Yeah! I know the title for the entry sounds pretty weird but then i cant actually write an ode since it essentially has to be poetic to an exalting value. I suck at poems (no point hiding that...i couldnt compose one to save myself from a horde of drunken heretics trying to mutilate me...) But then again i had promised a very close friend of mine that i would compose an ode to her. The whole thing started when she shared a personal stuff she had written and asked for comments on the way it was written. Now, when someone as close as her asks me for a feedback i cant just give her a normal one can i?.....so here i am writing this entry that is dedicated to her and her writing..
It was a personal familial kinda stuff that she had written, so i wouldnt comment on the content. But for one thing it was a very very very long letter with the minutest detail thrown in. yet as far as informal stuff goes, it was one of the best that i have read in ages. Its great not because of the way its written but because what she wrote opened a window to her mind at that time. It also gave me an idea of what pre marriage activities are gonna be like. So there you have it---- a short review of a long letter....all in all a very nice one and a good read.
But apart from what the letter meant, what i really would wanna point out is that she found me worthy enough to read a personal letter of hers. That i truly appreciate and love. That action or emotion meant much more to me than the point of givin a review for the letter. I am honored. What more can i say?....I am blessed with great friends....better than the best (and a few very cute ones too......you know who you are). You guys are a part of my legacy, my world. So i hope you enjoy the ride...
More stuff later.......till then Adios Amigos!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
A fish called Phelps...
The Olympic games is on and there is one man that is on a blaze of glory. This guy is none other than Michael Phelps from the United States. He has won a total of 13 golds in the Olympics till date of which 8 are from this season itself. He is now the greatest Olympian in history and is at par with Mark Spitz for winning the most golds in one season... He has nailed all the events that he has competed in so far n has come with golds in all of them. He has one more event to go and winning that will make him the unsurpassed champion of the water. Otherwise he will be at par with Spitz. He is making history anyway.
It is sheer pleasure to watch the guy swim. He has the agility of a fish. He is unbelievably lean and toned with a greater arm span than others that help him cover greater distances with lower strokes. He has some anatomical uniqueness too. His body creates lesser lactic acid which helps him swim longer without getting fatigued. He can keep swimming for a longer time even to the extent where other pro swimmers would cringe with pain.
And to think that this guy suffered from Attention Deficiency Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) due to which he couldn't concentrate at school. His teacher even told his mum that 'Your boy is not special...in fact he does not have a gift....he will never be able to do anything great'
That teacher must sure be embarrassed now. Way to go Phelps.....Way to go!!
It is sheer pleasure to watch the guy swim. He has the agility of a fish. He is unbelievably lean and toned with a greater arm span than others that help him cover greater distances with lower strokes. He has some anatomical uniqueness too. His body creates lesser lactic acid which helps him swim longer without getting fatigued. He can keep swimming for a longer time even to the extent where other pro swimmers would cringe with pain.
And to think that this guy suffered from Attention Deficiency Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) due to which he couldn't concentrate at school. His teacher even told his mum that 'Your boy is not special...in fact he does not have a gift....he will never be able to do anything great'
That teacher must sure be embarrassed now. Way to go Phelps.....Way to go!!
Untitled....
This blog entry is deliberately titled 'Untitled....' (talk about irony!!!).. This entry is dedicated to all who have waited patiently (and impatiently) for me to update my blog. My personal apologies to my regular readers for not having written a word for the last few months. Nothing much has changed since the last time I wrote. I am still pretty much what I was then (except maybe older & more edgy) Otherwise its more or less the same. Currently enjoying a long weekend.....so i'm pretty much laid back n chilled out, watching some great movies and some TV series. Its been raining quite a bit out here.
On a more global note, India has won its first ever individual Olympic Gold. Very much a reason for us to celebrate as also a reminder that we can get to the very top if we just make up our mind... I doubt whether this win will remain in our sentiments. We all are quite forgetful when it comes to such stuff. Sure there will be much fanfare and the dedication of all the trophies in the history of India to the guy who won the gold ...... he is bound to get a lot of cash prizes (at last count---4 crores)....but there is one thing that is not talked as much about the win.. The fact still remains that the guy is from an affluent family with training from the best that his money could afford. The guy has his own firm back home and it seems that his father was so happy about his win that he gave him a 200 crore worth hotel as a gift!! can u beat that....n he is much sought after these days with people willing to sponsor him n stuff n give him bharat ratnas. But c'mon guys, is this what it is worth?...Agreed that the guy gave his best and got his dues.... he rightfully deserved it and he made the nation proud. this is coupled with the fact that he has made history and nobody can erase that. But we really need to chill on all the flow of awards n stuff to him. He did what he had to. There are many in this country that can make us proud but they fail jjust cos they do not have the means to achieve it or there isnt proper funding to train them. Spare a thought for the other sportsmen, we should be trying to help them develop n be the best in their field. Hope the authorities get their facts straight n the priorities right.....
