TZP , SDM

When the movie Slum Dog Millionaire bagged so many awards, I was a kind of a happy man.. Wow what a movie.. I was indeed exclaiming that even without watching the movie.

Next day I came to know that, Taare Zameen Par, had run out of Oscar Contention. I was kind of low.

I thought TZP was a superb movie and deserved an Oscar.

I was just wondering how did SDM bag awards, while TZP was not even in contention.

> Was it because of the director / producer.
> Was it because of the fact that it showed India on the backfoot, instead of a progressed well developed nation. (remember the dialogue in Namastey London, " India , a land of snake charmers ")

No clues as of now..

~~~~

Cheers..

Daily Soaps .... A cause of sever headache

Everyday my parents watch 2 serials from 8 30 pm to 9 30 pm.

I tend to keep a low profile during this one hour of the day, trying to retire in my room or go to the terrace or whatever, because I want to avoid, watching or even catching a glimpse of those serials.

My only cause of concern is, why to give a thought of the troubles faced by unreal characters?

I was watching ["Name of serial removed "] one day and was shocked at the seris of co-incidences happening. After many episodes, one lady appears as the wife of a person, all of a sudden , who also turns out to be the manager of the lady whose her husband has a crush on.

My gosh, so many co-incidences?? To be honest first time I am seeing so many co-incidences, never mind, its fiction after all....

The two serials which I adore as of now are,

" Hello Kaun Pehchaan Kaun "
" MTV Roadies "

~~~~
Cheers

New Show on Radio Indigo....

Its 2 weeks since, a new show has been launched on Radio Indigo.

I am waiting to listen to it, right from the word go, but have not been able to, courtesy my laziness, my schedule, my forgetfulness, you name it, you have it.

But what is so special about this show???

1. Its a retro show, (classic rock + some legends + some trivia)

2. Hosted by (Guess the RJ) , (sounds familiar name is it?)

I was a huge fan of this particular RJ during my engineering days, way back in 2002, 2003. I enjoyed " The Late Show " weekdays night 10pm - 12 pm and " The Retro Show " Sundays 7pm - 9pm.

But hoping not to miss this Sunday, let me see. The show is " PlayBack " Sunday morning 9am to 12 pm...


~~~

Cheers

After a break....

Hey there .... here I am ... blogging after a lil long time..

I was facing some internet problem at home, so could not login since almost 5 days..

I have loads of things to write about, not sure where to begin from.... Few of them include...

> What I did not understand about Slum Dog Millionare.

> Daily soaps on NDTV Imagine (Mein Teri Parchayee Hoon and Radha Ki Betiyaan).

> My new orkut testimonial.

> New show on Radio Indigo...

I can also write about loads of things, which I am expecting to happen in the near future. But let it happen... So let me write about the above mentioned things in subsequent posts...

~~~
Cheers.

New theme for 2009

Going into 2009, I thought let me put a new theme, so finally finalized a theme, which included white color.

Nothing particular about choosing white, just hoping to purify my thoughts and throw away any negativity which resides within me.

I think, the picture of Mahatma Gandhi on a white background looks amazingly supercool.
[Gosh, I could have put in white a little before, never mind, better late than later ]

Also forgot to write much in the last weeks of 2008. I have found a show on TV very interesting, its MTV roadies, audition. Some cool questions, some supercool interviewers. I wish not to view Roadies, but the auditions look pretty cool.

I also happened to watch MTV Vaults on VH1, which featured U2 - MTV Vaults. I just love U2, their music and any program on or about U2, just peps me up.

I can say one thing for sure, I have known U2 all my life, and I just love their music.

~~~~
Cheers

Pep me up !!!

One of my goals for the year 2009, is to read more and more books. So I started to re-read a book which I had last read in 2005, when I had joined my first company.

The book is "Tough times never last, tough people do". As I began to read the book, I just found a new punch line, which I thought of pinning down in my blog title, [which infact I did].

I can also say, going into the new year, I found that line too inspiring, to keep on blogging more and more.

So here goes the line " If you dont have any advice to give, share your own story".

Then I thought, here I am sharing my own story . [Not everything, but atleast some and one more thing, I do not intend to do this for the sake of audience. Its for my sole purpose. To turn the focus light more towards myself.]

Let me hope I will write more than what I did in 2008.

