"I am not perfect. But I know what perfection is"

Behind one another

My fellow Indians continue to amuse me. By every small thing they do. By their never ending enthusiam to compete; to fight; To fight for their right. To fight for that 10C seat that has been reserved for them in the Chennai - Bangalore flight.

People were up and at the gate even before the gate was open for boarding. Some, as though all they needed was a spark to lead, joined the line. And before long, the line was menacingly long. Soon a sense of hurry spread amongst the remaining. Who wants to be left out, eh? In a jiffy, all that was left in seats was I with a few despirited folks. Talk about pressure and this is it. The longer the line, the pressure piles up.

Just seeing so many people before one makes them forget the fact that they actually can think; That they do not have to worry about their seat; That there are people to take care of their baggages.

Reason? Beats me. But I wonder if those privileged men were surprised to see me landing in Bangalore at the same time. Well, I agree this has given me a topic to write about. However, the sight of people in line makes me sick. I see them every day everywhere. From morning till I return back home. The mini line before boarding my daily cab to office, the line to buy lunch coupon, at the food counter, at the water pot. Geez, where do we get so many people from!

Here is an interesting and funny way to look at this. This is from a column that the great writer Late. R.K. Narayanan wrote.

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The future historian will in all probability say, 'There are ample signs that people everywhere stood behind one another for hours and hours and the file stretched away for miles. Why they did it we will never understand, particularly as there seemed to have been plenty of space all around where they could have spread out. They seemed to have learnt that style from ants. The one behind took exactly the same number of steps as the one ahead, and if he stopped the other stopped. Why they did it we can never understand as we have no means of judging the inner stresses of those times. All that we are able to gather is that if a man's longevity was twenty-seven years, he spent a total of twenty years standing in various queues, at bus-stands, railway stations, ration depots, cloth-shops, cinema houses and every kind of public place. Considering the time spent this way it is surprising how they managed to find the time to carry on their normal domestic or economic activities.'

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Personally CCed

I am a software engineer and like others I receive hundreds of e-mails a week. I know it's not difficult to understand how close these modern software professionals are with electronic mails. There are many kinds of e-mails that you see every day like spam, forwarded mails, please-forward-to-all-you-know mails, account statements, personal mail etc. However, today's focus will be on one kind that never failed to put me off. The one that makes a mockery of human-feelings. The mail that personally invites you to a wedding. The mail that, without fail, says 'treat this as my personal invitation'.

Are you seeing what I am about to talk about? Good. Well, I have been seeing these for the past several years and perhaps I should have been got used to it. But I have not. Instead it annoys me every time. In India, for most of the (unlucky) people, marriage is a once-in-lifetime occasion and traditionally the idea has been inviting everyone that the bride and groom's family know. In other words, the bigger the gatherings, more the blessings. And hence, it has been the pleasure of the bride/groom to invite people. Alas! These days, we have no time for such thoughts, let alone practicing it.

I am bewildered. What is it about sending an email to hundreds of contacts in your address book and put them all in CC or BCC list. There you go! Hundred invisible people invited in 5 minutes. Now the question is not how busy one is to personally meeting everyone and inviting. The real question is how much you want their presence. One can argue that he/she remembered you and that's why you are copied on that e-mail. But I don't buy that. I can counter that an e-mail wish or an online greeting card can definitely substitute my personal wishes. Can't it? Because, it is easier for me to do that than presenting myself at the wedding.

Having said that, one can argue that in the modern world, one gets so little time for oneself. Where is the time for all these touchy-feely things? Whatever little you have, you spare them for your family and beloved!

But this sums up the current situation. Time has changed. Traditions are being let go. But do you really think e-mails can go as far as human feelings and respect? If you are saying 'no', I see your point.

Note: CC - Carbon Copy, BCC - Blind Carbon Copy

Hongkong on a rainy day

A couple of photos from my HongKong trip. I have these on 360.yahoo.com as well. However, I am not satisfied as they shrunk the photos.

My tryst with dream

I am not a dreamer. No, I am not meaning that I do not have wishes that sound like dreams. I have plenty of them. I mean, I do not dream when I sleep. Sometimes when I am awfully sick, I get what one might call nightmares. Like someone abducts me, puts me in a small box with my hands and ankles tied. I am bathing in sweat inside the air-tight box and could barely emit any audible sound, let alone screaming for help.

I almost always had dreamy nights as a small boy. A couple of them, which repeatedly filled my nights. The first one offered me wings, which when flapped will make me airborne. Interestingly the wings needed some take-off run. I never figured why. But I never had time to think as someone was always behind my life. And the other dream always gave me money (only coins) whenever and wherever I dug the ground.

