ZOOM IN

to an old adversary

2009-01-09T23:22:00.005+05:30

I told you we would meet again
I told you I would fight
I told you I would give it my all
I told you day and night

Reasons... You're fired!!!

2008-09-14T21:49:00.002+05:30

There is one thing that I do similar to everybody else and more of it than everybody else. That particular verb is “Reason”. I reason everything out. Why I should do this? Why that is incorrect? Why this is the way to go?... All day long, I reason and I have been doing it for many years and it has been a source of power to me, something that I felt was my very own, something that could not be taken away from me and something that was dependable, trustworthy for once.

But then again, I reason FOR some option on some day and then I reason AGAINST it two days later. And this I do quite often. With absolutely no change in circumstances, my reason changes. If circumstances were the variables which the reason was suppose to compute and give me the output, then the reason has proved extremely unreliable. What I thought was my source of power, I realized, is influenced by a variable which I wouldn’t want to acknowledge: “My preference”. My reason works according to what I prefer and helps me convince myself of the “preferable” options. My mind, being the way it is, has helped my reason to do a fantastic job at this for many years.

And hence, I feel that those who, in their own opinion, have trust worthy reasoning skills have no reason to trust their reason at all. For trusting reason is unreasonable. What was trustworthy and dependable has proved itself to be (again through high quality reasoning) absolutely incompetent. The fact that I am writing this proves that it has self-destructed. My reason has proved my reason unreasonable… The source of all my powers… gone!!!

Schrodinger's cat

2008-07-07T12:40:00.001+05:30

Sometimes, in life you are stuck with a decision which involves making a big change in life where the outcome may be good or bad and you just can’t figure it out. The outcome, if good, is extremely desirable but how can one go ahead with the choice with there being just as good a probability of a negative outcome? This situation has been tackled and talked about in many different ways over centuries but I plan to share it today under new light.

I was watching an episode of the show “The Bing Bang Theory” today in which they portrayed the use of an amazing chain of thought so I thought I’d write about it here. The episode mentioned an experiment called the Schrodinger’s cat which originally was used to illustrate the incompleteness of the theory of quantum mechanics when going from subatomic to macroscopic systems (obviously, I didn’t understand this either!).

Anyway, what happens in that experiment is that a cat is placed in a box with a sealed flask of poison which would break and open at a random point of time. Now since no one knows when or if the poison is released, until the box is opened, the cat can be thought of as both alive and dead.

So basically, what it says is that if the outcome is probabilistically good or bad, its nature can deterministically be determined only after one finally…. “opens the box”.

You can apply this exact theory to the difficult change-involving decisions you face. So you may optimistically open the box so that if the cat is alive, you can rejoice. But if you are thinking about the possibility of finding out that the cat is dead and are scared of opening the box, you must know that if you don’t ever open the box to feed the cat, it’ll eventually be just two different kinds of deaths that the cat is expected to get!!!

not again!... (2)

2008-05-13T07:22:00.003+05:30

He opens the door and steps out into the calm of the night. He didn't think much of it before he opened that door but now.... now, it seems right.. right at home. It is 1 in the night. The roads are deserted, the wind blows unobstructed and he stands fixed to a spot... letting the solitude of the night fill him to the full

Peace!

And as always, it struck again. A sea of memories takes him from where he was... in control, sane, coherent... to where he didn't stand a chance of being so. He thinks he has seen too much. But making it all worse, he thinks he'll hate more what he's about to see. He thinks... he thinks...

I... MUSTN'T... THINK!!!

He regains control for an instant. Moves two steps to his left and tries to... shake it off

It happens

But opening that door didn't seem that great an idea any more. He thought he'd like it... but he knew he'd regret it. Five minutes in solitude had given him more agony than five days otherwise.

Some other time... maybe when the time is right

He stepped back inside, leaving the night, the calmness of it, the solitude, the peace and.... closed the door

Farewell and friends

2008-05-08T14:59:00.028+05:30

4 years of college life have gone by. It seems like yesterday that I had my first day at NSIT (actually, to think of it, it feels more like four years back only but this is just something we say). It is farewell time again in my life. It is that time again when you look to the future in hope that you will somehow be able to take forward with you in time all that you loved here. But this time, the farewell time comes with a difference. This time it comes with the experience and knowledge of what happens to your friends’ circle after a farewell (since we’ve already had one before).

Basically, if I was to think about this after farewell period with respect to friends in the pre-farewell place, I can sub-categorize the period into 3 zones:

1. Farewell to joining: First period is the period where you have the holidays after leaving the first place but you haven’t joined the next place (which was college for me 4 years back and is my work-place for me this time around). One thing that happens in this period is that you filter out those people that you won’t be talking to much in the life to come. This is because if you don’t speak to someone too regularly in this period when everyone is free, there is a very good chance you may not communicate with that person in the life to come.

