Monday, December 29, 2008

Whitening the blog

Whitening the BLOG

Today is 26th Dec. Today is the Boxing Day. Exactly a month ago Mumbai was witnessing one of its worst night. Ten terrorists managed to wreck havoc in the city and the rest is history.

I was angry like any other Mumbai citizen. I protested on 3rd Dec at Gateway. I have prayed consistently every day since the blasts that the families of the people who have lost their dear ones, somehow muster courage, strength and energy to move ahead in lives. The entire month I was thinking of what can I write to “re-whiten” our BLOG. What great things can I write about and manage to bring out any emotions, which are somehow not connected to 26-11 blasts? Answer is I can’t. In fact, I won’t be surprised if hundreds of other similar BLOGS like ours are going through the same situation. But the way the city is slowly getting back on track, I am also trying to get our BLOG on track. The black color is somehow getting to me. No longer does the black signify our mourning and condemn. Now the black is signifying our incapability to lift ourselves.

So, today I am re-whitening. As many of you are aware that I have applied for TEACH FOR INDIA program, the news is that I have the telephonic interview with those people on 28TH Dec. I shall keep people updated about my progress. Hopefully, sooner rather than later Sangeetha and me shall start churning our creative wheels and come up with some food for thought for our readers.

Cheers.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

For Mumbai..

15 hours... i have been following ibn news... feeling soo crappy!!
Everyone is tired but this is still not ending...
Blackening out our blog to condemn the attacks...
Hoping we will have peace soon and we will return to our original white...
hoping, praying and wishing we could help...
Now is the time to show the power of Knowledge, Love and Smiles... Spread the light and help to fight the darkness... Woh savera aayega!!!
Love
Sangeetha

Friday, November 21, 2008

Boundry

As pitiful as it may seem to be,
In our own vibrant mother country
Regionalism is outcome of regional boundary.

Winds, sky and rains are free

So is the animal and bountiful tree.
Is humanity a burden which we carry?


Navigating in our home is migration,
Earning our livelihood is competition.
Are we refugees in our own nation?


Our opportunities are reserved.
Returns for our merit are undeserved.
Has equality ever been preserved?

Air is divided and so is the sea
Minds are narrower than ever they could be
Are we independent…Are we free?

Jay





Saturday, November 8, 2008

Car and Life

It was lazy Saturday evening, while I was returning home when a weird idea struck me. I have been driving a lot these days trying to gain the perfection. And while the soothing breeze was caressing me, I realized that car is so much similar to our life.

Here is how the analogy works. Car is similar to life. Both keep on moving. They get battered, colored, maintained and loved. People use them, abuse them, overuse them, under-use them. Both need fuel. Our energy and enthusiasm is the fuel that charges our life. There are five gears in non-automated car. First gear is family. It’s very difficult to get the car moving or the life moving without family-support. Second gear is the friends. While we drive in the narrowest of the lanes in the city, Second gear is the most important. When we face massive obstacles, complex confusions, our friends are always there for our rescue. Third gear is the life partner. When life picks up pace and when amazing things start happening to a human, when potential and motivation to really go the next level is required third gear is comes into picture. Other 2 gears differ for different people. For a few them its career, for others it may be status, fame, money or any other thing that can be materialistically be equated to success.

Clutch is the heart. Irrespective of whatever we want to do with the car, clutch is the most important part. We use the clutch and put our car into different gears. We think from our heart and continually shift our priorities and our gears. Brakes are the reality checks which keep us guarded. They keep us humble and grounded. They teach us to be considerate, be respectful towards other cars. Accelerator is the passion that pushes the enthusiasm which in turn takes life ahead. Slopes on the roads are like the hurdles in life. We need a greater amount of push to carry life ahead when obstacles work as speed-breakers towards our destination of success. Again here I re-iterate the importance of friends. If we try to push our car into the space of the other car, both the cars face damages. This can exactly be mapped to the lack of space in any relationship.

All the car-maniacs will be massively disappointed because somehow I cannot find the right analogies for engine, windows, keys, wipers and so many other miscellaneous things. However I have just sparked a flame. It would be great if all the readers can chip in with theirs two cents about the equation between life and the car…
Jay

Friday, November 7, 2008

Thoughts...

Last night, I saw this movie, Fashion. Yes, it was an effort to show the real, not so beautiful, side of the glamorous world and the people living in it. But, I felt this story could be just any body’s story.

We all dream… we all have ambitions… and as we pass those small milestones we set for ourselves, we find that we are just not happy. We always want more. We forget how much we wanted what we have and what effort we had to put in to get there. All we see is ‘Hey! He’s got more than me.’ And we run and run and tire ourselves and at the end are not even happy.

Going with the flow is the easiest thing to do. It helps in getting things done faster and you are able to climb this ‘ladder of success’ faster. But, what is the point if you reach the top and suddenly don’t want to be there anymore. You suddenly realize that you don’t even recognize yourself! And when you have lost touch with yourself that’s when you know you are truly lonely.

And when you run, you don’t have time to think. The thin line between right and wrong begins to fade out. You tell yourself; “Be practical.” What is practicality? Ceasing to be what you are? Refusing to listen to that voice inside your head which is always right? Killing your conscience? And you become shallower. If this is what growing up means, then I would rather remain a kiddo.

