Two to tango!

I simply don't like insects; But the way these two flitted about each other in mid-air was too engaging even for an insect-phobe like me.

And a close-up of one of them! Yuck!

Cream, butter and hips! :P

Description of sway of hips of a voluptuous woman from a story by Isaac Asimov. The stupid grin on my face took a while to vanish :P.


"...for she was indeed magnificently convex. She also had a narrow waist, and generous hips that swayed as she walked and even as she stood. If her pelvis had been full of cream, it would have been butter long since".

My li'l Miss Sunshine!

She is the reason behind most of my smiles these days - my little Miss Sunshine - my darling niece!

No wonder my friends say I should not think much!!!!

Its one of my not-so-useful-but-still-may-be-pertinent-sometime-to-someone theories – that travel as an interest is mostly a sugarcoated expression of one’s desire to escape his or her current present - a need to be a guest instead of host – expression of need to escape decision making – the desire to divest personal accountability in the process of realizing and retaining personal happiness – an intention to identify and retain difference between self and folks belonging to different places.

In light of aforementioned deducing, is it possible for someone to become traveler to a place where they actually belong and currently not residing but still have not yet been devoid of that piece of her/his identity which was contributed by the place? Can they be really amused as a traveler who is stepping on its soil for the first time and there is not even a single similar thing in common with the locals of the tourist spot? Will the experience of hospitality that is to be received be the same or will there be a partiality?

I always feel a pinch of bitterness whenever I happen to travel to any place where folks of the same ethnicity I belong to happen to be the majority. Predominantly, the experience may be pleasant (yes, Money is indeed quite powerful in extricating humanity buried deep inside every human but will not be shared unless coaxed by powerful stimulant like money) but there are times when I have wished that I had been completely different.

For one, I totally love the experience when I do not understand the language spoken at the place. That way, I will not get to know if I am being manipulated which may happen in few cases. I wouldn’t want to know if I am being dealt the short end of the rope. Another aspect of it – I really can do better than the real impressions made by me on the locals. When a local passes by and makes a comment on how he fantasizes you, one cannot cease the reaction gushing from inside – could be positive or negative but definitely unwarranted.

And when you have to share the attention of host with someone else, you pray fervently it better be not a ‘firangi’ – esp in Indian context.  Well – what to do in such circumstances? Oh – just be a better dost to firangi than your host. Yep – anything to make the travel experience worthy of a queen.

Maybe I need to introspect if I should be more open-minded with respect to few stray incidents encountered during my travel experience while traveling within the country but cant help wonder if I am really onto something here J

And hence these ramblings in a blog!

When the F word rules the mind!

You know your life is fucked up when you find time to write 2 posts in your blog space a day!
More so, when you feel the need to go dig up his past from his posts written 5 years ago.
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Wonder what happened to AP CM who has been missing from morning!

You don't see this often - Thank goodness for that!

System maintenance testing holding up real-time operations? Tsk Tsk :P

Obsessed!

Clocks matter no more

To my sense of time!

For, O Crafty one,

You've merged

My day and night!

You've got me

To redefine moments

As your messages arrive!

Neither an amour

Nor a friend

And not even a foe

You are to me!

Yet to define you

Magnet of my thoughts!

So obsessed

I find myself to be!

My two cents about Jinnah and whole lot of shit about Partition!

Yes - it can be only two cents or maybe something lower in denomination would also do as I hardly knew anything about Jinnah till few days back. Thanks to Jaswant's book (which I have not read) and the ripple-effect caused by it, I had to get my over-pampered ass out of the couch leaving the newspaper with its compliments and barbs about Jinnah to find my resourceful friend (or fiend??) - Wiki - to know more about Jinnah.

Thanks to our history books and the current state of Pakistan - Jinnah could have never been imagined the way he looked in the snaps from archive. He is Quaid-e-Azam or Qatil-e-Azam - depending on which side of the Radcliffe line you are. Every story needs to have a villain to spice it up and Indian Independence saga had to do with Jinnah. Anyhow - whether Jinnah was a mastermind or victim of mislaid plan, it does not matter. Pakistan is a reality which gave rise to another bitter reality - Bangladesh. Lets leave Jinnah to rest in peace, if he can and proceed to milestone of his life - the partition.

