Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Right Now, Right Here
There is one thought at this very moment - y? y ? y? so many ys and no answers in mind neither in the nearest vicinity ...
Friday, November 16, 2007
Man proposes, God disposes!
Many a times life throws open a challenging situation leaving us wonder why something happened the way it did.
I was reading through Anne Frank's journal and the fact that someone could suffer for almost 4 long years just because someone belonged to a particluar race was very upsetting.
At the end of all the suffering, it would have been wonderful had she and her compliance survived the ordeal. There was a small hope in each of them that kept them alive through all those years. But the ending as it happened - was very depressing. To consider that they were so close to escape and still did not survive was really shocking.
What was the plan in store? If they has to face a brutal reality as death in the end - why were they kept alive for 4 years in a small cell? If they had to be captured in the end - why were they so close to truth and still went so far away?
I am too small to understand the higher scheme of things.
Maybe thats why they say , "Man proposes, God disposes! "
I was reading through Anne Frank's journal and the fact that someone could suffer for almost 4 long years just because someone belonged to a particluar race was very upsetting.
At the end of all the suffering, it would have been wonderful had she and her compliance survived the ordeal. There was a small hope in each of them that kept them alive through all those years. But the ending as it happened - was very depressing. To consider that they were so close to escape and still did not survive was really shocking.
What was the plan in store? If they has to face a brutal reality as death in the end - why were they kept alive for 4 years in a small cell? If they had to be captured in the end - why were they so close to truth and still went so far away?
I am too small to understand the higher scheme of things.
Maybe thats why they say , "Man proposes, God disposes! "
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Howto Tie a Tie?
Found an interesting link on how to tie a tie!
Good one...
http://www.scoutdb.org/h2tat/
Good one...
http://www.scoutdb.org/h2tat/
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Definition of Success
This is a definition of success as defined by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Its something that I really really like. In fact, I think - the last line shud have read - this is to have "lived". What do u say? Read on...
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
Its something that I really really like. In fact, I think - the last line shud have read - this is to have "lived". What do u say? Read on...
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Pls help them survive
"Poachers kill one of last two white rhinos in Zambia " shocked me beyond belief. Googling revealed that the main reason why rhinos are killed is its horn. Further googling uncovered intesresting facts that that the horn is used mainly as ornamental and medicinal. For details on what the price is and how much it sells for, etc refer to site.
Rhino is just one of the endangered species - that gets wide attention because of the size. There are innumerable species that have vanished from this earth in the past centuries. The rate at which the species have been destroyed due to many factors in the last four decades seem to be much more than the earlier centuries considered together. Being human, how can we be so inhuman? Is there a way to educate these men that what they are doing this act for - money - is nothing but a few pieces of paper thats worthy in one place but useless in another. Hey! help these innocent lives around us.
Rhino is just one of the endangered species - that gets wide attention because of the size. There are innumerable species that have vanished from this earth in the past centuries. The rate at which the species have been destroyed due to many factors in the last four decades seem to be much more than the earlier centuries considered together. Being human, how can we be so inhuman? Is there a way to educate these men that what they are doing this act for - money - is nothing but a few pieces of paper thats worthy in one place but useless in another. Hey! help these innocent lives around us.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Shaping of a personality
As long as one knows what s/he wants, s/he always has a dircetion and a path in mind that they want to trek and land there. Problem begins when there is no aim or goal. Every person starts his/ her journey based on a notion of beliefs and expectations that are set by his/ her parents. This belief slowly expands to the sphere of touch - to that of their close friends and relatives and from there to the wider world of others. Most of the child's upbringing is a great reflection of the parent's unfunfilled desires and wants. The child believes in his/her own true innocence on what is being told/ fed in day-in and day-out and starts developing a similar belief system. There are very few children who think on a free will even when they grow up - not because they are not capable of it - but because they have never ventured in that direction.
Many a times, we find confident children of confident parents. Timid children of timid parents, cheerful child of a successful parent and a lacklustre child of a miserable parent. There are very few who understand on what affects the mind of a child.
Loads of thoughts ...too much to type and too tired now....
Many a times, we find confident children of confident parents. Timid children of timid parents, cheerful child of a successful parent and a lacklustre child of a miserable parent. There are very few who understand on what affects the mind of a child.
Loads of thoughts ...too much to type and too tired now....
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Fatal Attraction
It was a beautiful evening and me and my colleagues had decided that we would not miss our plan of action that Sunday evening. We set out and everything was working as planned. Good friends, great food, a quiet Sunday evening, it was a very relaxing day out. When we got out of our car to reach our place of destination, the cool breeze hit our faces and strands of my hair blocked my view and I felt something magical in the air.