It’s not just our fault. This is what has been taught to us. We have been told that you have to be successful. May be it is true. But the meaning of success is not taught to us. We are told that success means heavier paychecks, success means having a wonderful flat, success means owning the best car. We are told that we have to think of being better than others somehow. We have to compete and we have to win. So we run everyday constantly trying to please ourselves, our parents, our relatives and the society and nothing seems to make anyone happy. The reason being we don’t understand success. We don’t understand happiness.

Success means recognizing and respecting your individuality. Success means always being in contact with your inner voice which helps you be yourself. Success means having the courage to accept that you are different and cannot compete with anyone. Success means understanding that you are this unique piece of a larger jigsaw puzzle. Once you see yourself helping to form the the bigger picture you realize your own worth and that gives true happiness.

-Sangeetha

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Mud (Jay)

High time we posted this..

It was the reason we started blogging together...

Same story 2 views...

enjoy n comment... :)

Luv

Jay & Sangeetha


Mud

Rains can be a lot of fun,

Especially when drizzly evening

Sets up the scene for

the perfect date.

I was waiting wearing whites…

at the local CCD.

It was 6 pm

Sun decided to hide,

Clouds decided to cloud.

And a light drizzle started.

I was in the Ac room.

I decided to stand outside…

Under the paanwala’s tents

to soak in some fresh earth.

The smell made me feel more romantic

The eagerness to meet was a sweet misery.

But as rains got a bit stronger…

The wait transpired into a concern.

After trying a futile cellular tries,

I decided to call Remya at her home.

Invariably, when I call her at home,

Her mom picks up…

In my well practiced feminine voice,

I ask “Aunty…Is Remya there?”

“ava football valayada poirka”

(That is Tamil)

Being a Mumbaiyan Gujju,

I didn’t pick a word…

“Ok aunty…thanks...”

I disliked the Indian diversity for once,

Decided to go to her place…

Walking in rains, in those muddy streets

Is the last thing I like.

But they say…”Love makes man do not

So lovely things”

I reached her building.

To my surprise a few girls

were playing football in the mud.

I thought of them as a few “babes”

Who were wasting a super evening,

Having no one to meet…or cherish.

Till I couldn’t believe my eyes,

To see Remya also playing!!!

Wow, I did not know how to react!

A girl, whom I know since two years,

Plays football…that too in mud!!!

Was getting over this shock,

till I heard her abuse her opponent…

“You bi…, F*** you… Go learn to play!”

Well it’s a ’bit’ dangerous, to hear

the “Doll” abusing someone.

She was sliding in the mud…

I know her idiot dad…he would have

Shown the true character…by not buying

her studs.

On every slide she made,

The mud covered her lovely face…

Now I was discovering the real beauty.

She wiped the mud from her face…using

her tender hands.

As rain poured, the drops of water,

On her smooth forehead made me feel…

“Boy I can see her play football the whole

Of my life”

Her grace when she runs…Her tact when she passes,

Her powerful kicks…her swirling free kicks

Made me feel…

”Hu kem nanpan thi cricket ramuchu?”

(Why the hell do I play Cricket?)

Till a hooligan kick from her opponent

Made the ball come in my direction….

Here was my girl… joyous of the fact

That she had got some corner kick,

Till she saw me…

The aggression turned into guilt…

Her eyes looked straight into mud…

The ball remained stagnant at the corner…

For a minute she could not face me.

I was actually enjoying this…

I have seen her in the mud…

Now again I am seeing her…

Though I was enjoying her play,

I had a look on my face which said.

“Weren’t we supposed to meet?”

Boys get a very few chances

to make brownie points.

Here she was…candid with guilt.

Somehow the thought of her mate,

Seeing her in that state, and the added

Guilt of forgetting the commitment,

Made her so shy…
I felt like time should stand still…

Remya means beautiful in Tamil.

I somehow applauded the foresight

Of her parents…

She said “I will get ready in 5 minutes”

She quickly went home…wiping mud off her face.

She came down in ten minutes…

This was the third shock for today…

“My girl was wearing a sari!!!”

Too many new discoveries made me feel,

“Do I really know Remya?”

Well the date ended…

I dropped her at her place…

At night, while I was on the bed,

I analyzed a few things,

I felt that the mud was so lucky…

At least she can touch her skin…

And best part for the inhumane mud

Is that she herself slide to touch it.

I felt that mud really was very lucky.

Since that day I certainly have started

respecting mud.

I had discovered the beauty in the mud.
- Jay

Mud (Sangeetha)

The smell of the earth after the first rains… it takes me to yet another time… a happier time when girls were not yet taught how they ought to behave…

THUD…… Splash!!!

“You bi…, F*** you… Go learn to play!”

God knows why this Deepa tries her hand at football…

FOOTBALL and RAIN. A lethal combination!! Rolling in the mud... getting dirty like crazy… and the rain falling on you washing away the mud… and there again you fall get dirty and it goes on…

“C’mon Remya get it!!” Lakshmi cheered. I winked at her. And, now it was time for some magic…

ZOOP………… “That was a cool one…”

Now, that’s difficult to assimilate, isn’t it? A girl playing football… well, balls to you, you MCP!! Coz it’s because of people like you that in spite of loving this game so much, I have to shut up about the fact that I even play. My mom has made me promise that I’ll never play in a college team or tell anyone about my secret passion… it’s only after all those beseechings and pleadings and that I even get to play in my colony…

“Remya check out that one…”

‘Shit!! Deepa at her worst as usual…’

“Corner!!”

Sometimes I wonder if she were playing for the opposite team!!!

Was that a kick?? :@ Safely evaded it though… Lucky for me… may have lost an eye… Ronak ko kaise dekhti fir?