A lot has been said about dreams as to why they come and what they mean. In my opinion, dreams reflect one's state of mind when he/she is not sleeping. Or may the dreamer's recent thoughts. That's probably why I found only coins and not currency bills. A small boy needed only little money to buy things that he needed. Hence, coins would suffice. A newer version of that dream would definitely bring a blank cheque written on my name when I dug open the ground.

I am tempted to say that dreams one get might have something to do with how interesting a person is. This statement, unfortunately puts me in the most-boring category. I am afraid that all the years I spent at school studying science has probably taken away my imagination. I seek reason in everything that happen around me. Even in things as subtle and natural as why a girl is possessive. Well, when this happens, you know something is clearly wrong. In my case, I lost my imaginative sense. It must have been a smooth transition. Because I do not remember when this really happened or started to happen. In any case, my dreams as though to punish me for this gave up on me.

As I take time and give it a serious thought, things appear to be clearer. It's I, who deserted my dreams. It's I, who decided not to dream; who wanted to be a so-called rational man; who thought dreams are not for a man who has confidence in himself; who thought dreaming was child's act.

What happened today is pleasing. I dreamed. Yes, you heard me right. I dreamed for real (!) during my Sunday afternoon siesta. It's like being born once again.

The dream is about a special space ship that promises to take me from a foreign land to my country on a small boy's recommendation. I am offered a ventilated room in the layered space ship. They warn me about the danger of being tossed about in air; of being torn apart by the fiercesome air in and out through the openings. Nevertheless, I accept the offer and we take off. The vehicle was too fast, even for a dream. It was fast and period. In a jiffy, we land. During the flight, I had lost everything in the turbulence that took place in my cabin, except my clothes I had on me. I check my new sneakers. They are alright and I am happy they are. I ask about our whereabouts. "Hold your breath - we are in Africa.", comes the reply.

And that's where I woke up and the dream ended. I badly wanted this one to go on. But you know, you are only as lucky as the dreams want you to be. Things work in a different way here. You are nothing but a puppet here. You can't control things as you do in real life. That's dream for you.

Meanwhile, I am hoping that my second stint with dreams will continue. Hope - well that's all I can do and that's about how much control I have over them.

And you think I am rude?

A conversation between Jack Nicholson (plays the role of a famous writer) and a front desk girl in the movie 'As good as it gets'.

Girl: "How do you write women so well?"
Jack: "Well, I think of a man, then I take away reason and accountability"

Now, that will make any woman furious, won't it? ;)

Worth of General Knowledge

Are you good at General knowledge? You might be interested in knowing this!!!

While I was browsing, comes a popup with a question and says the winner could win an Apple iPod.

The question is :

Whose butt is this? (picture provided on the popup as well)
A. Shakira
B. Madonna
C. Jennifer Lopez

This is such a funny world.

A father's feelings

Whoever said men can't express their feelings? Here is a mail I have got from a friend of mine who has just become a father.

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I didn’t expect my daughter to change me as much as I have.

You get such a strong sense of responsibility. I mean even when holding her – you feel as if her life depends on you, so if I am holding her, I wont drink hot tea! There is no time left in the day. The 3 hour sleep cycles take their toll. We try to “over-feed” her at bed time so that maybe she can sleep for 4 hours and maybe it will be easier to get up, feed and calm her.

Its not going to make any sense to you right now but you probably will understand one day. I thought I knew, having seen my brother and few friends go thru the same, but I knew nothing. To give an example: I have seen kids sandwitched between their parents - probably to protet them from Wind and cold. I used to think it was stupid as the kid is anyway more heavily dressed than the parents, but I now think that is very logical and natural thing to do.

One day you will know.

She is back!

I today saw her setting a new world record for the longest voice message ever left. More than 3 minutes! Can anyone beat that?

And... she laughed a couple of times too! (please read the previous post to get the context)

Have you ever thought that someone you barely know can bring so much happiness in to your life? Well, I just discovered that.

There is this girl who sits next to me in office. I only know her for the past two weeks and all we say to each other is "Hello", "Good night" and occasional "wow, nice weather, isn't it?". Actually, I am not quite sure if should call her a girl. She must be in her late thirties and probably holds some specialization degree in talking.

"Hi, this is So and So. Hahahah"
Other End: ..............
"Oh, you were? hahahha"
Other End: ..............
"Yeah, I know! hahaha"
Other End: ..............
And then comes a long sentence, "I was just wondering, if it is not too much of a problem to you, when time permits..."

Imagine this at the loudest possible girl voice. Often she makes me believe that everyone she talks to, has an excellent sense of humour. At the same time she makes me curious about the other end's reaction for the silly and almost unbearable giggles. But not to deny, she makes me feel like screaming at the top of my voice. "Cut that crap, will you?"