As the evening went on its course, I was thinking to myself as to why something was so different that evening. As habituated, I started humming one of my fav numbers. Everything was quiet and then - suddenly there was a flash right before my eyes. My eyes fell on a young man of about 30-32. About 6 feet. He had long hair just as I prefer. Nice nose. Sparkling eyes. Smirkish smile. Majestic voice. Super cool attitude . Absolute control over his actions and thoughts. Although I found him different than the rest of the lot, I didn't find anything amusing about this person till action began. His approach was different. His profession seemed to be even different. His passion for what he pursued - showed in his every action-every second. Every movement of his, every action of his, every word that he spoke, everything that he did - was in a way very different from what I had ever seen before. There was something very special about his personality or at least it appeared to be so. He liked photography and adventure like I do. His intelligence, his charm, his smile, his wit, his movements, his fast pace, his well-built athletic body - as my grey cells were busy computing and working out on an algorithm based on observations and data and trying to analyse his character and him, my heart was slowly finding peace in his presence. Hey, what was his name? What did he do? Somebody mentioned his name and from the way he behaved, I found answers to my other questions too. I just could not take my eyes off this chap. I realized that I was acting abnormal consciously. I was just waiting to catch a glimpse of his next action. I was restless while the others were enjoying the remaining part of the evening. I felt a rush of adreline from my head to toes and felt like screaming his name at the top of my lungs. I wanted to sing "Kya Mujhe Pyar Hai"(Am I in love?) aloud ...I felt a little angry and ashamed at the same time of myself and could feel myself blushing. But I could not stop myself from observing his every action or following him. I knew that I was a fool to get into this mad fantasy. But there was nothing in my control - neither my super heavy head nor my heart. Somehow, my limbs were getting weaker and my hands refused to move. My fingers were trembling with the fear of doing something nasty amidst the crowd. I was out of this world and didn't realize that it was almost complete three hours that I spent looking , staring, carefully watching, admiring, admiring, falling all at the same time. I was completely giving way to my temptations. My dil went hmmmm....I was smiling to myself. I was just thinking of the next steps when she appeared. She was a stunner and nothing lesser than this chap. They made a cute pair together and started dancing and moving around in style. His love for her was evident from his eyes and her eyes were confused. With a Greek God in person, I couldn't help but smile on her helplessness. Any girl in her place would have felt the same. He certainly was intelligent, charming, good looking, passionate, loving, caring, affectionate, trust worthy, rich, different and of course too perfect for the real world. And that was the moment when reality struck me.
I came back to my senses. I gave a sheepish smile to my friend sitting next to me - reflecting the fact that he indeed was too perfect to be real. Dhoom2 ended. Dhoom in my heart had just begun ...Aryan - how I wish you were real!!! Do u hear me?
As the evening went on its course, I was thinking to myself as to why something was so different that evening. As habituated, I started humming one of my fav numbers. Everything was quiet and then - suddenly there was a flash right before my eyes. My eyes fell on a young man of about 30-32. About 6 feet. He had long hair just as I prefer. Nice nose. Sparkling eyes. Smirkish smile. Majestic voice. Super cool attitude . Absolute control over his actions and thoughts. Although I found him different than the rest of the lot, I didn't find anything amusing about this person till action began. His approach was different. His profession seemed to be even different. His passion for what he pursued - showed in his every action-every second. Every movement of his, every action of his, every word that he spoke, everything that he did - was in a way very different from what I had ever seen before. There was something very special about his personality or at least it appeared to be so. He liked photography and adventure like I do. His intelligence, his charm, his smile, his wit, his movements, his fast pace, his well-built athletic body - as my grey cells were busy computing and working out on an algorithm based on observations and data and trying to analyse his character and him, my heart was slowly finding peace in his presence. Hey, what was his name? What did he do? Somebody mentioned his name and from the way he behaved, I found answers to my other questions too. I just could not take my eyes off this chap. I realized that I was acting abnormal consciously. I was just waiting to catch a glimpse of his next action. I was restless while the others were enjoying the remaining part of the evening. I felt a rush of adreline from my head to toes and felt like screaming his name at the top of my lungs. I wanted to sing "Kya Mujhe Pyar Hai"(Am I in love?) aloud ...I felt a little angry and ashamed at the same time of myself and could feel myself blushing. But I could not stop myself from observing his every action or following him. I knew that I was a fool to get into this mad fantasy. But there was nothing in my control - neither my super heavy head nor my heart. Somehow, my limbs were getting weaker and my hands refused to move. My fingers were trembling with the fear of doing something nasty amidst the crowd. I was out of this world and didn't realize that it was almost complete three hours that I spent looking , staring, carefully watching, admiring, admiring, falling all at the same time. I was completely giving way to my temptations. My dil went hmmmm....I was smiling to myself. I was just thinking of the next steps when she appeared. She was a stunner and nothing lesser than this chap. They made a cute pair together and started dancing and moving around in style. His love for her was evident from his eyes and her eyes were confused. With a Greek God in person, I couldn't help but smile on her helplessness. Any girl in her place would have felt the same. He certainly was intelligent, charming, good looking, passionate, loving, caring, affectionate, trust worthy, rich, different and of course too perfect for the real world. And that was the moment when reality struck me.