RONAK??

‘Yeh kidharse aaya?? Hold!! Shit! Kaise bhool gayi yaar main! Yeh saala baarish sab kuch bhoola deta hai…’

The ball now lay there… still. I was feeling dumb. He had caught me red (brown) handed (& faced). What could I say? ‘Hey! You’ve come for Remya? Hi! I am her twin. Wait, I’ll just call her in a moment…’??

He had a look on my face which said. “Weren’t we supposed to meet?”

‘Saala! Chance pe dance karta hai!!!

‘Kya zaroorat thi aane ki… I must be looking soo ugly. Man! Have to make up for it somehow. Itna dur aaya mere liye. And bechara shock me rahega.’

“I will get ready in 5 minutes” Dunno wot I managed to do in those 5 mins… Clean myself… Aargh!! Itna ganda koi kaise ho sakta hai? Yaar yeh earring ka pair kidhar gaya… and where did I put the bracelet last time I wore it??

I used to always wonder what Ronak would have to say when he would come across that ‘guy’ in me… Got the answer today… ‘He was simply speechless!’

He was there waiting for me. ‘Abbe, kitna ghoorega?? Meri koi twin nahi hai!!’

That night as I walked back through the grounds, careful not to allow the mud stain my sari, I thanked it for helping me clear things with my love… we had grown closer that day. I had feared that he would not appreciate me if I were not feminine and charming. But this guy was different! But one thing was for sure. RONAK would always remain my second love… my first love being MUD

- Sangeetha

Saturday, November 1, 2008

The three mistakes of my Life (Review)

Jay Gandhi
I am not an avid book reader, but I always have an opinion about the ones which I do manage to read. I recently had gone to Gujarat for three days. I knew that traveling will eat up many hours and hence I should have some source of constructive pass time. I decided to take along the book, “The Three mistakes of my life”. I have read all the books of the author Chetan Bhagat till date and hence I guess I have got a hang of how his algorithm of writing works. Enough of the background… Now I shall get started.

I feel that the protagonist of the book, Govind Patel can be any boy living in the city of Gujarat. I, also being a Gujarati can certainly relate to the way Govind’s mind works. The first best thing that Chetan does is make believable characters. The next smart thing he does is fits his story amongst the various major events that happened in India in last decade ex: India v/s Aus Kolkata, Gujarat earthquakes, Gujarat riots etc- these events not-being-too-old, are still fresh in the minds of Indians. So, the writer quickly calculates that

(Believable characters + believable events) is equal to Sure shot success. To make the pot-boiler more interesting, he throws in a romantic story track, a wonder-kid story track, a happy-ending climax and few amazing Chetanisms. Chetanism is a new term which I just invented after having understood his style of writing. He mixes a little charm with a little humor and garnishes it with grammatically apt noun forms. I know this will be a little difficult for normal readers to understand. I shall explain it though. Terms like:- no-internal-off-button, fathers doing PHDS on Indian newspapers, mothers asking their kids to eat more and study more, life being big optimization problem… etc easily separates Chetan’s writings from that of other authors..

Overall, the book is surely going to enthrall the Indian college youth. It shall appeal to all the people who love Hindi movies. It shall attract all the cricket lovers who don’t mind reading on a wet rainy day. The book will be read by all the BHAGATs of Chetan. I would suggest all the young people who do not like reading to start with this small book. The language is not that complex to understand, the scenes are believable. Grammar is itchy in certain areas. I can distinctly remember one error where sentence states India playing with SA. It should have been India playing AGAINST SA. Over all, the book is good pass time.

Chetan Bhagat is Karan Johar of Indian books… that’s all I have got to say…

My rating:- 3 on 5

- Jay

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

'No one can manipulate anyone else. In any relationship, both parties know what they are doing, even if one of them complains later on that they were used'
- Athena, The Witch of Portobello

Saturday, October 11, 2008

First brush with the car

First brush with the car

Before I narrate the actual incident, I will give a little background which will help us to understand the situation better. I have been learning to drive on my own car since last 3 days and I was performing reasonably well. Today my driver had told me to just practice forward and backward movement of my own car in my building. Being a very obedient student, I tried to do the same. I started the car many times but car always broke down. I was wondering what the heck is wrong. Am I doing a wrong CLUTCH BREAK? After 2-3 days of practice I had become reasonably confident about my clutch control. I was very upset and in all the frustration I went to the barber’s place to get my hair cut. While I came back I decided to roll the dice once more. This time I realized that I had not put down the HANDBRAKE!! The car started smoothly. Being the cool stud I got the car out of my building, drove it for some time before the calamity struck.

An auto took a very sharp and fast turn and I was caught unaware. Till the time I could to the clutch brake, the horse had been bolted and my car brushed the rickshaw. I was petrified. But I managed to keep my wits about myself and halted the car and got down to apologize to the rickshaw person. Till the time I got down, he had gone. People around calmed me and asked me to keep driving. I felt that I had made the biggest mistake of my life. But I managed to keep my wits again and slowly got the car back home. Now I was afraid of 3 things; damage to the car, dad’s reaction and trainer’s reaction.

1> Dad’s reaction: If you drive a car all these things are bound to happen. I am very happy that at least you got the courage to take out the car out yourself.
2> Car damage: None of the parts of my car has broken down. The cost if getting the repair done is minimal 100 RS.
3> Trainer’s reaction: Its ok; It happens with all the people. Relax, Calm down.

