designed the system , how they built the infrastructure etc. I would defintely like to see atleast couple of cities in india having this kind of infrastructure in my life time. Its not a magic that the Singapore has created (if you see the population in singapore is predominantly domindated by tamilians no wonder you have sign boards written in tamil along with english- the entire labour is migrated from india.- they knew how to harness the skill) it all depend on how to tap the exisiting potential and utilise the fullest extent in creating such infrastructure rather than being occupied in filling their pockets. Thats a different topic altogether will key in some other time.

Finally after 30 mins delay the plane took off. The view of the city in the night from the top is simply superb. Soon it was dinner time..I had been asked to try out repeatedly - Singapore Sling so tried this in the craft pretty nice drink. Reached bangalore and finished all the checks but had to wait for an hour to claim my baggage...we defintiely need provision of stress busters in Bangalore Airport. And now in putting down my expereince in brief with the circadain rythm in action, so please bear any typo's. Well as stated initially one's destination is never a place but a new way of looking at things hopefully i see a better infrastructure rich bangalore in near future just to avoid the cribbings by all these foreginers , for when we are foreigners we boast about the place left right center like what i did above but when we are mainlanders we along with foreiners crib, well that should not be the case.

And finally A big Virtual Hug to my friend who took her time out in making a detailed plan, knowledging(plz recommend this word to oxford) me abt the place and the timely help in every possible way right from handing the lock n key in the last moment to the USD's for xcange ( I guess i have to return the equvalent rupees:-) ) without which i would have had to forgo my shopping.