2. Joining and burn-in period: This is the period when you start getting the hang of the new place. Change is hard to take and you may start getting nostalgic easily. This period I’d say generally lasts from about 1 month to maybe even 4 months. This period involves a sudden change in frequency of communication with those you talk to. What you can gauge in this period is the amount of effort you can expect from your friends to stay in touch in the future.

3. Post burn-in settled period: Well, this period is when you have settled into the new place and have even laid the foundation for new friendships. And it goes without saying that in this period, those whom you communicate with are going to be in touch with you for a long long time as your communication with them has stood the test of busyness in yours and their lives and even the presence of other new friends too.

Well, after all writing all this self-created semi-technical stuff, I am reminded of how I would love to be in constant touch with all my friends from NSIT even years from now, just like what I wanted to after school. But I know this time round that all this depends on various factors out of which the frequency of communication is most important. Problem occurs when this factor isn’t given its due importance. But we’ll talk about that in a separate post….

We did it!!!!

2008-03-04T19:51:00.000+05:30

I cannot believe it. I wouldn’t have taken the possibility of it happening seriously if someone had suggested it to me 3 days back. But it has happened…. WE WON 2-0!!!!

There are so many aspects of this victory that make it the most satisfying indian win (barring a couple of indo-pak matches) I’ve ever witnessed. One of them would have to be sachin’s contribution in both the finals. When a man reaches the level he has, people start pointing out the minutest of flaws in his armory, even though they might not actually exist. So many people have argued with me over a long time saying that sachin does not play the big games well and some of his performances in finals were quoted as examples. When I pointed out to them his sharjah heroics, they said that that was way in the past. When I pointed out to them his performance against Pakistan in some of the recent high pressure and high importance games (including the game in WC 2003), they said that those games weren’t finals so they shall not be included in the stats about his performance in finals… Well, he played two finals here and got 117 not out in one of them and 91 in the second. So, all I have to say to those people today is…. Ssshhhh!!!!

Another reason that made it special was the way people like Harbhajan fought fire with fire. The Aussies and their supporters will never forget the way he got under their skins. And he got Hayden and Symonds in the first final and got Symonds in the second as well after playing his part in the Hayden dismissal. So it’s quite safe to say that he settled the rivalry for the moment to his liking and that he played the game the aussies are famous for and beat them at it. Good going Bhajji!!!

There had been so much happening off the pitch after the sydney test but it is nice to know that ultimately we are leaving Australia victorious and the whole Aussie season was ruined in their last two games. All this also got Ricky Ponting to eat humble pie as he had suggested before the finals that the series won’t see a third final. Well Ricky, atleast that is one thing you got right…. Cheers!

Apart from the above, there are other reasons to cheer too. The emergence of a good one-day captain and the heartening show put up by the youngsters are things that will help indian cricket in the future.

But for the moment, it’s time to just sit back and enjoy the moment… :)

not again!

2008-02-28T10:49:00.001+05:30

Can’t say he was short of breath, but he was panting that’s for sure; tiredness took over his knees, he tries not to think of it cause he couldn’t afford to be tired… well, that’s atleast what they told him; he tries to concentrate on the next milestone.. but he knows it to be a mirage, cause he wouldn’t get too long to stop.

And then he makes it

Yes!!!

Catches his breath, thankful to the respite his body gets. A moment passes… and he starts seeing that there’s not enough to celebrate.

I expected more

He looks around, there aren’t enough people…. Some run ahead of him, some he left way back

Where is everybody?

There is a wait in his eyes… a touch of disappointment too with a touch of thought over what lies ahead, a touch of thought over whether the next milestone will be worth it.

It’s time

He suddenly gets the urge to bow out, to not fight time, to go at his own pace… but then his eyes turn a touch more dead than they were a moment back, takes one last look at what’s around him and …. runs

I have no choice

My pic in Delhi

2008-02-01T12:03:00.000+05:30

Today, I'll share a picture which has me in it... As long as i am in delhi, I don't see this picture changing....

And Siddy is getting upset!!!!!!!

time pass

2008-02-01T11:21:00.000+05:30

I have seen that people tend to write a lot on their blogs during their bad moods. Well, I myself am going through a bad phase so I feel like even I should scribble something today. But I have something different in mind. Now whenever anyone has a setback (“major cutting” as I like to call it) causing depression in life, they go through a recovery period where the try and get back to normal life. Now this may take moments or even weeks. Today I am going to write about my typical recovery schedule. What’s written below is what I’d probably be saying to others or myself during the mentioned days..

So here it goes… First, the major cutting happens…

Day 1: I am fine. I am the champ, remember? Such little things in life cannot shake me up dude. I’ll be over it in a snap.

Day 2: I am fine. I am the champ, remember? Such little things in life cannot shake me up dude.

Day 3: I am fine. I am the champ, remember?

Day 4: I am fine.