I really thank Neha and Ketki for supporting me and my brother for encouraging me…


I had read a book called Alchemist a long time ago. In that book they talked about Beginner’s luck. I guess I am lucky…I got an experience of minor accident without any damage to myself, of my car or to any other person (which I believe is the most important thing.) I consider that I am God’s own child. I know that he will be with me for I am sincere to the task that I have taken up. I am trying my best. I am learning things…Life doesn’t give such opportunities to all and I am thankful that I got this chance…
- Jay

Thursday, October 9, 2008

My New Car (Part 1)

My New Car (Part 1)

Today, on Dashera’s auspicious day, I finally got the delivery of my new car, MARUTI ALTO. The car looks really cool and my family members are very happy including me. But I am also a bit apprehensive. Will I be able to drive well? Will I learn how to drive efficiently? Will I be able to tackle the traffic in the city? Will I be able to navigate through the narrowest lanes of the world? Will I be able to continually do a CLUTCH-BRAKE? There are too many questions racing through my brain. I have learnt driving on Training school’s car. But today when my trainer accompanied me, while I was driving through the tougher places in my car, I realized that it’s a different cup of tea. I am a very fearful driver. I believe everyone is when they are learning.

Today’s experience was really cool. The probability of car starting efficiently to that of car switching off was 1:5. I was just unable to control the clutch. But I am confident. I know I will crack this challenge also. Though this is not as same as clearing a GMAT or ORACLE exam, which according to me is way easier than learning to drive, I am really kicked about driving and I am happy about it. I want to enjoy the drive and enjoy the new learning experience. I was always fearful of the driving cars but then like I said in my earlier articles, Fear is an evil which prevents man from achieving what he can achieve. I have to fight the fear. I have to learn to drive well. I consider this as a very important phase my induction into practical world. I know I should be jumping on top of the moon since I have bought a nice slick car, but I am bit cautious and hopefully in times to come, will be confident.

I hope that in the part-2 of this series I will talk about the happier driving tales…
I will post a snap of my car… JUST wish me luck with my new sojourn….
I need all of it.

- Jay

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Written Snaps

Written Snaps

Long time ago when I used to write poetries, I always had a dream; a dream of being published one day. As time passed by, somehow the intensity diminished. Now, the time is such that writing a simple 4 lined-poem has become very difficult. Perhaps the touch has gone or may be I have run out of patience. But the poems which I have already written are still with me. Today, late at night at 11:13 pm on Tuesday when I was really tired, I read a few of my own poetries. Since I had created these poems, I certainly knew the theme of them but had forgotten everything else. However, after reading I felt really good. The entire process of how I created those poems rushed through my mind. The circumstances when I had written, the mood, the time…everything just flashed in front of my eyes. The kind of words which I always use in my poems, the style that I generally follow, the readers who used to religiously read my poems and give me feedback…

I always used to consider poems as written snapshots. I used to capture my emotions in words. I had started writing in Feb-2005; I still remember the girl who was my first muse, also my first genuine crush. I had written a sweet 18 liner for her birthday. Life was amazing. I was in 2nd year engineering and I was deeply fond of that girl. We were great friends. I have come a long way from then on. That girl became my best friend, then we became anonymous to each other, then we became friends again and then anonymous again. Amidst all these I have had crush on many girls. Girls came…they went. But my poems always remained with me. I am extremely thankful to all those girls for they inspired poetry in me. They tapped a potential in me which might always have remained obscure. Today, when Sangeetha is not contributing much to our BLOG mainly because she is tied up, I again see a lovely opportunity.

I feel that I am creating snapshots. I am taking photographs of our feelings. I have started enjoying the responsibility of running the BLOG single-handedly for time being, but still not bore our readers. It’s a really exciting time. When Sangeetha will also come back and start writing big time, I don’t see any reason why we can’t end up with 10 articles a month and that too of really cool quality. The BLOG has just started blooming. Now the time has come when we nurture it and make it really big. We are in the process of creating some viewer-ship for our BLOG. But more importantly, we are in the process of making photos which Sangeetha and I will see after a few years and still feel a race in our pulse after recollecting the situations in which we had written our articles.

Let me be extremely frank; irrespective of the skill or the lack of it, writing brings out the expression in me and hence I love writing…I love BLOGGING….
-Jay

Friday, September 26, 2008

Tandoori Nights

Tandoori Nights

Today while coming from GOREGAON I was listening radio when I heard this song. It’s a song created by HIMESH. Though many people might feel that he is obnoxious weed, good for nothing man, I certainly believe that he makes some amazing songs and Tandoori Nights is just one of them. We as people, many a times criticize just for the heck of it. I mean HIMESH is extremely popular musician. Many people have an issue with him since he sings supposedly using his nose!!! So what!! His music is a new generation sound- a sound which is so peculiar in this new day and age- a music which is a part of modern Indian culture. It’s the music for the car driving, auto-driving, disco-going, rhythm-loving, lyric-loving people of the country. Lets except the fact that he is popular and he is here to stay. He initially was only a musician and now he is also getting into acting big time. No producer is fool enough to give HIMESH a leading role. Every person knows about the amount of public interest that he generates wherever he goes, whatever he does, whichever music show he judges…There is this tremendous demand for his kind of persona. Perhaps he is the only genuine rock-star of the MUSIC-REALITY-MADDENED nation of ours. In the entire reference to the great man I have used CAPS for him. I genuinely like the man… He has his own style and he can pull it off like no one can. Only person I can compare him with in the Modern day era has to be NAVJOT SINGH SIDDHU.