~~~
Cheers

#1 for 2009

Here s my first post for the year 2009.

Firstly I have to thank none other than god for keeping me alive and kicking .

Second thing is I too have some things which I would like to do in the year 2009.

~~CHeers

Awesome song - Inspirational or Mushy ????

Off late, I have been listening to a song again and again. I am trying to figure out what the song has to say. But I haven't yet. Again its a classic of the 1980's. The song is " You can do magic " by a band called "America". They performed live in Bangalore, sometime in Dec 2007.

Some backdrop ::: [ I am a huge fan of this song, thinking it is a very inspirational song. People always criticize me for being a fan of western music, esp rock. They indirectly ask me " Are u angrez key aulaad?". (Well whatever, who cares, btw?). But the truth is, whenever I listen to some super cool english songs, they just pep me up, to do better, to go an extra mile. ]

When I first listened to the song, I felt it is a inspirational song, but when I checked out the lyrics, I found a mushy edge to it as well. Whatever may be the case, it occupies #3 position in my all time favorite list of inspirational songs.

Well, if you want to know, which songs top the list of my all time favorite inspirational songs ...... here it goes...

#1 and #2 no doubt belongs to U2.

#1 Stuck in a moment - U2
#2 Walk On. - U2
#3 You can do magic. - America
#4 Welcome to wherever you are - Bon Jovi

Dollar Bahu

One of my TODO s for the year 2009 include read as many books as possible. Technical books, I do read, but I am especially particular about fiction, autobiography, travelogues and books like these.

I think during the year 2008, I started to read a lot of unwanted books (mostly non technical). In the middle or the last part, of some of the books , I totally lost interest in the book. I do not know why. But somehow, it all went wayward.

Now in the last month of the year, I thought let me read a bit more. And all of a sudden I found two new books within my reach.

They were.
1. Dollar Bahu by Sudha Murthy
2. Nandan Nilekani 's book

I thought, lemme read one first. So went ahead and read Dollar Bahu.

Now I am thinking of reading one more book before 2009. Let me see, how it goes.

~~~~
Cheers

My new orkut testimonial

Incidentally, I happened to receive a new testimonial. It was from my honeywell friend/colleague, Muthukumaran.

I had written a testimonial for him around 4 months back. One of my friends who visited his profile immediately asked, is it barter system? I really do not think so. But it is to the outside world. What can I do?

So the testimonial had an important point which I would like to highlight of blog about. My friend says, " I have a good sense of humor ". I agree with it, but at the same time I also disagree with it.

How?

I have a good sense of humor, only when my going is good. When my going gets tough, my sense of humor just vanishes. I tend to lose patience / temper, if not often, but atleast sometimes atleast. [Gimme a break guys, I am a human after all, I tend to make mistakes, lose patience. Its all in the game].

After reading the book by Robin Sharma 9 times, I still could not come up with a way where in I could exhibit, " Grace Under Pressure ". Forget, exhibiting " Humor under Pressure". Its totally difficult. The guy who does it is a " REAL DUDE ".

One of my key goals in the year 2009 would be to improve myself on this whole issue. I do tend to lose humor, patience, under pressure. I wish I could handle pressure in a better way. So that I can get more out of that situation as well.

PS: Why am I writing about this topic is, I recently lost patience, and it took me a little while to be back, doing what I love to do the most.

~~~~~
Cheers

100th post for the year 2008

Can't imagine about this one.. 100 posts for the year 2008.. In the month of December.. I openly admit 2008 has just gone by. God has been graceful in giving me loads of things. But I have not been up to the mark, when it comes to growing with age. It is something which I will take up seriously in the new year.

But 100 posts, when I look back, how on earth did I manage to write about 100 bakwaas topics. [I feel some of them are repeated , may be 5-6]. But overall nice feat... Pat on my back..

I had many takeaways' this year ...