Day 5: Ya, I am fine. I am fine fine fine.. I am as fine as fine can be… I am faaahiiineee..

Day 7: How could I possibly be fine? Are you kidding me or what? But don’t worry, I am finding my way back you know.

Day 9: I am lost mate…. LOST… Lost in this routine torture called life.. I just want to know one thing…

Day 10: Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?

Day 11: Okay now. Hang on here. All I need is a plan. And the plan is that from now on I’ll do ABC

Day 12: Naaaah.. what was I thinking? From now on, I’ll do DEF

Day 13: Things are looking up

Day 14: It’s never been worse… Theory DEF cancel… From now on, I am going to do PQR

Day 15: I think I should do something to occupy myself… something productive, something creative, something I always wanted to do… something worthwhile.

Day 16: Oh no, I have nothing to watch on the computer.. Now I don’t wanna do anything!

Day 18: I am fine.

Day 20: I am fine. I am the champ, remember?

Day 21: I am fine. I am the champ, remember? Such little things in life cannot shake me up dude.

Day 23: I AM BACK BABYYY!!!! And I am glad to be back.

…….

Day 30: Another major cutting happens!!!!!

PS: It's not me, it's the boredom talking.... Stuck with no prison break episodes to watch! :(

this just in...

2008-01-26T10:51:00.000+05:30

A fool can ask more questions than a wise man can answer…. Only if the wise man is foolish enough to try to answer all of them correctly :-)

This one struck me at the thought of my satellite communication's end-semester exam... quite relevant in that context i think :p

'iffy' decisions

2008-01-26T10:44:00.000+05:30

January has been as full of good sporting action as always. With the Indian tour of Australia being covered on one channel and the Australian Open being covered on the other, getting up early has been worth the effort all holidays.

There has been one very noticeable difference between the two sporting events, the difference being that the action from cricket has been full of ‘dubious’ decisions from the umpires, and tennis has been absolutely clean with no attention being given to the umpires at all. (It just occurred to me that umpires not being given attention is a credit to the fact that people are happy with the decision-making going on in the sport… and also that fans tend to know the names of all umpires from cricket and never know the names of the chair umpires in tennis)

What has tennis done differently? Simple enough to answer… Used hawk-eye and used it in the best possible way (referring to the 3 challenge rule here). What is ICC doing to answer the problem?... Proposing to increase the number of umpires in the elite panel to 12. So should we expect better umpiring in cricket in the times to come? The answer is obvious. If the umpires ICC rates the best aren’t able to take the right decisions, how can we expect these new additions, who were not good enough in their eyes to be in the elite panel to begin with, take better calls?

When use of technology is proposed, the argument that runs in cricket is that no technology is a 100% sure and so cannot be used. (btw.. they do admit that hot-spot is a 100%er but forget it while making this comment). Well, that bewilders me because if the umpires are correct 50% of the time while making 'close calls' and technological aids help make correct decisions 90% of the time, why would anyone want to rule in favor of not using technology (at least as a part of some 3 challenge rule like the one in tennis and also with an operator who knows how to use to technological aids)?

Well, I would just like to end the post here by saying that to get rid of the “human-errors” as they call them, it’s time to take a little more help from the inspired human creations.

the point is.....

2008-01-10T23:28:00.001+05:30

We all know what is happening in Australia with the Indian cricket team and in my opinion, this Australian team is full of cheaters (except for Brett Lee)… Anyway, that is not the point I am trying to make here and this post is NOT AT ALL related to cricket or recent cricketing issues.

See, after what happened down-under, there have been reactions pouring in from every part of the world. What has been heartening is that the whole country of ours has united to support the national team in its time of crisis and this kind of unity is exactly what India is about… Anyway, that is not the point I am trying to make here.

There have been reactions from ex-cricketers too. People like Sidhu and Wasim Akram have been blasting the aussies as well as the officials. Their comments show just how passionate they are about the game and that everyone is reduced to a normal cricket fan after retiring… Anyway, that is not the point I am trying to make here.

Reactions have been there from the aussie media too. Peter Roebeck (an ex-cricketer) has become popular in our country after he, in his article in the local daily, used very strong words to voice his opinions against the current Australian team. And it shows that success in Australia may not be equal to popularity sometimes… Anyway, that is not the point I am trying to make here.

On the other hand, there are ex-cricketers who have not been in the news for their comments for the team. They may have watched the matches and may care for the team, but somehow they haven’t had anything to say or maybe the media didn’t reach out to them.

The Indian team having received all this support have felt stronger and appear more eager to fight than they were immediately after the Sydney test. It’s interesting how support, that too just moral support, can lift a team up in its time of crisis… Anyway, that is not the point I am trying to make here.

I ask you… If the Indian team has felt better (if at all it has) because of all the support it has received, who is most responsible for it? If you were the Indian captain, whom would you appreciate and be thankful for most and least among the following people: the Indian ex-cricketers who made their support and protests know through strong words, the Australian media who have written against their own team and extended support to us as guests or the ex-cricketers who care but don’t make it known in a big way????