ENOUGH FOR TODAY….

Cheers

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Life in a Metro

Life in a Metro

Today, living in Mumbai is not a very easy thing to do. Prices of things are really high and unfortunately the rate of growth in salary is not proportional to the rate of growth in wants and necessities. But the best part about the entire situation is that no one seems to be content. Even the richest people want to earn more and they also have their own set of problems. While a poor man tries hard to make two ends meet, the rich man is losing sleep as to how he is going to save tax. Every rupee earned is extremely valuable and hence every one has a right to think about how they can save. This leads us to a very basic nature of the human being. We as people are ambitious. Ambition drives us. All of us have goals. We live by these goals and these small missions define our very purpose of living.

Trains will always remain crowded. Bosses will always anticipate better work. Malls will grow. Prices will shoot. Saturday-movies will be more expensive. Traffic is going to increase exponentially. Power-cuts will be frequent. A bomb blast in every two years is expected. We know all this. We know how things are shaping up and we know how things are going to go even worse. There are many problems and we have to be smart to dodge these hurdles and somehow survive in the city. People have become very smart and they have started finding many solutions. I will give an example of the solution; it’s related to education;

These days getting 90 pc in Board exams seems to have become a normal thing. All the parents anticipate a very stiff competition for their kids and hence each and every student in this city goes for tuition class. All the teachers in the school are aware about it. So now the responsibility of the child’s education isn’t solely on them. Coaching classes have become massive businesses today. I have a nephew of mine who is right now in eight grade and his mother has already enrolled him into the tuition for the ninth grade. This is called anticipation. Parents have such a great sense of judgment in that they know that the teacher in the school won’t be able to handle their child’s education. Teachers might as well say that it is very difficult to focus on each and every child in a class of more than 65 students. But then the number of students in the class is always going to grow high. Problem is present; but teachers haven’t yet found the solution; parents have.

Though we may feel that the city is going the New York way, its not the same. In NY, people cannot survive if wife and the husband both do not work together. Even in Mumbai that time is slowly coming. But like in NY where people only have to think about their immediate families, in Mumbai people are still extremely attached to their family, their neighborhood, their relatives in remotest corners of Mumbai and in other parts of the country. Even though a daughter-in-law would be allowed to take up a job, she is still expected to do all household work right from cooking food to taking kids to school. Life for the Mumbai woman is going to get challenging by the day. Situations can become very tricky. Marriage in the neighborhood is as important as meeting with the client. Juggling priorities will become the order of the day. However, I believe that the women in the city are ready for this kind of life. Women not only are capable of multi-tasking but are also capable of achieving quality in all kinds of work that she takes up. This leaves us with men. I can’t comment much about how men will evolve. I seriously do not know how men are going to react. Perhaps Sangeetha can give us some insight as to what she feels. Readers of this blog (I know very few…lol) can also chip in with their inputs.

Life in the city is certainly going to keep us on our toes. It’s a game each and everyday. I wish and pray that God gives us enough stamina to handle the stress, enough vigor to work tirelessly and enough time so that we can spend quality time with our families.

-Jay

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Thought Connection

Thought connection

I often play a game with myself whenever I want to create some kind of idea. Though the trick has not been fruitful in materializing into a full fledged poetry, but I would still like to go ahead and experiment as I keep writing this article. I would name this article as though connection. As you read along, things will get clearer.

Start:-

KHUDA JANE SONG FROM BACHNA E HASINO

God knows that I love you.
Love is the trickiest four lettered word in this world.
The world is round.
What goes around comes around.
Mind is a freak, it wants to go places.
Mind is fickle.
Fickleness is associated with a change in thought process.
Change is universal.
Nothing is permanent but change.
I just got permanent a month ago.
A month ago, my cool friend SANGEETHA had come to Mumbai from US.
US is the destination for all the South -Indian engineers in India.
Talking about South, I really like South Indian cuisine.
Though it’s not heavy on stomach, the taste is awesome.
Taste is a very relative word.
There are many relatives that we have. But we don’t like all the relatives.
We don’t like the taste of all the relatives.
Relativity theory was started by Albert Einstein.
Every young science student aims at becoming Einstein.
Being student it one of the best experiences in ones life.
Experience is a very important factor when an employer hires employee.
Factor is a mathematical word meant to describe the various components of the equation.
Equation can also be related to compatibility.
Compatibility is the key for any marriage.
Key again is a very positive word since it resembles a solution.
A solution is also something that girls apply on their faces before putting actual make up.
Making up is a term used to lie.
Lie is something that I do not like.
Talking about my likes and dislikes is pretty obvious since this is my BLOG.
BLOGGING is a very common interest that people share.
Sharing is something which comes very naturally to humans.
We share our problems, our happiness, our sadness. etc etc.
Happiness is a great feeling.
It’s somewhat spiritual in nature.
Spirituality is something closely related to God.
God knows that I love you (starting line)

END



ROCK ON

Today, life is again so quiet. Irony is that I have just watched ROCK ON today. The movie was pretty ok. Though not as cool as it was hyped to be, but there are certain dialogues in the movie which were really thought provoking. I don’t exactly recollect as to what the actual dialogue was, but the theme went like, everyone has to make a compromise in their life. Everyone has to adjust. Another dialogue went like when we are in our twenties we assume that world is at out feet. I don’t want to comment much on those lines because eventually it all boils down to same debate. Being practical or being emotional. When we are in the dark room for 3 hours, everything is possible. When I am in the team meeting, achieving everything seems possible. But the reality is different. We often get bogged down by our own capabilities or for that matter, even the lack of it. Often circumstances do not allow us to make the correct decisions. Every decision has to be thoughtful decision. Gut feelings and intuition are the tools used by extremely successful managers- a knack which comes after taking n number of wrong thoughtful decisions. Often fear pulls us down. Often our own family which is supposed to be an asset becomes the liability.