For purely psychological reasons - I think partition had to happen and it did! Good - I say. All said and done - India was a landmass ruled by Muslim rulers for more than five centuries before it was usurped by British mainly and whoever saw that we are the best audience to experiment the divide and rule policy. Yeah - if Coldplay's Viva La Vida had been released in 1857, it may have been pictured on descendants of Mughal family. Coming back to the point - no - lets digress a bit - Imagine those times when you were that obnoxious kid. And then came along a bully with a slingshot and demanded that you handover that favourite toy of yours. And you did. But - here is the glitch - the toy was never yours in the first place but you have had it with you for such a long time that you even forgot you bullied someone else - a meeker kid - from whom you grabbed the toy. Now the stage is set where the recent bully got tired of non cooperative attitude of the once-meek kid on whose side even you are on. So - now its you two against one. So the recent bully decided its not worth the efforts to stake claim on the toy and decides to abandon it.

Aha - now, its natural you assume the toy has to be returned to you as you 'owned' it before its most recent owner. But the fact - its original owner has grown strong now meant your apparent possession is what it is - apparent. The toy you have had for such a long time exclusively - a matter of pride for you - may have to be shared or worst case - be handed over to the meeker kid who is no longer weak. And what if he remembers all those days you have bullied him and refuses you to even let you touch the toy again. Would you still think about an arrangement where the toy has to be shared? The toy - which has become part of your identity though not yours to begin with - possession of which implies power - Can you hand it over to someone whom you considered worthless sometime back; someone whom you bullied and felt superior about! Its simply not possible psychologically to accept this humility!

So you say - let us draw schedule for playing with the toy which will allow each of you exclusive access to the toy during which the other may not interfere. You are just trying to assert yourself because you are insecure. But the other kid thinks its stupid to even consider such a claim as he just refuses to acknowledge you as a separate entity to allow you to stake claim for the toy - so he says "Just play along when we all play". Oh no, you think, even before the toy is being completely abandoned - the meeker kid is acting all smart. You think its not acceptable and its a harbinger of changes in power equation that will happen once the toy is available. So you begin to throw tantrums and threaten to break the toy into pieces to make the experience worthless for others too. And the big bully is interested now although he will be leaving shortly. One final chance to act as headmaster, he thinks. He agrees to negotiate between you two and is immensely entertained by the proceedings. He also harbours malicious thoughts of mutilating the toy that he no longer possesses. So he pretends being neutral while having the last laugh. Hence he suggests that the toy been broken to pieces and that you been given the right arm of the toy along with the few fingers from the left arm and the rest to the meeker kid who is beginning to grow impatient as he cannot wait to get back his long lost toy. You are astounded when the meeker kid says - "So be it" and you are left with an arm and fingers! Later, even those fingers leave you coz you bullied them too!

So - you see - its all psychological. Someone who has been holding the sceptre for too long cannot imagine eating the humble pie! Its better for such disruptive folks to leave the scene completely than let them be with you and harbour bitter thoughts dreaming "Viva la vida"!

Few moments of merry in Cubbon Park, Bangalore!

Wish I could present the park in the truest glory it deserves! Few snaps taken during my stroll in the park couple of days back. More snaps to follow as I finish walking its perimeter sometime!

Men seem to have moved to Venus while Women are heading to Mars!

Am I reading too much between the lines or is it really happening? It looks as women are shying away from marriage, men have no two-minds about exchanging vows and say 'I do' these days. On Monday, I was witness to nth instance of a human male whose age is <= 26 sharing news of his soon-to-be marriage.

Was the popular perception that men are commitment-phobic soon going to be a myth? From when on, the nightmare that was associated with the word 'altar' turn into sweet dreams for men? Gosh - are they going to start blushing too? :- Or is it some kind of side-effect of emergence of women as the gender that does no shy away from one night stands any longer and thus instilling a sense of insecurity among the males? Or is any mutation in natural drives of men in progress?

Even after those quite unnerving questions, I can quite understand and rationalize why these men want to marry and settle down (hopefully). After all, marriage has been considered for eternity a quintessential element in establishing the fact that the male involved is a successful primate who has reached a stage where he can afford to maintain a mate and contribute to the propagation of human species. With the advent of IT industry that got the wallets to bloat, there are quite a lot of men out there who think a marriage shall seal their quest to prove they have settled in life. A decade back, how many men could have boasted having a own house, a vehicle and a zillion girlfriends before turning 25?