Nothing much happening otherwise....will post more when i get more to write on...till then....Adios!!
On a more global note, India has won its first ever individual Olympic Gold. Very much a reason for us to celebrate as also a reminder that we can get to the very top if we just make up our mind... I doubt whether this win will remain in our sentiments. We all are quite forgetful when it comes to such stuff. Sure there will be much fanfare and the dedication of all the trophies in the history of India to the guy who won the gold ...... he is bound to get a lot of cash prizes (at last count---4 crores)....but there is one thing that is not talked as much about the win.. The fact still remains that the guy is from an affluent family with training from the best that his money could afford. The guy has his own firm back home and it seems that his father was so happy about his win that he gave him a 200 crore worth hotel as a gift!! can u beat that....n he is much sought after these days with people willing to sponsor him n stuff n give him bharat ratnas. But c'mon guys, is this what it is worth?...Agreed that the guy gave his best and got his dues.... he rightfully deserved it and he made the nation proud. this is coupled with the fact that he has made history and nobody can erase that. But we really need to chill on all the flow of awards n stuff to him. He did what he had to. There are many in this country that can make us proud but they fail jjust cos they do not have the means to achieve it or there isnt proper funding to train them. Spare a thought for the other sportsmen, we should be trying to help them develop n be the best in their field. Hope the authorities get their facts straight n the priorities right.....
Nothing much happening otherwise....will post more when i get more to write on...till then....Adios!!
The Cost of Freedom.....
The entire nation celebrated the 61st Independence Day. This was ofcourse among critical and disturbing times, with the recent tumoil about the govt. that will rule the country and the crisis that has struck our beautiful country. How free are we? What exactly is the measure of our freedom? Can we be truly free? Can anyone be truly free? To me, freedom is a concept that we always strive or yearn to achieve. It is as much existant as it is not.....it might be a bit difficult to completely comprehend the meaning of that statement. It just plainly means that we are only as free as we think we are. We are simply celebrating the country's independence from a governing external entity (to me we are not free just yet)....We are very much a captive of greed, power and fanaticism as we were a hundred years back.
What is the point of all this bombings in the country?..... what point is it to kill masses of innocent people?... Where do we reach from here?....why fight within the nation?........why fight in the first place?.....People need to think about what they want to have. Anyone with the fanatic idea of killing people as an indicator that they want to be free is very much the prisoner of his own demons till the end of eternity... I hope we as the present generation try to put an end to this mayhem and maybe for once truly grasp the whole meaning of being free...
To set your minds thinking about it, I part with the lines that Bono once said, 'We were amazed when 50 years ago we put the man on the moon......but now it is time to bring a greater change........It is now time to do something just as great....more like putting mankind back on earth'
What is the point of all this bombings in the country?..... what point is it to kill masses of innocent people?... Where do we reach from here?....why fight within the nation?........why fight in the first place?.....People need to think about what they want to have. Anyone with the fanatic idea of killing people as an indicator that they want to be free is very much the prisoner of his own demons till the end of eternity... I hope we as the present generation try to put an end to this mayhem and maybe for once truly grasp the whole meaning of being free...
To set your minds thinking about it, I part with the lines that Bono once said, 'We were amazed when 50 years ago we put the man on the moon......but now it is time to bring a greater change........It is now time to do something just as great....more like putting mankind back on earth'
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Get your kicks on route 66........