The team here can be equated to an individual… The Indian ex-cricketers are friends who care and have made it known to you in bad-times or even other times…. And I leave you to equate the remaining two categories yourself…. After all, I know you are smart enough to do that…. Anyway, that is not the point I am trying to make here…. :-)

Two posts in one

2007-12-31T10:08:00.000+05:30

Today I am going to merge 2 separate posts here. So if you thought the earlier posts were maggied up, wait till you read this one! :-)

Post 1: We all have different ways of handling a problem. There is this approach that I have been using recently and it has been working well in the areas that I tested it in. Some of my friends have already heard about this one from me…

Post 2: Many of my friends have already heard from me about what I am about to write. Today I think I’ll write about my favorite movie scene. I always find it nice to think about this scene when I face a problem…

Post 1 (contd): …When I am in a problem, what I do nowadays is that I take myself out of myself, and then look at myself as an observer with a movable time frame and I see someone who will have solved the problem at hand a little time later. It is just like trying to watch the happy ending to feel good by forwarding a movie…

Post 2 (contd): …My favorite movie scene of all time is from the movie Patch Adams. There is this scene where Robin Williams (Patch Adams) enters a mental hospital voluntarily. There he sees an old famous scientist (who also had entered voluntarily) showing 4 fingers to everyone and asking them “How many do you see?”…

Post 1 (contd): …Seeing things like this helps you feel good about the current situation and makes you more proactive, I think, because it makes you believe that you’ll get through. But it works when you are facing a problem similar to ones you have solved before. What happens when a problem appears which you haven’t solved before or have been defeated by before? What would be the answer to it then?...

Post 2 (contd): …Whenever anybody answered “four”, this old man would start cursing everyone in sight. One day Patch answered similarly and the old man called him an idiot and left. But Patch wanted to know what the answer was so he returned later that night…

Post 1 (contd): …Last night, I was facing one of those problems. Something during the day had ticked me off and since I had never solved this problem before, I was looking for a different approach, a different answer maybe…

Post 2 (contd): …“You are another one of those bright young fellows who always know the right answer.. well, welcome to real life!” said the old scientist sarcastically when patch asked for the right answer. Patch noticed that the old man’s cup was leaking, took a sticker off the table and put it on the leak of the cup and fixed it. The old man, with a little shade of gratefulness in his eyes, showed patch 4 fingers again and asked him “How many do you see?” Patch again answered “Four”. He said “NO, you are focusing on the problem. If you focus on the problem, you’ll never see the solution.”…

Post 1 (contd): …I tried to focus on this problem, zoom in on it and get to the core of it. The way I saw it, there were 2 answer options and both of them sucked so I ended up calling a friend of mine…

Post 2 (contd): …“There’s never a right answer, but when you see beyond the problem, you’ll see different solutions; solutions which others cannot see. Look beyond the fingers” When Patch looked beyond the fingers (while still looking in the direction of the fingers) he saw a blur effect which made every finger appear as if there were two of them. He started seeing 8 fingers this time. So he answered “Eight”. Finally, he had looked beyond the fingers…

Post 1 (contd): …In an effort to take my mind off the problem at hand, we started discussing other things. And then my friend repeated something I had said to him some 6 months back…

Post 2 (contd): …“That’s a good answer… yes… Eight is a good answer!”…

Post 1 (contd): And it was the answer I was looking for. Although it may not be the right answer and there still may be apprehension in my mind about it, it is one of the infinite possible solutions but it is a nice solution I saw and when the usual approach doesn’t work, maybe what needs to be done is to ….. “Look beyond the fingers”

An interesting thought

2007-12-29T15:14:00.000+05:30

This came as an "appropriate summary" question in one of the CL assignments. I forgot which assignment it was, so i have been looking for this on the internet. Found it today... Some people think like this too......

“If God is all powerful, then nothing a human being does should affect him. For, if a human act could please or displease God, then human beings would have the power over God. So, either God is not all powerful, or God does not give a hoot what you or I do. But, if God isn’t all powerful, then he isn’t really god and he couldn’t send us to hell even if he wanted to. So, sin at will; for either God doesn’t care what we do or he cares but can’t do anything about it”

Not special until proved otherwise!

2007-12-28T21:29:00.000+05:30

Every child is special. This was the message of the movie Taare Zameen Par. It got me wondering if this was true for every adult too. Is every adult special? Thought about it for 5 seconds and immediately I found myself thinking of my gym caretaker I call motu (behind his back) and for me the question was all taken care of then and there. Every adult was not special. I shared this thought process with a friend of mine from gym and he said that on the contrary, motu is very special… he is so unique… there has never been a bigger idiot. So I thought “is being unique equal to being special?” I checked dictionary.com and found that a couple of meanings for the word special are “distinguished or different from what is ordinary or usual” and “being such in an exceptional degree”. I hate to admit it…. Going by these definitions, Motu is special….