But what seems quite fishy is - why would the women (who would obviously be <= 26 , in other words - in prime of their independent life), who are going to join these young men in matrimony, decided to do so?

If the way the women return a blank stare when inquired about how long their profile will have the status as 'Single' be used as indicator, it may seem that women thru ages have perceived marriage as a stepping stone to a convenient and risk-free existence ( I think emotional security was just a veil women used to hide behind lest their self-centered motives reveal themselves ;-) ). With the objective being fulfilled these days without help of men, there seems to be hardly any incentive in getting into any sort of long term deal which quite often ends up in one party having an upper hand when it was supposed to be a mutual deal. And then, typically Indian marriages come as package deal - Marry the guy and his entire family to deal with comes for free! When the current rage is about being 'flab free' these days, its quite hard to believe why would anyone fall for such mass deals! And for those moments of weakness, when a lady feels a need for company (This is again a manifestation of vanity - how many ever girl friends a woman might have, she still feels lonely without a man to admire and woo her :)), this is the age of 'instant' things where social networking sites are always there for some instant companionship. Mind it - I'm not even talking about physical gratification here (Just mentioning it so that I can use it as disclaimer lest any social networking site wants to sue me). And lets not even talk about kids here - that deserves a whole new post. Look around and see those couples who belong to DINK* category and ask them why no kids - they give you that threatening stare from Chloromint ad and reply "By choice". In short, if you are an advocate of marriage and you see you have a women-only audience, its better to take a bow and leave the stage coz probably you ain't gonna sell anything here!

So why those young women would want to marry? Doesn't it feel like a contradiction? Dr. Akston says in Atlas Shrugged "By the essence and nature of existence, contradictions cannot exist. If you find one, check your premises and you will find that one of them is wrong.” So what premises of marriage should we be looking at to identify if there are any ulterior motives involved? :)

So my dear guy friends who are ready to jump into the fire, think before you leap! Do you really want to wake up with a member of that species that have given you no clue whatsoever about what constitutes them? Why this mass hara-kiri?

* DINK - Double Income No Kids.

My new BF at work

My new best friend at work!

http://www.bosey.co.in/

Why? I've been to Mylapore but not to New Orleans :)

To my friend

My best friend at work

http://notalwaysright.com !

Would love if I get introduced to more such friends :D

Caught Twitter-bug!!!

Don't know what its all about - but what the heck, it just involved creating an ID! So I'm on twitter too - I twit here.

Move on....errr...but where?

A Greek philosopher is supposed to have quoted “Nothing endures but change”. And few others have acknowledged “Change is inevitable”. And I believe “Change is the way of survival”.

Human beings as species could script this enviable success story of theirs primarily due to their adeptness in identifying the need for change and implementation of change itself. From hunters to nomadic gatherers to agricultural settlers to space voyagers (to being terrorists :- ) , each change has been a milestone. Had this species got into comfort zone and given in to complacency, it might have been the end of story considering the fact humans neither had the physical prowess nor superior locomotive capabilities to outdo their predators. I can safely use past tense here as I do not think we have left anyone capable of harming us to exist anymore.Sometimes, I think it may be true after all what Calvin told Hobbes - something to the effect of ‘the entire purpose of history is to produce Chaos’ ;-) No, Calvin used his name instead of ‘Chaos’ :-) I want to quote that and add “and rest of human species’.

This inherent need to change and adapt has materialized itself thru various discoveries, inventions and innovations that served as “change agents”. From Fire to Electricity to attempts to find ‘God’ Particle, our curiosity is what that has differentiated us as an ‘intelligent’ species from the rest. And as member of this species, I am not immune against this ‘curiosity’ bug and have been found to exhibit symptoms of infestation like 1. brooding deeply to understand how things work 2. asking too many questions till the provided answers converge at some point of logic 3. Writing blogs

In light of aforesaid curiosity ,its natural that I have spent some time contemplating as to what could be the next surge of change that is awaiting to happen (meaning I would like to see happen) and the agents that would bring it about. And this is what I believe it would be

• Space travel - I really hope deep from my heart that I get to set foot on some heavenly object other than this brown, boring and often sticky silicon compound on Earth
• Discovery of gene of longevity so that I can live as long as it takes to make that space travel possible
• Generation of Power from sources of renewable energy - like Page 3 gossip which will never exhaust as long as there are celebrities and there will be celebrities as long as Page 3 is there;-) A self sustaining source, wow !
• Most important one - How to get rid of cockroaches from the face of this planet ? Should petition the scientist to extract the source of longevity from these damn creatures as I am sure they are the ones who usurped it all!