I have just been back from yet another road trip.....been a good one yet again......its always a bit fulfilling to rev up the car n set the roads on fire. Road trips are also sources to some of the best entertainment around....sure, there is the weariness factor (obviously....after 12 hours of driving you sure as hell would be tired...). but then it isnt always drab to drive around..... all one has to do is look around for it. i am dedicating this blog as the 'Dummies Guide to Road Trips'
Step one would be to ensure that all the members goin on the road trip are safely secured and luggages are loaded into the vehicle (you will be amazed at the number of times people are left behind......serious!!). Next thing to do would be to chart the route you would wanna take as and when you go.......Ghats and winding roads especially preferred (try the snake hair-pin bends at good speeds and scare the shit outta the passengers......told ya it was fun didnt i?)..... Ok.. now comes the entertaining parts.... For one, there are the different species n sub-species of drivers that you would encounter..... there are the kings of the roads......... n then there are lesser mortals too. The kings of the roads would be, undisputedly, the Tourist Bus Drivers and the State funded busses.....actually both seem at par in the ranking anyway. The state busses dont have to worry about anything since they seem built tailormade for the scrapyard.....so if one of them tries to overtake you better step aside, unless you want half your vehicle to be scraped by the bus. Then in the hierarchy comes the truckers. A truck carrying no load is no match for any other vehicle.....better give way to them as well. The only logical way to overtake a trucker is on a hill slope (or you can act as a daredevil and overtake them anyway on an open road....but dont come cryin to me if they bump you off the road. Next comes the ordinary vehicles which are fun to drive around with. they are the easy ones to overtake depending on the power of the vehicle you are driving. Next and last on the list is the lower scum of the highways which would be cycles, 2 wheelers and 3 wheelers. they seem the easiest to overtake n move on but they are just as decieving and dangerous (cycles n bikes the most cos if u pass by them too close then you just might blow them off the road). So much for the vehicular grouping. Next on the entertainment lists are the state borders. the checkposts that flag you down to check whether you are smuggling any contraband or something without a permit ('Check' meaning askin trivial n inane questions like 'Are you carrying anything without a permit?'....yea... as if im gonna tell if i was carryin them....or 'so you are entering this state?'.......why the heck would i be at the border check post if i didnt wanna cross n enter another state territory???....not like i have an obssesive compulsive disorder of driving all the way to the border n turning back). After the gruelling interrogation (which also delays the precious travelling time and the speed), you would be free to proceed. While on the highway do not miss out the words from the wise that would be written on markers along the highway. Some wise ones include (off the top of my head)-
Step one would be to ensure that all the members goin on the road trip are safely secured and luggages are loaded into the vehicle (you will be amazed at the number of times people are left behind......serious!!). Next thing to do would be to chart the route you would wanna take as and when you go.......Ghats and winding roads especially preferred (try the snake hair-pin bends at good speeds and scare the shit outta the passengers......told ya it was fun didnt i?)..... Ok.. now comes the entertaining parts.... For one, there are the different species n sub-species of drivers that you would encounter..... there are the kings of the roads......... n then there are lesser mortals too. The kings of the roads would be, undisputedly, the Tourist Bus Drivers and the State funded busses.....actually both seem at par in the ranking anyway. The state busses dont have to worry about anything since they seem built tailormade for the scrapyard.....so if one of them tries to overtake you better step aside, unless you want half your vehicle to be scraped by the bus. Then in the hierarchy comes the truckers. A truck carrying no load is no match for any other vehicle.....better give way to them as well. The only logical way to overtake a trucker is on a hill slope (or you can act as a daredevil and overtake them anyway on an open road....but dont come cryin to me if they bump you off the road. Next comes the ordinary vehicles which are fun to drive around with. they are the easy ones to overtake depending on the power of the vehicle you are driving. Next and last on the list is the lower scum of the highways which would be cycles, 2 wheelers and 3 wheelers. they seem the easiest to overtake n move on but they are just as decieving and dangerous (cycles n bikes the most cos if u pass by them too close then you just might blow them off the road). So much for the vehicular grouping. Next on the entertainment lists are the state borders. the checkposts that flag you down to check whether you are smuggling any contraband or something without a permit ('Check' meaning askin trivial n inane questions like 'Are you carrying anything without a permit?'....yea... as if im gonna tell if i was carryin them....or 'so you are entering this state?'.......why the heck would i be at the border check post if i didnt wanna cross n enter another state territory???....not like i have an obssesive compulsive disorder of driving all the way to the border n turning back). After the gruelling interrogation (which also delays the precious travelling time and the speed), you would be free to proceed. While on the highway do not miss out the words from the wise that would be written on markers along the highway. Some wise ones include (off the top of my head)-
- This is a high way not a die way. (there actually was one that goes like that...no jokes).
- Safety on roads is Safe Tea at home. (real creative that one)
- The fast 'wasnt' last. (didnt make sense to the writer as well i guess.....n yes you read it right.... it was written just that way.....with typos et al... that too in a sentence with 4 words)
- Calm your nerves on curves.(didnt specify which one......imaginations run wild)
Something that you shouldnt trust on the roads would be the milestones or road markers...... the distances keep fluctuating. (102kms on one while further down the road the same place would have a marked distance of 115 kms.......einsteins at work probably).
Now that we have done with the basics in this Dummies guide, you are all set to go n drive...remember the words from the wise, put on some good music & feel the wind in your hair.. (do write in with your experiences on the road ....... no refunds if anything goes wrong...... n i already have a good lawyer, so dont even try to sue me)
Monday, March 31, 2008
Money Talks!!