As the thinking-chain slowly moves on, I was again thinking about the various factors which a person should take into account when he is planning his career. The tricky part here is planning. I have seen many people getting brilliant opportunities and they making the best use of it. I believe everyone, someday or the other will get such opportunity and when opportunity does call…one should make the hay while the sun shines. It can again be co-related to the college life and the office life. In college we used to be kings. We played our own games, with our own rules. In corporate life we are mere pawns in someone else’s chess. We are made to play waiting game. The person who plays the best, wins the game. Sorry to go off track, I was talking about the factors.

Prime factor as per me has to be interest. Interest is a very relative term. Few believe man is born with interest. I believe interest can be created. I believe career is just like a marriage. If things aren’t interesting, then people strive hard to make things interesting. It’s like arranged marriage. Slowly and steadily people start liking each other and then also start loving each other. As a person I am a huge advocate of arranged marriages. As such I am a huge fan of marriages itself. Though, I myself would like to go for love marriage. If a man doesn’t like what he does, he should try hard to like it. There are many ways in which things can be made more likeable.

Second factor is money. I need not say more about this factor because millions of writers have zillions of times stressed on the importance of money. However, I would like talk about one important thing- Money trap. Most of the people in this world earn more in their life as compared to what those people earned two years ago. Thus, people feel that they are prospering and leaving a job which is extremely high-paying will be the stupidest mistake of their life. This is the trap- a trap which sucks you in. We believe that we have many responsibilities for which money is extremely essential. But any amount of money is not enough. It’s a rat race; today even as I type these lines, I know that there may be a time when I myself fall in this trap;

Third factor is growth. Every human is perfectionist by nature. We always try to do next assignment better than our previous ones. In this effort we often fail but then that’s how we make mistakes and then we learn and eventually become better. No one likes monotony. So new challenges become a very important part of one’s career.

Fourth and the final factor is HEART. I believe that even in practical world if a man puts his heart in what he does, the output will even better. It’s the driving force between doing the mandatory work and trying to do something extra. It is the factor which overrides all the above factors. I believe that if man does his work whole heartedly, money will follow, so will the growth. I believe that even a work that a person does not like but if he does it whole heartedly, he can deliver a terrific result. Many people call Heart as ATTITUDE. Success is 99 pc attitude and 1 pc aptitude. Well I certainly second that….

Enough for today…

Bye cheers.

From Disillusion to Solution - Part one


From Disillusion to Solution - Part one (Aug 20)

I brainstormed a lot during last weekend. I was wondering about what needs to be done as far as my career is concerned. Do I want to do an MBA? Should I do an MBA? Do I want to blindly follow my heart and get into teaching? Do I want to continue the way my life is going? Do I believe that I am a fit for IT industry? Should I quit the industry? What should be my game plan for next few years? Should I take up teaching? Too many questions were there. But it feels cool to eventually come up with answers. So in this article I am going to talk about my career plan;

First thing first- Why I don’t think that I am very happy right now?

The work that I am doing right now does not have bright future. I am not specializing in anything. I am working on COLDFUSION and SQL as front end and back end technology respectively. Well this might seem a very normal case for any IT person. But catch is that the project is maintenance and the kind of work that I do doesn’t allow me to learn more than what is required for the project. It’s more of a bug fixing, converting front-end codes into PL-SQL format, migrating an application from COLDFUSION 5 to COLDFUSION 7 etc. Now the management is pushing me into ENDECA search engine. I think I will be stuck with it for some time now. The time that a fresher might take to even start liking any particular technology is pretty less. Amidst all this there are also certain configuration tasks and other project related tasks. I may be a great boon for people working in my team, but being jack of all and master of none is not going to take me too far.

Why Teaching?

Since last 4-5 years I have realized that I am quite creative. I believe it’s a boon that I have and there is no better way to use my creative skills than by using these skills to convey concepts to young children. The educational system that I have come through never prompted me to think. It was more like a spoon-feeding. Though engineering was different, school life was very simple. Now-a-days the pressure on young kids to perform is very high. Coaching classes have become massive businesses. Parents are prepared to grill their kids. There is hardly any time to play for kids. I don’t know how the next generation is going to be. I mean it will be sharper, smarter, and ready for competition but I am not sure if it will create any new things or make new inventions. It will still follow the same old paths. There is a huge desire in me to make some contribution.




Why I can’t teach at this point in time?

I realize that to even become a good teacher, I need to specialize in one particular thing. I don’t see any value addition to any one if I get into teaching. Neither do I have tremendous knowledge nor any massive skill set. When I feel that I am confident enough and when I feel that I have enough patience and when I feel that now I have enough knowledge, perhaps I can take that step. Perhaps being qualified (B.E), can give me that edge.