What do you think will be the major change in the coming years and what would bring about it ?

Child Labour - ends in classrooms?

There has been so much said, written and read about Child Labour. If not the entire mass, at least the educated population of the country is aware of the hapless situation. Of course, the recent incidents are unearthing the facts that it is indeed the educated mass that is actually promoting and exploiting this form of labour. Shameful state!

Though there are labour laws that are supposed to enforce the prohibition of using child labourers, I am not sure we have a fool-proof solution for the problem. Yes, institutions employing child labour are busted and the children are rescued. What next? Children are apparently sent to schools to start / continue their education.

So, are we to infer that the solution actually provided for their progress is ever debatable Macaulay education? These children did not relinquish their education for no reason. They would rather like to see Gandhian notes than the ruled note books. The Government might want to draw my attention to schemes like mid day meal scheme etc but food is not the only expense for any individual. Probably, even free healthcare can be thought about.

Anyway, my thoughts were mainly about the education being provided as the solution currently. It’s my personal belief that Macaulay education that is being prevalent in most of our educational institutions does not actually serve the purpose of rendering individuals employable. More than unemployment, its unemployability that seems to be the root cause of the unemployment problem of Indian mass at large. And recommending this kind of education to these children will not effectively provide any succour to survive the day to day battle of their lives.

How about investing heavily in vocational training centers then? How about introducing schemes like “You learn, you produce and we pay”, probably in the form of stipends? Even psychologically, these kids would be different from the regular school-bus kids. They may not entirely adapt to classroom environment. Their restlessness will prove to be so much of a distraction to handle. I am not very sure we are actually doing any good to these kids by enrolling them in such educational institutions. And my vote goes to vocational training center in such situation. How about yours?

Taj Mahal - Kaleiodoscope 1

My attempt at writing short stories commences today and the series has been titled as ‘Kaleidoscope’ to represent myriad of my thoughts. These shall not be random stories and their relevance will be understood sooner or later. Let me know if it reminds you of something. It SHOULD remind of something as it is inspired by a recent event. Please guess the incident that inspired me.

Taj Mahal

It was 12.20 AM. Chris looked at the cover of the book in his hands. The magnificient edifice of marble on the cover reminded him of the potential of human will. The book had been his companion through the past few months. Months of endless days and sleepless nights. The story of the masterpiece accompanied him through a period of what he considered the gestation period of his own master piece. A piece that shall be unparalleled when born. He could not wait to walk the red carpet when his baby will be hailed by the world. He smiled broadly at the picture in the book - a sketch of a Moslem ruler under whose rule the marble mausoleum was built. He picked up the book, wore his spectacles that was hanging around his necks and looked at the picture closely. The ruler’s name was Shah Jahan. He felt a surge of pride when he thought - ‘I shall be immortalized, like this Mughal, by my masterpiece’. He proceeded to read the section under the picture once again.

Chris looked at the time-piece on the table beside the bed. The clock’s panel glowed ‘4.00 AM’. He picked up the cordless and dialled a number. The digits on the number pad were fading. He thought - ‘Just once more’. Andy was awake. He placed the book on the bed,ambled to his bathroom, opened the shelf and picked up the vial. He looked at his reflection in the mirror on the shelf and saw a stranger glaring back at him.Picking up his jacket from the living room, he checked to see if the car keys were in there and walked out of the house after locking the door.

Andy was always welcome to receive him. Numerous were the nights when both of them had not slept a wink and spent the nights discussing the passion of their life. At that point of time, both had just one purpose for existence - the masterpiece. Though the masterpiece was primarily Chris’s, Andy had made it his sole reason for his living and it was evident the way the masterpiece was shaping up. He had felt a huge void when his marriage fell apart and Chris’s masterpiece was all that he had. While Chris was falling back on his book to keep him connected to sanity, Andy had to resort to psychiatric presciptions to ensure he stay connected with the real world. He was often found babbling although the lines spoken were familiar for Chris. It was Chris who had admonished Andy and made him realize the monstrosity of his obsession with the masterpiece. He had been there for Andy during his trips to his psychiatrist.