I came back to my senses. I gave a sheepish smile to my friend sitting next to me - reflecting the fact that he indeed was too perfect to be real. Dhoom2 ended. Dhoom in my heart had just begun ...Aryan - how I wish you were real!!! Do u hear me?
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Usability
I came across an interesting video in Google on how they tested Google with users and came across a few interesting suggestions and that led to the improved UI. Usability was always a priority as I always had the customer in mind but it had never struck me before till I was in a usability test myself and saw how user's actions were resulting into different interpretations and the choices they made depending on what they observed...and i was surprised to find a third angle to the whole exercise.
it scared me for a minute that a person cud not see the close button right there on the screen and didn't think it was conveying the correct meaning.
I am learning and understand that i have a long way to go.
i sometimes wonder if a person is let to think / ponder on a subject for too long, then maybe s/he gets confused and takes/ provides a wrong feedback. Its often the first interpretation thats correct but that gets eroded with a different idea/perception as the person thinks deeper on the suggested and the taken action.
it scared me for a minute that a person cud not see the close button right there on the screen and didn't think it was conveying the correct meaning.
I am learning and understand that i have a long way to go.
i sometimes wonder if a person is let to think / ponder on a subject for too long, then maybe s/he gets confused and takes/ provides a wrong feedback. Its often the first interpretation thats correct but that gets eroded with a different idea/perception as the person thinks deeper on the suggested and the taken action.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Might is power
I was watching the interview of Richard Gere with Karan. The discussion of contribution to society came about to be discussed. Why is it necessary for an American to bring out issues in India? Is it that we are blind or act blind and think ignorance is bliss. Probably its bliss as long as one doesn't realize the truth but the minute one realizes the truth, doesn't it prick one's conscience? There are many ways to look at it. But the truth of the hour is that the amount of awareness that this chap is bringing to the society is not brought up by us.
There was also a discussion about Tibet - I was also watching the video documentary on Tibet and how the Chinese invaders forced the Tibetans to move out of Tibet , which included the DalaiLama. Its a sad state of affairs that in this modern age of science and technology, there exists still engulfment, enroachment, forceful execution and such other factors. Although force is a means to make people bow, its an act of oppression and not choice and what good is that to anyone? All that remains at the end is an act of hatred, sorrow and tears.
I was watching through the history channel and it was eminent everywhere - from the days of mohd Ghazini to Babur to Akbar to Tibet to India - the mighty have always oppressed and driven away the weak - there just doesnot seem to be a way to fight them.
Buddha's and Gandhi's non-violence and satyagraha - all prove detrimental in this age of oppression and warfare. If I take up a fast like how Gandhi did some years back, why will anyone even care abt a dying soul? Its just another body for them! and to an extent - rightly so.
Finally, it all boils down to the fact that the might still holds power - be it the kinds of people like the GodFather or the Chinese over Tibet or the powerful Richard Gere over the masses or the super nations over ailing nations.
Is that why , possibly even Krishna seems to have stopped listening to the needy and listening to the powerful?
There was also a discussion about Tibet - I was also watching the video documentary on Tibet and how the Chinese invaders forced the Tibetans to move out of Tibet , which included the DalaiLama. Its a sad state of affairs that in this modern age of science and technology, there exists still engulfment, enroachment, forceful execution and such other factors. Although force is a means to make people bow, its an act of oppression and not choice and what good is that to anyone? All that remains at the end is an act of hatred, sorrow and tears.
I was watching through the history channel and it was eminent everywhere - from the days of mohd Ghazini to Babur to Akbar to Tibet to India - the mighty have always oppressed and driven away the weak - there just doesnot seem to be a way to fight them.
Buddha's and Gandhi's non-violence and satyagraha - all prove detrimental in this age of oppression and warfare. If I take up a fast like how Gandhi did some years back, why will anyone even care abt a dying soul? Its just another body for them! and to an extent - rightly so.