Saturday, August 9, 2008

Disillusion

Disillusion

I am writing after a really long time. But then every time I write, I always say the same thing. Things have changed so much. GMAT is over. I got a 670. The score is really good. It’s well above average. But the score was not 700. Perhaps that’s the difference between paying fee and getting a scholarship in a US B-School. I have always been above average but never the best and the quest shall forever remain… I am not feeling disappointed. I mean though my immediate goal was to do well in GMAT, it was a small part of achieving something big. The BIG was the MBA-admit that I wanted. I never had any clear picture of which university I wanted to go. In which field do I want to specialize in. So only emotion I felt was I was that of relief.

I had seen a few things before going for my exam. I had started liking a girl who I managed to ask out to meet me more often. She said No to me. Well that wasn’t much of a surprise to me. I was mentally prepared for a No. I had been in such situations a few times before in my life. The only thing that may scare me now, is a Yes. To be really frank, that episode did not affect me much. I mean fate has a weird way of tackling things. It gave me a lot of time to figure out if I wanted to ask that girl out. But moment she said NO, I became so busy that the feeling of hopelessness just eluded me. Work was getting hectic as far as office was concerned. My mettle was being tested. It was tough time. It was a time when skill had taken a backseat but managing stress had become primary responsibility. This is still early June that I am talking about. It was just after I had taken my GMAT date and was all set for the hurdle.

In third week of June, after taking opinions of many doctors, my dad finally decided to get his bypass operation done. It was scheduled on July 11. My exam was on 18th July. My brother was also about to come from US. Work at office was getting complicated day by day. Amidst all this I also had to try and find time to study. I could not take this all. One Sunday, when somehow I did manage to find time for myself, while I was writing a poem ‘Fearless knot’, I started crying. Yea, it happens to the best. I was crying after a long, long time.

My brother came. Dad got operated. The work at office is not that much. GMAT is over. Brother has gone. Dad is recovering…

But I am wounded…

Last week for 4 days I had training about ENDECA search engine. Perhaps in days to come we are going to implement it in our project. But I am not up for it.
For 4 days I did try hard to focus but mind is somewhere else. I don’t know. I was continually getting a feeling which said that IT industry is not the place where I belong. I am not enjoying my work. I am considering it as a burden. I am not at all excited by the new challenge. I am feeling something missing in me. I have become quiet. I remain in my own world. Initially I used to go out for lunch alone once a week. Now it has become almost thrice a week. I don’t talk much to my team mates. I have never had many friends. Of the friends which I do have, there are very few who understand me. Of the ones who do understand me, there are a very few with whom I get time and opportunity to talk. Temporarily life is disillusioned. I don’t know what my immediate goal is. The fuel that was driving my MBA car seems to have dried up. The juices which used to titillate my poetic sense have evaporated. The music that guitar used to make has become a noise. The gentle leg-pulling which had become a part of me has become a nuisance. Only light I see right now is I am only responsible for myself and I don’t have to answer any one in any way for my conduct. The dependence factor is nil. Perhaps that time which my dad is using for recovering physically, I should utilize a fraction of it to recover mentally. It seems that my energies have drained.

But I never remain low for too long. Generally I come out of the hole that I dig for myself. I know things will improve. I know things will get better. Only wish is that, I HOPE things change quickly…

In the next article that I write I shall talk about… my ultimate job fantastà Teaching…..

Jay

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Ten things I wish I did before I left Mumbai…

10. See a movie at the dome theatre.

9. Go to a dance club with my friends.

8. Act in a play.

7. Ride a motor bike.

6. Go on a Mumbai Tour with Amma.

5. Go to the Planetarium and watch the stars through the telescope.

4. RJ for an Fm station.

3. Catch a Double Decker and sit on the front seat and go to the last stop and come back.

2. Spend the night with friends at Worli Sea Face and watch the sunrise.

1. Walk on the railway track.

- Sangeetha

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Technical impact

Counter Strike is Hide and Seek,
Mobile is the pacemaker,
Writing is extinct hobby,
Isn’t technology ruling our life?

Person who walks is a miser,
One without the Nokia is poorer,
Computer-illiterate is untouchable,
Is technical discrimination the new racism?

Though the rooms are getting cooler,
The world is getting warm…

Jay

Spiritual face

Like the first drop of rain on the virgin sand,
Like the colors in the sketch of the landscape,
Like the fearless breeze of the mountain peak,
Your tender face lightens my whole day…

Soaked in a tinge of sacred simplicity
Amalgamated with the calm innocence,
Your angel eyes paint the image of
A world devoid of desire or sin

Such is the authority of your kind face,
That it aborts the rat race of the success,
It satiates the desperation of stardom,
It moulds the ambition into content.

Your face marks the start of nirvana…


Jay

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

In the middle of my journey towards my aim of scoring well in GMAT, I am faced with a unique problem. From the time I started preparing, I have constantly got confused about how much preparation time do I actually need? Though I have the time span of five months in my mind, sometimes the shear boyishness takes over. I feel that I should give the exam as quickly as I can and get it over with. Sometimes it feels that my lack of ability of moving from above average to excellent is again going to pull me down and I will end up with a score of 630-650; this is the range which I score even today in my practice tests. Then what is the point in preparation?

I have read quite a few blogs about people who have done really well on this exam. All these guys are the ones who have scored 700+ in their exams. I don’t know if I am capable of getting that much. 700 is psychologically an intimidating thought for me. Whenever I feel that I can get 700, immediately a voice in me says that I am not that good enough and that I should aim for 690. Well it’s a difference of only 10 points. But still. I sometimes question myself, why do I aim 690 and not 700. Perhaps getting 700 is too good to be true. Is it that I don’t want to expect too much from myself because I am afraid that incase I don’t do well in the test, I will feel terrible. What is it that is stopping me to aim higher?