Hence, the question still remains unanswered. Is every adult special? They say every person is unique. By the above definitions, that would make every person/adult special. But aren’t there people that you wouldn’t want to call or think of as special no matter what? I want to attack this argument but I don’t know how to. Maybe I should attack the premise that every person is unique… There are so many people in this world. Is every person really unique? I know that even similar people have different traits, howsoever minute they are… but that way even two handsets of the same model must be different. They all must be having different speeds of processing when it comes down to nanoseconds and we don’t call every handset of nokia special…

I am not convinced with the explanation though. So if anyone has a different approach or anything different to say or even if you agree with the “every adult is special” thought, please leave a comment.

paanch taare for TZP!!!

2007-12-26T14:46:00.000+05:30

After being speechless for a day now, I think it is time I wrote something about my experience yesterday. And that experience was watching “taare zameen par”. I won’t say “Aamir Khan has done it again” because this kind of work cannot be “done” again or cannot be compared to what has been done by him before. It was a sheer magnum opus and before going for that movie, I expected a lot of things but I did not expect what I got because I don’t think I’d expect that from anyone.

I know some people still haven’t watched the movie so I won’t ruin it for them by posting specific details of the movie here. All those who haven’t seen it yet must go watch it on the big screen. This is a 5 star plus 2 thumbs up movie for me. But people should not take their kids for this movie cause I think this movie is pretty much useless for anyone below 15. The music deserves a special mention. Amol, Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy and Prasoon have done a super job. Many of the best moments of the movie were an effect of the music or were moments where the music and lyrics played a major role. The climax song was amazing and the song “ma” was one which made every single person in the audience sob. Also, there was this kick in the music and tempo of the climax song and this intensity in music was followed by intensity on screen which was just awesome.

The kid acted well. And what can one say about Aamir Khan... Even calling him a genius is an understatement. Will hoot in support of the movie at the Academy Awards then... Good luck to the TZP team!

the process... could be better

2007-12-19T18:43:00.000+05:30

While preparing to get into a good B-school, every now and then I find things that I don’t like in the entrance procedure of some of the B-schools in India. So I thought I’d write all of them down today and see how long the list is:

Going in order, the entrance test comes first. And here, I’ll just spare the obvious assualt on the english section of CAT in the last two years. The JMET which is the entrance for the IITs questions students on higher maths which I think I quite pointless but again quite typical of an IIT. Also, XAT has an essay at the end. I really thought GD and PI were more than enough for them to gauge what kind of a person you are. I think the essay section introduces a little luck factor too cause the topic might be to the strength of some people and this might not be case for others. Also, some institutes need to check on the relevance of some of the questions they are asking in the GK section.
I think most people know that if a GD of say 14 people turns out to be a fish market because of let say 6 of those people and everybody starts shouting and no one can hear the other, the panel throws the whole group out. Now that is insane. The 8 people who were not to blame were punished without reason in this case and this happens every year. Wouldn’t it be easier to just ask those 6 candidates to leave and let the others continue?
Also, if GD is a tool to measure team-skills, it is not an efficient tool at all because it is just a 20 min GD and anyone can fake it for 20 min (Yes, people can fake it and they do) and once this goes undetected, even the interview will not be able to detect this aspect of a person.
Now, onto the interview. The worst thing is the question about why you did BSc if you wanted to do MBA eventually or why you did engineering or why bio or whatever. People keep cooking convincing stories about this one or stories they feel they can defend once asked about. A person from BSc says I wanted to know more about this or that subject so I could open up my company in this or that field after some work-ex. Engineers too would come up with some story to avoid the comment that “you just go towards whatever career option that appears more lucrative to you at that time”. So someone will want to open up a chain of restaurants, some would like to challenge pepsico in some way…. All bullshit!!! I think B-schools should stop taking this question so seriously and forget the past to a little extent atleast. The candidate is before you… he may have made a couple of mistakes here and there but don’t kill him for that!.... just see what he can do in the future. We don’t have great schools for BBA in this country anyway so don’t blame a person for doing something else for graduation.
I think on the whole there are a few things about the interview that make a person lie without reason. I mean, you sometimes cant even mention your true hobbies there. People who say reading is their hobby are always greeted with gruelling questions like asking them to compare philosophies of their favorite author with some other author. If some book is your favorite book, then you have to have read other books from the same author or you have committed the biggest crime of the century. You say watching friends is your hobby? What was the salary of each one of them? You say you watch football, huh? Name 5 clubs of Brazil. Collecting coins, is it? What is the currency of Bolivia? Like electronic gadgets? Aint that cuuuute!!! Forget everything…. You like breathing? What is the composition of the air that goes in? Are you sure it’s 100% oxygen!!! It’s a hobby for god’s sake!!.. It is WATCHING friends and WATCHING football… not finding freakish facts about them… and if I like breathing, I just like doing it, that’s it!