A recurring topics in my daily activities for the past couple of weeks has been these two words....'Money Talks!!'.....I would be a banal bigot myself if i said this wer'nt true.....cos it is, no matter what ethics you follow, it all boils down to these two words. World by itself is as materialistic as it should be and getting moreso every day. No one person would do a single moment of work or any favor without having any personal interest in mind, more often than not, that personal interest being ....... you guessed right...... MONEY!!. When I started off with my career, it was all about learning and grasping design issues. Money didnt matter much as I was still studying and was without much other responsibilities (Trust me!!......with what i got paid, it really didnt matter as it woulf be over in a day anyway)
It has been over a good long 2 years that I have worked and now the time has come to take a stand about what weighs more......and It sure as hell is gonna be Money that will do the talking.....getting paid less also has the disadvantage that people will give leser importance to the work done by you and eventually taking you for granted.....More money would mean that the firm has invested as much in you and that you are as much an asset than a piggy-back liability....(For the uninitiated that would mean.......more moolah = more status)......So im on my way to forge a turning point for myself in my career and as they say ...... 'Show Me the Money!!!'
It has been over a good long 2 years that I have worked and now the time has come to take a stand about what weighs more......and It sure as hell is gonna be Money that will do the talking.....getting paid less also has the disadvantage that people will give leser importance to the work done by you and eventually taking you for granted.....More money would mean that the firm has invested as much in you and that you are as much an asset than a piggy-back liability....(For the uninitiated that would mean.......more moolah = more status)......So im on my way to forge a turning point for myself in my career and as they say ...... 'Show Me the Money!!!'
Past Present Future...........
I have started with this blog after reading a couple of blog entries by someone i found over the net. It was a mighty pleasurable read with really good insights and beautiful nostalgic moments. The author of the blogs talked about missing something and about the childhood memory of hers. Most of what she wrote about made sense to me. Something like 'It isnt the old days that we miss.....but the absence of those people in our present that we miss.' made utter sense to me in the most simplistic way. It also made me think about my own childhood. Even yesterday, My best friend and me were talking more about the same topic. About our school days.. our friends.... our crushes... the way we used to go to the local fair.....how we tavelled to and fro from school. Its more like the 'Summer of 69' song (which i would also add that every Tom Dick Harry Shankar Ramesh & probably every rock wannabe has sung/ tried to sing & butchered the whole song to death......now the whole song is a stereotype in itself...) I still remember the day i started cycling..... the days i spent playin out in the sun after school...getting drenched in the rains.....the scolding my mum used to give me ......my old B/W tv that had 8 channels in it of which we had only 2...... the old tv serials (Hum Log, Buniyaad, Giant robot, Fireball XL5....... anyone?)..... my old telephone with the turn dials...... the old VCRs..... the casettes that we used to watch (Kindergarten Cop was a super duper hit thn n there was nothing more scarier than Evil Dead)....... The class picnics...... the family picnics......Vacations with cousins......Lots more there....
It also makes me appreciate the present that im living.... the kind of music that i listen to..... the friends that counsel me at work and at home....I cant crib about such stuff anymore.....my friends are the ones that make the present seem worthwhile..... so as I cherish the moment that i live in I appreciate the people around me and the stuff that makes me who I really am ever hoping that it continues into the future as in the past through the present...... Since I am in such a nostalgic mood, I leave you guys with the lyrics of a song that I have heard in my own childhood (sounded cool then ............sounds cool even now)...........more on this topic later (when all that I wrote just now become a part of my indelible past)
Sweet home Alabama
In Birmingham they love the governor
Sweet home Alabama
Sweet home Alabama
It also makes me appreciate the present that im living.... the kind of music that i listen to..... the friends that counsel me at work and at home....I cant crib about such stuff anymore.....my friends are the ones that make the present seem worthwhile..... so as I cherish the moment that i live in I appreciate the people around me and the stuff that makes me who I really am ever hoping that it continues into the future as in the past through the present...... Since I am in such a nostalgic mood, I leave you guys with the lyrics of a song that I have heard in my own childhood (sounded cool then ............sounds cool even now)...........more on this topic later (when all that I wrote just now become a part of my indelible past)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
Big wheels keep on turning
Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the Southland
I miss Alabamy once again And I think its a sin, yes
Well I heard mister Young sing about her
Well I heard mister Young sing about her
Well, I heard ole Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
In Birmingham they love the governor
Now we all did what we could do
Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
Here I come Alabama
Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they've been known to pick a song or two
Lord they get me off so much
They pick me up when I'm feeling blue
Now how about you?
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
Sweet home Alabama
Sweet home Alabama
Oh sweet home baby
Where the skies are so blue
And the governor's true
Sweet Home Alabama
Lordy Lord, I'm coming home to you
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)