--> cousin's marriage, met loads(mark my words) , loads of relatives.
--> new company, new colleagues.
--> different schedule altogether.(less travelling)
--> continued going to the gym for most part of the year.
--> went on a trip with my cousins to Ooty, which was the best of them all.
--> Read lots of books ( may be 12-15 overall, small in number, apart from technical ones)
--> Wrote loads of code in 2008.
--> Tried to learn lots of things in the last quarter of 2008. (have infact overburdened myself).
--> Got a little bit more health concious.
--> Kept blogging btw...
--> Found solace in loads of inspirational books and writing..
--> Last but not the least, laughed my heart out, many a number of times, more, than in 2007.

I have a list of things which I could not do or did moderately.. In other words.. somethings which I regret.

--> Not regularly listening to the radio. Lesser radio play during 2008.
--> Could not meet Nitin or Kranti many a times during the year 2008, for whatever may be the reasons.
--> Less books read... I need to read more..

I would like to thank god, for keeping me alive and kicking all through the year 2008.

One more thing worth mentioning:::
My first post for the year 2008 was a song by Simply Red::::

You make me feel brand new... Wow.. I dint notice till today. What an amazing song it is.
What a way to begin a new year blogging calendar.. Whacko !!!

~~ Cheers

Thank you for the music

I was listening to a song by ABBA today. ABBA happens to be one of my all time favorite bands. I think its a 4 piece outfit. I have grown listening to ABBA. Even as a child who dint know English correctly, I used to sing " Fernando ". (Aint that awesome).

I thought let me put a lyrics of a song which is so meaningful and also thanks something in the most beautiful way. I think this song is more than 24 yrs old.

The song is " Thank you for the music". The lyrics goes... [Incomplete though]


Im nothing special, in fact Im a bit of a bore
If I tell a joke, youve probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
cause everyone listens when I start to sing
Im so grateful and proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs Im singing
Thanks for all the joy theyre bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Songs, Music does bring a lot of joy to me, absolutely true. ABBA songs, all I can say is it just reminds me of the wonderful 80's. Aaaah.. Its so beautiful... (80's and my childhood days)

~~~~Cheers

Surprise Surprise; this december

Two days ago, I received a official mail saying, a new year gift is waiting for all the employees of the organization. And this would be a shirt (in case of gents).

So this is the December surprise. Not sure whether I am happy or not, I need to figure that out..


~~~ Cheers

Unfortunate incident

It just happened around a week back and I came to know about it today. Incidentally there was a snake bite, which happened close to my house, (same road I feel) around 8pm in the night.

Not sure venomous or non venomous, but one thing's for sure. There s this new apparent threat while walking in the dark. And considering power cuts do tend to happen, I better keep both my eyes open.

November Rain



Not much blogging in the month of November.

Well...literally littered around for the whole month reading a single book - Straight from the Gut, by Jack and what I can say is, I cant remember or recollect so many facts / figures / dates / people / companies that the book churns out. Its been difficult to digest. Thats the truth.

Not sure which book I will read next.

Well... I always admire the group pravsworld for their amazing work. They just pep me up everytime, with their wonderful inspirational emails.

Got this one a day before. I kept on wondering whether to agree with this or not.

" People know you by what you do".. I just kept on thinking..

Let me interpret this from professional perspective (by means of work/job).

If I lose my job, how will people know me?

I do not know the answer.. I feel, if I lose my job and incapable to find another job, I think most people would distance away from me. The only 2 places where I would be welcomed would be :
1. House.
2. Gym.

I think @ these two places people know me not by what I do.. Yes. At gym, no one knows whats my profession is (apart from the trainer)...

By the way let me stop being so negative and inconclusive about job security.. Its not gonna take me anywhere after all... Apart from this nothing much to post about...

Cheers...

Arvind's wedding...

On Nov 10 , 2008, I had been to Arvind's wedding. The wedding was rocking.. Arvind s a lucky guy. Here 's wishing him all the best..

The wedding was the prime thing. But apart from that, I did meet a lot of my Wipro and Target friends. The list was huge. 20 odd guys with whom I had worked with, meeting them after 7 or 8 odd months was kind of a good feeling.

Rare are such occasions.. But I was lucky to spot one of them and cash in.. Let me post a pic of me over there, in the coming days..

Cheers..

I am a relieved man today..