I guess if some B-schools could straighten some of these issues out, they really would make their selection procedure better and ultimately the people coming out of great B-schools would do greater things. I think, to some extent, the GD should be replaced by something else. This is just one of the ideas. I suggest that students should be divided in groups where they have to perform some actual business task assigned to them in a simulated environment in a couple of hours maybe…. Something similar to what they do on the apprentice but on a small scale ofcourse. There should be a panel of 2 with each group and the true group dynamics would come into play in this case. And if it costs them… simple… just ask for Rs. 2000 or so from each candidate appearing for the process. All those not selected would be returned the money and for those who get selected, they can just think of the fees to be Rs. 1.52 lacs instead of 1.5. The process seems complicated? Well, you expect your students to do the greatest things in the world.. time for you to hold up your own end!

Looking for trouble?

2007-12-13T20:02:00.000+05:30

There are a few universal quotes that every person has heard of and some of these always go unquestioned or uncontested. One of them is one you hear from a friend when you are down and it goes something like "God gives trouble to those people who he feels can handle it". I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who mentioned this quote to me and I've heard this one a million times and I've never argued it but that day a thought just struck me. I thought that maybe it's not god who is dishing out the trouble to those who can handle it... But those who can handle trouble know this quality of their's to some extent and they take up tasks or do things in a way which increases the probability of them falling into the kind of trouble they can handle. The motive, of course, is that by increasing the probability of trouble, you do increase the returns you'll get out of an endeavor or a situation. On the contrary, those who feel that they can't handle trouble never take chances and in this way lead a trouble-free life but they give up on some things they want in the process. Just give it a thought...
Meanwhile, I'll think about how I have reduced God's role in another way by alleging that maybe he's not doing something that everyone is claiming that he's doing... I am not happy about this though. I wish he took more interest in our lives!

Title???...Not in the mood

2007-12-09T20:35:00.000+05:30

I am a very moody person. Is this the first time you're hearing this? Of course not... I think 99% of the people who would think about this would think of themselves as moody people. Do we all like being moody? I don't think so. Everyone would rather have one constant mood all the time and what's that mood type?.... It's "good".
Now when I begin to think about why we end up in a bad mood or an "off" mood sometimes, all I feel like saying is that it's part of life; there are highs and lows in everything and mood is no different... Topic closed! But the topic can't be closed unless there's a logical explanation to why there still are people who do not have mood swings.. And who are these people?... Children of course! Now I know some people will say that children too have mood swings but even if they do, they are less frequent than those of adults. And if someone was to say that mood swings in both operate with the same frequency then, well, they are wrong in saying this.
I wonder why this happens.... kuch hormone wagerah ka lafda hoga, kyu? But is that it? Every single person in the age group of 20-70+ is having mood swings because of some uncontrollable mechanism?... Hmm... Maybe. But could it be something else?
There is this one characteristic of people in good mood: They exude energy. Now it seems obvious why children are generally in a better mood. It's because they are full of energy; their energy reservoir is vast or maybe it's just that their energy reservoir is different from ours. Children generally look inside for energy. Their own thoughts tend to excite them more than a cup of coffee. They don't think about whether the thoughts are realistic or not; they think freely and this makes their energy reservoir vast.
On the other hand, adults are generally lacking energy because most look elsewhere for energy. Adults need coffee or tea to get their day started; they need appreciation from close ones (read as "anyone") to give them energy; they need to feed off their colleagues too for some energy; they (read as "I") need television to give them more energy when nothing else during the day did so.
So what do all these thoughts leave me with?..... Hmm.... They leave me with something I am sure... par baaki kisi aur din sochunga, abhi mood nahi hai!

A word about CAT

2007-12-09T20:22:00.000+05:30

I always thought that my first post after exams would be about CAT. Here, by CAT, I mean the question paper and not my experience. This has been stopping me from posting anything else on the blog. So I had to get it out of the way. All i want to say about CAT is that a wise man once said that if you can't say anything good about something, you shouldn't say anything at all. So basically, I am just writing this post to say that I don't wish to say anything :-)

Enough of Quant, DI, Verbal.... A different game now...

2007-11-11T19:41:00.000+05:30

The time has arrived. CAT 2007, now, is just a week away. I have thought about posting something related to CAT in the past but always put it off cause I didn’t want to jinx anything in anyway by saying anything. But considering the fact that thinking about CAT takes up almost 75% of my idle time, I had to write something about it sooner rather than later. So today I’ll write not about CAT, but something that is the key element in CAT: The Pressure.