Ok, now are you asking me how I derive happiness out of this situation? Let's say you have a neighbor like this and she disappears for a week on vacation, how will that be?

Please don't remind me that she will be back soon. That makes me shudder!

Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain

I just finished watching a French movie (English subtitles, of course) , "Amelie". In fact, a couple of times in as many days. To put it in a nutshell, this is one of those movies that will make you sit in silence for sometime and let the feeling sink in. A perfect combination of liveliness and lighthearted comedy. The photography is as good as any other aspects about the movie.


Best thing about the movie? The star of the movie - Amelie (Audrey Tautou). What can I say? Her smile is amazingly sweet and mesmeric!
The way the director chooses to build the characters is excellent. Gives you a feeling that you know them personally. Worth having in your personal collection.

Some hula for the soul

This is by far my best weekend in a long time. Yesterday I had a great opportunity to hear/watch a traditional Hawaiian concert at the Whittier College, Beverly hills. The performers were Cazimero brothers. Honestly I have no idea how popular they were. But most of the people who were present there seemed to recognize them.

This was my first ever time that had anything to do with Hawaii. I never even had a Hawaiian shirt before, believe me. As if to make things worse for me, most of the audience, including those who were with me, were in Hawaiian costumes, like those colorful shirts, garland around neck, the single big prominent flower etc. Well, I wasn't very far, actually. I was wearing one of my Filipino T-shirts. Hehe.. That probably was the closest I have every gotten to Hawaii. And interestingly, couple of people even asked me about my T-shirt I and the place that it had on its front (Tagaytay)

Anyways, the show started with few promises/points.
1. The costumes that the performers were wearing were indeed traditional Hawaiian ones, and not touched by Hollywood.
2. The Hula dance is not really for movements, but for expressions. So, one might find the movements a little boring and repetitive if you do not understand the words being spoken/sung. *Sigh*

The show started and I didn't realize that it was more than an hour since until they broke for the interval. I thoroughly enjoyed the music as well as dance. There are few things that I must mention. In one of the dances, the men who were performing (yes, there were male dancers too! But the good thing is there equal number of girls) were wearing a very interesting piece of outfit. It was like a kind of a basket attached to their waist and gave a feeling that the dancers indeed were suspended on them. Mostly, the men were just wearing a hawiian shirt and a regular trouser. And of course a garland around the neck to remind us that we were in a Hawaiian show.

But the best thing I liked was how the dancers made me feel that their smile/grin was natural. It certainly wasn't like those Air-hostess' smile. I hate it when those on-flight-stewards show their teeth, without bothering their cheeks or eyes. It is so unnatural and kind of puts me off. But these girls and boys, to my liking, really appeared to be enjoying what they were doing. I could see those smiles on their eyes and cheeks. Very nice!

Now about music - honestly I understood nothing, for most of the songs were in Hawaiian. There were a couple of them in English as well. Someone said that people in Hawaii don't really speak Hawaiian there. The language is only for music. May be, Aloha is the only word they use in conversations and rest is English. I don't really know. The music was nicely paced and was pleasant.

Someone tells me that Hawaii is only about 200$ away from LA. Now, isn't that a good news? Alright... I gotta go now. I have some work at google now.

Aloha!

If nights can wait...

I like it when my days are longer. Now don't jump to conclusions that I am a workaholic. Not yet. What I meant is I like it when the sun sets after 8 or 9 in the evening. I know there are people who do not particularly like it when they go to a country in the northern hemisphere. But I love it. People who live in a trffic-affected city like Bangalore can probably guess why.

I really hate it to find it already dark when I reach home. What is an evening if you have no time to sit at the balcony with a cup of coffee and a book. No time to enjoy the sunset either. What a lousy life! There are two hours in a normal day that are meant to be enjoyed. The first hour is morning 6 AM to 7 AM and second just before dusk, 5.30 PM to 6.30 PM. I spend the first one best hour trying to wake up and the second one trying to close my work for the day. I know I have myself to blame for the morning laziness. But you see, when I reach home at 7.30 in the evening, I need at least 3 hours for myself, to cook, to eat, to read something and watch TV. So, it's not all my fault, don't you agree with me?

I would not mind if there are only 8 or 9 hours of darkness in a day - Just about enough to sleep. This will give us the flexibility to start and end our day whenever we want. You can hang around in the office a bit longer, because you can go home at 7.30 in the evening and still sit out in the balcony and read, without having to turn on the bulbs, of course. And that will be the perfect way to end your day!

Upside down

Nothing is going normal since yesterday. Well, it's actually day before yesterday.
Its Sunday morning 1:30 AM and Friday night should technically be called day before yesterday, right?