Finally, it all boils down to the fact that the might still holds power - be it the kinds of people like the GodFather or the Chinese over Tibet or the powerful Richard Gere over the masses or the super nations over ailing nations.
Is that why , possibly even Krishna seems to have stopped listening to the needy and listening to the powerful?
Monday, May 14, 2007
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Friday, May 4, 2007
steve's one more thing
Everyone seems to have some form of superstition...Watch this...Hard to believe...
but seems to be true
but seems to be true
1.2.3.4.stay hungry
more than just reading, steve speaks with a lot of passion in his voice...nice inspirational speech....
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Da Vinci Code
Da Vinci Code is a book that I finished reading in a day - I started reading at abt 10 am in the morning when I went to the shop and got it. But then, once I started reading through, I just could not keep it down. Everything from the murder mystery to the Priory of Sion to the story on Christ to the code to cryptography to the way the story unwinds - kept me going on and on - page after page - hour after hour. I took short 10 minute breaks for lunch and dinner and by 11 pm at night- I had to finish the book and I did. In spite of constant reading, although I was tired and my eyes were droopy, my mind was racing at a super speed.
If the lineage as mentioned in the book did/does exist, what happened to them? Where are they now? What happened to the folks who tried for ages to safeguard the secret - what happened to them? What actually happened to the girl? Is it one among us - someone with that special touch? Does the secret society still exist? Who are the members? What do they do? How do they get into this society? It would be interesting to get in touch with someone from that group - considering that they are intelligent and have a mission in mind.
Well, Dan , you left many questions unanswered.I don't blame you - you did a fantastic job spinning a story around something that you wanted to present to the world. But these questions - ah!!!
If I draw an analogy to the same fact of a lineage to India - do we even know what happened to Ram's sons - Luv and Kush? Did they also rule over Ayodhya? We speak of Babri Masjid and Ram Mndir - but it'll be interesting to find what happ to their families?
Considering that Mahabharatha happened after Ramayan, its possible that most of those in that lineage - perished - actually its a 50-50.
Considering that I am an eternal optimist, I would go with the +ve 50 and it'll really be worthwhile to pen down the family history/ family tree of our forefathers and I am sure somewhere we will find the sons/ great great great grandsons/ daughters of the great of the land. Who knows - it could even be me! :-)
Guess, its time for me to adieu!
More of my passing thoughts later....
If the lineage as mentioned in the book did/does exist, what happened to them? Where are they now? What happened to the folks who tried for ages to safeguard the secret - what happened to them? What actually happened to the girl? Is it one among us - someone with that special touch? Does the secret society still exist? Who are the members? What do they do? How do they get into this society? It would be interesting to get in touch with someone from that group - considering that they are intelligent and have a mission in mind.
Well, Dan , you left many questions unanswered.I don't blame you - you did a fantastic job spinning a story around something that you wanted to present to the world. But these questions - ah!!!
If I draw an analogy to the same fact of a lineage to India - do we even know what happened to Ram's sons - Luv and Kush? Did they also rule over Ayodhya? We speak of Babri Masjid and Ram Mndir - but it'll be interesting to find what happ to their families?
Considering that Mahabharatha happened after Ramayan, its possible that most of those in that lineage - perished - actually its a 50-50.
Considering that I am an eternal optimist, I would go with the +ve 50 and it'll really be worthwhile to pen down the family history/ family tree of our forefathers and I am sure somewhere we will find the sons/ great great great grandsons/ daughters of the great of the land. Who knows - it could even be me! :-)
Guess, its time for me to adieu!
More of my passing thoughts later....
Antimatter
Just as I was browsing aimlessly, I came the site on digital fortress - Dan Brown's book - that got famous post DaVinciCode. http://www.danbrown.com/secrets/ has a lot of interesting information and I found it amusing to learn abt a lot of new things. There was a mention of antimatter, anti-proton and anti-electron and I would hav ethought that the anti-proton is electron and anti-electron is proton . But it isn't so. There is also a mention of antimatter.
Very interesting indeed... Wiki has done a fab job to give details on the subject. Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiproton and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatter
Physics was one of my fav subjects in school and college and miss reading thru details like these now a days.
Well, but I do wonder what's the use of this anti-particle?
Very interesting indeed... Wiki has done a fab job to give details on the subject. Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiproton and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatter
Physics was one of my fav subjects in school and college and miss reading thru details like these now a days.
Well, but I do wonder what's the use of this anti-particle?