With CAT just a week away now, everyone has conceded to the fact that studying now isn’t going to bring about any miracles. But now, since the study part is over, a different game has begun. The people who have pinned a lot of hopes on this exam are now fighting their mind every single day, somehow trying to convince their brain that everything is okay… you needn’t worry… worrying won’t get you anywhere… you’ll do well. So, in this post, I’ll try and write about the different approaches one takes to fool his/her brain. If you can relate to them, maybe you’ll see the lighter side of it.

So here they are:

The stakes aren’t high: This approach goes something like this. Hey, I am taking cat for the first time here. What if I don’t clear it, huh? What would really happen? Nothing. I won’t die or starve…. I have a job in hand. Will go work. Take CAT again. And clear it then. This approach loses its effect once the person starts thinking about all the preparation they have put in or the possibility of others making it and the person him/herself not making it.
Blame it on God: This one goes like this. I have worked hard; put in the effort. God, you have troubled me all year and all my life. I am sure you will not disappoint me this time. And if by mistake, you happen to do that then… then… then it just won’t be fair and… and… and my faith.. will be broken... This is, in a way, emotional blackmailing we are subjecting god to. When I use this approach, I sometimes go a step further and threaten god in ways. Well, this one lasts as long as one doesn’t see that other hard-working people too haven’t cleared CAT in history and you are no different than anyone else.
It’s just another day, it’s just another test: This one can be used by someone who is doing as well as he/she would like to in the mocks. And here’s how this one goes: I have performed the way I wanted to in 85% of the mocks. So I just have to take CAT as if it’s just another mock and I’ll do well. After all, people who do well in CAT are normally people who did well in mocks. Sounds plausible but this one fails when one starts thinking about the 15% of the mocks where one didn’t perform well and starts wondering what would happen if CAT turned out to be like one of those days
I’ll come, I’ll conquer and there ain’t a damn thing anyone can do about it: And finally, my favorite: the aggressive approach. This one is straight forward…. I am the champ… I am the stud… and will take the test like one. When I come out, my face will read “Mission accomplished” and that’s that. This one works really well, except for the fact that it’s impossible to stay this aggressive for too long.

So what I am saying here is use all the approaches in rotation and do whatever works for you. I plan to take the 4^th approach into the test. Baaki bhagwaan dekhega. Vaise bhi, aise kitne test nikaal liye, ek aur nikaal lenge… aur nahi nikaala to kya? to kyaaaaa???.... kuch nahi…masti mein hi jiyenge…mar thodi jayenge!!!;-)

Mitra on ZOOM IN.....

2007-11-09T18:43:00.000+05:30

Today, on my blog, I have a post from my friend Siddharth Mitra. happy reading everyone....
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Historically diwali has been regarded the festival when people show affection and love for their near and dear ones.
Earlier people undertook long journeys, which apparently to some were just to give a small box of sweets, but were truly to pay regards to elders, shower love on the contemporaries and bless the juniors. Those who were unable to undertake the journey made up for their absence by sending a personalized message in the form of a letter or a greeting card. But times change. And so do the people.
In our generation no one has ‘THE TIME’ to undertake any journey. We have done away completely with the practice of visiting our friends as we are ‘BUSY’ doing other things. Okay agreed that we are the busiest lot of people to have ever taken birth on this planet. But still there are the good old fashioned greeting cards aren’t there? We can still pour our hearts out if we wish to. But nopes! Cards are meant only for our respective girlfriends and boyfriends and for others it’s some money down the drain. Okay! One can agree with this reasoning too. But still there is the savior of our generation, the technological advancement which has made communication dirt cheap, our own hero - - “THE SMS”.
Now if we consider the possibility there is nothing much to go wrong with an sms. If it’s holi one can simply say – “hey brother happy holi and I wish we could be together on this fun filled day”. On diwali one can similarly go-“hey brother happy diwali and I miss you on this auspicious occasion”. So if a person wishes then sweet and simple personalized messages can be sent to each of the near and dear one.
But I am sorry to say people don’t even have this much time to spare. For past few years the messages which I have received and many of you would have received too, are the crappy forwards picked up from the internet and then forwarded without any changes. On a day when the messages should bring warmth, cold vibes emanate from these messages. The senders of these messages don’t even care to add personalized salutations. They start of with either hey or as it go ‘wishing you and your family….’
Even such messages were palatable. One could with a heavy heart accept these messages and return the messages, if one still had the heart, with personalized messages.
But on this diwali people have taken to a practice which is beyond reason. As if to receive a forward on diwali wasn’t bad enough people have started to sign off diwali messages with either their first names or, in worse cases, with their full names.
That shows a complete lack of sensitivity on the part of the sender. It makes a mockery of the whole concept of diwali. Such a message arouses in the receiver a feeling of contempt for the sender who has put the receiver in the category of people who don’t matter a bit to the sender. Obviously if one is signing off with one’s name then it means that one is sending it to some people who don’t even recognize one’s number, and the people who don’t recognize one’s number aren’t obviously one’s friends. So today I put a question to the people that has the necessity to just register one’s presence taken precedence over the old fashioned practice of leaving a long lasting impression? Have we in order to cultivate ‘contacts’ forgotten to nourish the flower of friendship?
I for one feel that a true friend overshadows a thousand so called friends (read contacts). They are the ones who are the real lights in life. But strangely enough the people around me believe otherwise or how else can I explain the presence of people signing off with their full names a message intended for a friend. I urge sane people to tell the crazy people that their friends know their names, at least. And kudos to people who have sent heart felt greetings to others. For it’s the personal touch, that little extra, which says that you care.