I made a comeback @ the gym today, almost a month after I had left going to the gym owing to some stupid reasons. Due to the power cuts, now I have to time my entry and exit to the gym properly.

Whatever may be the case, I can say, a donkey (issue) is off my back.. [Weird way of putting it.]

Whats so special about today? Generally I do plan such comebacks esp on Saturday. I do owe a lot, to Lord Shani, so thought Saturday is the best day.

Ahhhh... B'day bash @ workplace































































It happened so, I celebrated my 25 yrs of existence, sometime during last month end. Generally I used to keep a low profile about my birthday, if not my age, at almost all my workplaces (4 workplaces to be more precise).

But for the last 3 years not many people knew when's my birthday. But this time @ Honeywell, the lid just blew off. Yes. On my birthday, in fact my name was put up on the display board at the reception. So this had to happen. I ended up cutting a cake.

Yes, I did cut a cake today, 4 November, but more than cutting the cake and eating it, I enjoyed something more, which happened in one of our meeting rooms. I was not the only one about to cut the cake, but Devender also. But the occasion/session had a special twist.

Mr Aneesh, my team member came up with the idea of writing Happy Birthday on the glass board in one of the meeting rooms. Along with it he sketched my friend and me. Me with my trademark mustache and hairdo.

It did not stop there, from there on he went ahead to sketch different stuffs which were characteristic of that person. Finally every other person in the meeting room, started drawing caricatures on the board. And also added a baseline / punchline to each caricature..
[ Mine - the punchline read - " I want to go home ". Along with it there was another pic which depicted a bed. It had a punchline " Relaxation Room "].

Awesome, sometimes you may be at the recieving end of a comedy/ gimmick, but it indeed feels great. [To know what other people really think of you].

It was just the right dose of fun. I will surely put up few pics of it, once I go to the office tomorrow.

PS ::: Thank you guys, it indeed was, very very very special...
PPS:: Thanks god, for keeping me alive and kicking for 25 years, not sure how many b'days will i celebrate in future... (keeping my fingers crossed.)

I am really bad at something.....

Its true.. I am really bad at something, which is an integral part of my day to day routine. That thing is " Googling ". Yes using search engine is an art in itself. Like the art of bike maintenance.

I am bad at both infact. I feel in todays world, a search engine can add lot of values to a programmer . Some of the stuff which have not been covered out in some of the best selling titles can be unearthed using a search engine.

I am really in a state of shock. I am unable to use google as a precision instrument in finding answers. Well, I am lucky, @ honeywell atleast, I have Mr Muthu who comes to my rescue time and again, showing the world or in fact me at least, " The Way to Google".

Yes googling for answers is an art in itself. Some people end up doing research on using Google, infact I am bad at it. I openly admit it. I have no clues how to better myself at it (as of now). But with little guidance from Muthu and a little Hands On, I feel I can better myself at it by early 2009. Let me see.

Conclusion::: What I can say is, " A person well versed with using a search engine, can see a solution to a problem and can bail himself out, when most others hang up their boots."

There are always two sides of the story. What Muthu has to say is " You better appreciate and use others code, or better get that thing ready in no time ( In other words, get expertise at it)."
That really sums it up. Its up to you to decide !!!

Found solace in a new book...

I turned pro in 2005 and ever since then I end up cribbing over and over again. Infact this cribbing about monetary and other issues has taken me to 3 different workplaces in less than 3 of turning a pro.

Looking at this, once my parents told me, " You are unfit for any industry, where ever you go you feel dissatisfied, about one thing or the other ".

This thing was hard to digest. The impact of this dialog haunts my mind even to this day and to be honest haunts my resume as well.

I am now reading the autobiography of Jack Welch, so kinda, found a solace in the book. The book churns up some great insights into GE in the 70's and 80's. ( may be even 90's I ve not read it completely as of now.. My Bad)

Conclusion : I now feel cribbing is not bad afterall.

Does the conclusion justify the post ??? : You have to read the book for yourself and find out how it justifies or coincides...

PS::: I forgot to mention a line which I read in FountainHead -> " Man's ego is the fountain head of human progress ". As of now I am not getting any clues , regarding how to infuse this great line into this post or into a new post. I will do that, may be someday later. Thanks Abhijit for reminding me...