On Friday night, I was over-enthusiastic about finishing off some work and stayed up through the night. When I decided to close the day (!) it was 7 in the morning. Though I didn't like the idea, fell asleep. Despite a disturbing phone call from a friend of mine in the noon, I managed to sleep till 6.30 PM.

Right after finishing my morning chores, I had dinner. A good dinner. Rice, Vatha kuzhambu and curd rice with tomato pickle. (Note: Only the second time that I had Indian food in the past 10 days)
And since then all I have been doing is just eating.

Here is the list:
. As mentioned, two course rice meal.
. A glass of Orange juice
. Couple of slices of Mangoes.
. Handful of red pistachios.
. Grilled Ribs
. 3 Tortillas with tomato pickle (You can say, Mexican version of Chapatis)
. Orange juice again.
. Two donuts, one plain and one choco.

I guess that should be enough for a day, right? May be few grapes won't hurt so much? But whatever, I am going to make an effort to sleep now.

Finally...

After resisting the temptation for a long time, I give in. I have always been an old-fashioned guy in this regard. Are you saying, "In all aspects". Well, I am not going to stop you from making "Wrong assumptions" :-D

Ok.. Here is the news. I finally bought myself a digital Camera. It's a digital SLR with 6.1 mega pixels from Minolta (Maxxum5D) I must say I am in love with this camera already. Its anti-shake feature is a marvel. Now I can try out everything I want to without having wait untill the roll is finished. Yehhh...

However, I am sad that I may not be using my other camera (Minolta Maxxum5) as often any more. I am delighted and yet sad.

Here are couple of pictures from my new friend.

Hehe... Yeah, it's me on the mirror.

All perfect. Oh, wait. Where is wine? And where is the girl?

Book review - One night @ the call center

Just finished reading this book and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It was hilarious and made me laugh out loud many times.

As the name suggests, the story is about few people in an Indian call center on one particular night. A very light subject and I am not going to write the whole story here, for I want you to read this book. Another point you will appreciate is the simple yet good jokes all over the story. Like this one - "Every time I take bath, the towel has more hair than me"

You will also find some information about the call center industry, which probably may not be new for someone who is associated with IT or BPO industry. The ending is very much like an Indian (or even Hollywood) movie - dramatic and few things you may not agree with. But I guess you can compromise.

In a nutshell a good time-pass book.

I am still finding it difficult to get something to write about. In the mean time, here is something a collegue of mine, who visited me recently, had to share with another friend. I know, having seen me, such a nice guy, you will find things that you might want to object. Please leave them as your comments. :)
Note: J is me
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Hi,

Here are the facts – part of them you might know already.

J eats, critiques and… ‘cooks’!

His house – big, large and huge with a small ‘him’.
(Okay, he might have expected me to say this – why disappoint him?)
It was neat, clean and decorated.

He’s actually not tall. Just that his bike is way too short. I happened to discover it just that day.

Books and movies – not to be taken together. Books – I’m sure he’s trying to imitate someone’s taste for books. Looks like some split personality disorder! How can he, who should have had just enough time to read for his career and ofcourse for freaking out with ‘teammates’, have this kind of a commendable collection. And no, I’m not giving up this time. It’s about his collection of movies – oh! Just one is good – 50 first dates. (Don’t ask me about the rest – I’ve simply not heard of them.)

There is a mini-museum of photographs. Again, he looked good only in 1 – true to myself – the picture was blurred due to a shake. Most of the others were taken in places where you focus on the background and you forget to see the people around. This way none of them who see those pictures could authentically comment on any of the looks.

Regards,
So and So.

Disclaimer:
The sender is not responsible for any kind of misinterpretations the reader might make.

Came across this point. Striking!
After all, what is belief if you are told what to believe in?

New years and resolutions

"What? You are not going to be awake till 12 o' clock?", a friend of mine asked when I said I am going to bed at my usual time on December 31st last year.
I replied, "I guess I am. And I don't think there is anything going to be special in the sky tonight."
Well, many would say I am boring and dull and I do not know how to welcome the new year. And for a lot of people, this "New Year" thing starts on December 31st evening and ends on January 1st morning. However, the meticulous preparations start from a month before. Talks of partying, gathering, chilling out and not to forget the resolutions are all around.

Things that really bemuse me are the talks about the need for introspection and then the new year resolutions. Question to be asked is this: Why should one have to wait for the new year to make resolutions. If someone is serious about these things, then he/she will not need a new year to initiate the resolution. I fail to see the reason behind this. Is this lack of determination or what? I don't know. But I know there are a lot of people out there who have done this. So, please give me some wisdom :)