On demand: Make your mark!

2007-10-28T19:53:00.000+05:30

Do you know how many languages there are in this world? Well, I don’t know either but I am sure there are thousands of them. Still, there can only be one language that is truly universal and that’s English. Why is that? Well, I am sure very intelligent people from all parts of the world must have come to a consensus and they must have agreed that this was the most comprehensive, easy to learn, easy to use and ‘complete in every sense’ language. Yes, it’s a beautiful language. To use it correctly while speaking and writing is quite important I feel. While I touched on some of the glitches introduced in the language cause of the speaking part, I feel like talking about the writing part today.
What I intend to focus on is punctuation marks. The thoughts that may arise are “Are they really that important?” or “Isn’t conveying the idea my aim here?”. Well, yes, they are important and I’ll try and present my case here. Now let us say there is some British man who had little formal education (but obviously can use a computer… anyone can!!!!) and there is some well-educated friend of yours on the other hand. Both these people are equally mature in the thought process department. Both know english. The two of them write you an e-mail each. What’s the difference between the them? How do you think one can tell who is educated and who is not? Is there no difference? Does it not matter? Or maybe formal education is over-rated, what say?
You do see where I am going with this, don’t you? In today’s world, the smallest things are the ones that are magnified and cited as evidences of traits. Why is it that the bigger things are ignored? I don’t know. Maybe they look the same for everyone. Maybe people have learnt to cover them up in some way. Maybe, after knowing that people are disguising their bigger flaws, we don’t trust the ‘bigger things’ to judge people.
Now I’ll get back to the point at hand before I digress. Today, everyone can speak English. Everyone can write. Harbhajan Singh learnt how to speak well. The Pakistani ex-cricket players are commentating and if they can do that much, they can write too you know. But not everyone can punctuate correctly. It is THE thing that can set people apart. It can increase the value of what you write, enhance the reader’s interest, increase clarity and again… place you above others!
But then there is this other set of people who say, “I don’t care about all this. I just want to convey my idea.” Well, for them, all I have to say is check out the comments section of this post. I have de-punctuated a couple of lines and posted them there.
Don’t forget the small marks... For they make a big difference!

lets keep it simple

2007-10-26T18:35:00.001+05:30

The curtains are down and Kimi Raikkonen is world champion. What an amazing race it was!!! After a long long time I really enjoyed a formula one race for its entire duration. Excited, I messaged this junior of mine: “ Champ --> Kimi”. Just moments later, I got a reply: “I know, that’s so kewl!!” … And everything stops. This word “kewl” (= "cool") was the distraction needed to spoil the post-race conference. See, I get bothered about the smallest of things. When I encounter something new, I have to think about what caused this new discovery to take place. And if it’s about fake words, then be it.
Now, the reasons people use such words in spoken or written language are varied so I will need a few examples to cover them. Like the word “kewl”…. It has been made up in an attempt to convey a western accent in a written medium. Another made-up word is “y’all” (short form of “all of you”). This one was made in an attempt to sound keeewl!!! Then there is this word I got in some other sms: “Sowwy” (in place of “sorry"). This was an attempt to sound cute. But something is definitely wrong here. What these words were intended to do was not accomplished here. I mean, “sowwy” is a pronunciation of “sorry” I would expect from 4 year old American girls. So, when I hear a 20 yr old man using it, I don’t think of him as cute, I think of him as gay. And “y’all”?…. Have we just started merging any 2 words now? The picture this word paints is of some English rapper or eminem wannabe who unfortunately dropped out of school (and no, that’s not what the aim was).
People also write “ma” in messages instead of “my” and I don’t know why. Both forms are two-letter words so there is no time saving in sms typing. And changing one letter of a two-letter word changes its composition by 50 PERCENT!!!!! The list of these kinds of words is increasing very quickly.
Now why would anyone want to do such a thing to the beautiful words of the English language??? All I have to say is that if anyone wants to try something different, try something like adding French or Latin words to your vocabulary. Ma advice to y’all is that to be kewl, keep it clean people :-)…. Peace!

My First Post

2007-10-25T18:38:00.000+05:30

Yessss.... I have done it. Been thinking of it for months but have been putting it off. But now, I finally have my own blog. Feeling great.. Its like a new addition to my internet life!!!