Perhaps this can be attributed to my theory of the HUGE; Irrespective of how big the goal, the basic thing to do is to do the current step correctly and then do next step correctly till the time the chain gets completed. So as per this theory I need to think of how I would score 670 (I am right now at 640 as I mentioned earlier). I have zeroed in on my problem areas. I know what I am weak at. I know I need to improve those areas. But then again a fear comes in my mind as to what if even after reading and going through all those weak areas, I do not move up to 670.

Fear is a very dangerous thing. It prevents a man to do what is ought to be done. What I need to do is fight this fear. My hard work should take care of my fear. At the same time by jumping the clock and giving the exam before actually being fully prepared is not right. If I compare my state to that of a pregnant woman then perhaps I can explain the situation better. Irrespective of what the mother thinks the baby is going to take nine months to develop. The time is very crucial. If the woman jumps the clock and suddenly decides that she has had enough of all the pain and wants to deliver the child and get it over and done with, the results can be disastrous. In the very same way I need to control my boyishness and be a little more patient. Success is not elusive, just that it comes… only when the time is right.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Celebrating Love…

Love is in the air… You can always feel it around Valentine’s Day. There is so much excitement and preparations going around you… Everything you see in a store is red or heart shaped… Stores give discounts for couples. Rom-com movies are released. Flyers of prom nights and parties are all over the place… so what if you don’t have that special someone to celebrate this day with?

I always used to argue that Valentine’s Day is not just about enjoying with your soul mate (easily read as husband, boy friend or that cute guy I met last Sunday). It’s a day to celebrate with all your loved ones.

I used to make it a point to thank all my loved ones… Amma – If anyone says there’s no such thing as selfless love, I send them to her; Shankar – I wonder how he can even tolerate me after knowing me for such a long time and my friends – my pride.

This year most of them are away. Far far away… I can still thank them by sending presents. Can call them and wish. Yes, communication has been made much easier… but whatever technology does, I still can’t hug my friends, box with my brother or sleep on my mum’s lap whenever I want to.

Then I ask myself… Why? Though I am surrounded by people here why does my heart reach out and crave for only those handpicked bunch? Why do I want to celebrate LOVE with them? Is that what LOVE means?

They say LOVE is blind. I wonder if it’s true. This love, for a few people in the world, makes us indifferent towards most people and wants to even hate some others. Every human being has the capacity to love… and everyone loves some one or the other… but most usually spend all their lives loving this select bunch of people to their maximum capabilities and forget about the rest of the world.

The Mumbai local train ladies compartment is a nice example. Men usually make fun of the ladies compartment as it is most notorious for its fights though it’s less crowded than the men’s compartment. Men claim that even in the unmanageable crowd, men are at harmony with each other while women find it difficult to co-operate. Have you wondered why? Why women, who are compared with the earth for their tolerance level, become irritated so quickly and have such nasty fights while travelling?

Each woman in the ladies compartment has the same thought process going on in her brain: God! Take me home as quickly as possible. Hopefully that Shanta bai did come today. “Aage jagah nahi hai madam. Mujhe bhi Kurla hi uttarna hai. Abhi time hai.” What do I make for dinner? There was a little bit of bhendi left… will it be enough? Okay, will mix it with potatoes. “Arre baba, dhakka kaiko maarta hai? Bola na jagah nahi hai” Rahul has to submit that science project tomorrow! I still have to teach Radhika ‘O palanhare!’ for the competition next week. O god! How am I gonna manage? “Ek aur baar dhakka maara na ek kaan ke neeche baja ke doongi. Kya samajhti kya hai tu khudko haan? Sab log khade hi hai na……..”

When it comes to home, she doesn’t care if she has to slog like a slave, she will do it all. Coz she loves them. But when it comes to a stranger, she can’t bear being even touched. I am not being a feminist, but for the amount of sacrifice she does, she never gets what she deserves… All she gets is Wapas wahi bhindi banaya… Mum, that’s not what the teacher taught, you don’t know anything… I don’t like that song; I want to sing ‘mind blowing maahiya’

And we read about people who kill for love. The guy is insanely in love with this girl, but she loves someone else. He tries everything possible to win her back and finally ends up killing himself, or the other guy or even the girl he loved so much.

Why does love go so wrong then? Why is this beautiful thing for which we all long for go against us? If it works people say “Waah, Kya love story hai!”, if it doesn’t its tears and bitterness.

We misunderstand the whole purpose of love… We feel it, appreciate it, enjoy it, share it but we want to keep it to ourselves. We make the mistake of trying to capture it. We also share this beautiful thing with only a few hundreds or thousands from among the billions who are out there. We disturb the equilibrium. We cause an unbalance and then we swing like the pendulum. It takes us really high at first. It gives us all the happiness and comfort and we feel its reality and it’s all going right. Then the pendulum swings back. That’s when we get the jolt. We don’t understand what’s happening. How could things which seemed so real suddenly vanish? And we then realize that we have alienated ourselves from the rest of the world.

Love doesn’t teach that. It tries to teach a lesson to everyone who does that by swinging them back to reality but most never learn the lesson. They still like the ride upwards and become ready to pay the price of coming back down and getting hurt just for the kicks of going up.

On this Valentine’s Day, I want to make a resolution that I’ll try to love everyone impartially and equally and try to learn the meaning of this beautiful 4 letter word.

Love All, Serve All – Swami

Trying my best

Sangeetha