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Quirky quirks
We faced a problem in our product. The application rendered itself beautifully in all browsers on all OS but was breaking in IE6 on all OS. Firefox and MAC obeyed us. IE6 made me have sleepless nights as the release date was nearing. It he did it. It was Rick who found then what the problem was. It was because of a problem in IE6 - that makes it render it in different ways when stylesheets are used. We tried two three times and did not work still. It worked perfectly in all our local machines but not on the test environment. Great! Welcome to the world of s/w engr!
This problem has taken us three weeks already and everything from individual rendering of screens to hardcoding to standardizing the styles were already tried.
Rick was planning to add some comments and I was wondering - how can a comment solve a styling issue? Anyways, he is the styling expert and I had to be quiet ...I waited impatiently while Rick made the changes. I did a new build and I didnot even want to open my eyes to see if it was successful when I got a msg - Success! I couldn't believe my eyes...Finally addition of a comment before the DOCTYPE ... did it...
YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO.....I was very very happy that day.
Thanks Rick and full marks to you.
More info on quirks mode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirks_mode
This problem has taken us three weeks already and everything from individual rendering of screens to hardcoding to standardizing the styles were already tried.
Rick was planning to add some comments and I was wondering - how can a comment solve a styling issue? Anyways, he is the styling expert and I had to be quiet ...I waited impatiently while Rick made the changes. I did a new build and I didnot even want to open my eyes to see if it was successful when I got a msg - Success! I couldn't believe my eyes...Finally addition of a comment before the DOCTYPE ... did it...
YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO.....I was very very happy that day.
Thanks Rick and full marks to you.
More info on quirks mode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirks_mode
SethuSamudhram Project
Rediff had an interesting article on the SethuSamudhram project and how they were planning to destroy the sand banks - that are believed to have been built by Ram and his army on his way to SriLanka to retrieve Sita.
Well, if this is indeed a bridge built by Ram, doesn't he know how to protect it? There are a lof of anguish from all communities against this plan to destroy the bridge.
People are angry that inspite of so many other routes being available, why is this route that leads through the bridge , also known as Adam's bridge or Ram's bridge , chosen for this project?
Some details, some facts and figures, some decision driving reasons - if shared with public will greatly help calm and also win the trust of people.
But is anyone listening?
Well, if this is indeed a bridge built by Ram, doesn't he know how to protect it? There are a lof of anguish from all communities against this plan to destroy the bridge.
People are angry that inspite of so many other routes being available, why is this route that leads through the bridge , also known as Adam's bridge or Ram's bridge , chosen for this project?
Some details, some facts and figures, some decision driving reasons - if shared with public will greatly help calm and also win the trust of people.
But is anyone listening?
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Virginia Killings
The news was:A student at Virginia Tech university gunned down 33 people and then shot himself..."
This incident sent a chill down my spine!!
Shows how much can mockery and ridicule and hurt can harm someone!!! Just the same way that it created the bandit queen ! Isn't it a shame for the world to encourage such behavior ? isn't it a shame on each of us that we let such a thing happen? Isn't it a shame that one of us - one another human felt so hurt that he hurt so many others like him? Isn't it a shame for us to be writing and preaching abt such acts of pain while we shud atually be correcting these in the society?
I know not what the answer is to the questions above !
But yes, its an eye opener certainly and makes us pause for a minute!!!
May the almighty rest the departed souls and give strength to the family of the accused to bear his loss and his past.
This incident sent a chill down my spine!!
Shows how much can mockery and ridicule and hurt can harm someone!!! Just the same way that it created the bandit queen ! Isn't it a shame for the world to encourage such behavior ? isn't it a shame on each of us that we let such a thing happen? Isn't it a shame that one of us - one another human felt so hurt that he hurt so many others like him? Isn't it a shame for us to be writing and preaching abt such acts of pain while we shud atually be correcting these in the society?
I know not what the answer is to the questions above !
But yes, its an eye opener certainly and makes us pause for a minute!!!
May the almighty rest the departed souls and give strength to the family of the accused to bear his loss and his past.
Creativity
Tara Rum Pum is a new Indian Hindi movie just abt to be released...the music got released sometime last month and I was apalled to see the music already remixed and what an apt remix... and this is remixed with the song from Dhoom2 a major hit of last year, whose Aryan , I fell in love with...Not Hrithik teh actor - but Aryan!!! More abt aryan later..
chk out this video...
chk out this video...
My First Blog
Just as I was browsing through the blogs and news a thought occured! Why not create my own blog!
Now thats its created, not so sure if I will ever sign back in ..but yes its here...
Will be good to see where I go from here!
Now thats its created, not so sure if I will ever sign back in ..but yes its here...
Will be good to see where I go from here!
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