It was 5.00AM. Chris realized Andy would be taking his prescribed dose sometime soon. As ever, Andy was talking passionately about how he was thinking about making the masterpiece absolutely flawless. Chris said ‘ Andy, isn’t time for shrink’s prescription?’. Andy smiled in return and said ‘Chris, what would I do without you? Its you who got me into this and probably thats why it hurts so much, isn’t it? ‘. He was turning his back to Chris and picked up the box having his prescriptions. He proceeded to place them on the table facing Chris. He opened a vial and out came a white pill. He ripped apart a tablet cover and placed another yellow colored tablet next to the pill. Then came another capsule and finally one more pill to complete the concoction. This cocktail of drugs was what that had kept Andy in touch with the real world. They were talking about the days to come and like anxious fathers, they could not help the restlessness they were experiencing these days as their baby was about to be born. Andy got up to fetch some cold water for himself and a beer can for Chris.

Chris was walking towards his car and he felt he was sweating profusely though the temperature would have been around 30 degrees F only. He looked at his watch and saw it was 5.30 AM.

Chris woke up flustered. He felt as though the migraine was going to split his head. He realized he had left TV on before he slept. A presenter was talking animatedly. Then he caught sight of the letters - ‘Andrew found dead in his apartment!’. He got himself up from the sheets and looked at the book in his hand, with his fingers serving as the bookmark. He opened the book and saw the page he seemed to hold on to tightly - A sketch of Shah Jahan seemed to look at him ominously. He wore his spectacles and read the letters in small font under the picture

“It is described often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberments and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb so that the masterpiece can never be reproduced. But there has been no evidence to prove ..”

Chris looked at the jacket draped on the back of the chair in the room. He knew the vial was in the pocket !

Wish to be alone on an island ! (Coz love hurts)

Swarmed by faces all around
Buzzing words - the mere sound !
A magic wand is all I wish
'Abracadabra' - Hope they vanish !

Father, Can I ever be more hurt
Don't you think I deserve any respect?
Its because of you I am here
To be stung by the barbs from your dear !

Why is it hard for you
To hear me say 'No'?
Why do you always force me
To choose between the devil and the sea !

Please accept me as I am
For I ain't no meek lamb !
You make me look fervently
For an island where only I be !

Hanging gardens of... Future!

I believe one of the major challenges that we, as a living organism, will face in the future will be lack of usable land for agriculture. Exploding population growth will need more land to be used as habitat. Considering this grim situation, it will be soon the need of hour to innovate the farming process and identify alternate methods of farming.

Though I am not an expert at farming - actually I do not even have an iota of knowledge about it , I still ventured to let my imagination take flight. I wanted to develop the idea based on the requirement of using less ground space. I remembered reading about “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” in the book “Seven Ancient Wonders” by Matthew Reilly. From what I remember, the hanging gardens came across as some innovative and efficient method of more common Terrace gardening. The irrigation method also warranted a special mention as the challenge was two fold - getting the water upto the top of pyramid like structure and ensuring the foundation is not damaged. I do not know the intricate details and will be googling after the post most probably.


Now, My idea is - we know how to build a skyscraper. Now how about having a skyscraper with a design that can support farming. What I can dream of is - let the weight of the building be supported by a central mast. Now , the levels themselves can be something like how leaves are attached to stem - alternating left and right as you go up.Ok, I am thinking of let the levels rotate around the central tower so that there is enough sunshine. Irrigation can be done by having streamlets run thru central tower and the levels thus ensuring the usable space is moist. A very rough sketch ( A very ugly one Pardon me ). My two cents will not hurt, right? :-)

It is company’s decision ! (Read as : Do not ask me anything)

My face is at its contorted best when I hear anyone from higher management state the following - “It is company’s decision”. So what is it supposed to mean ?

• I do not need to answer you. Next Question please.
• Even I think its ridiculous but I cannot do anything but pass it down to you guys because I lack spine
• Didn’t you realize you are just a resource? It was your folly to have suffered from the delusion that you are part of the company.
• Dear, welcome to the Corporate World ! Here, you are encouraged to ask questions but didn’t they tell your during induction , its upto the discretion of higher management whether to answer or not. Isn’t it a great motivation to reach there soon ?

Right now, I am in a position where I get to view the perspective from both sides as I report to someone and there are others who report to me ! Its my personal and very strong belief that - when a decision has to be taken, all the stakeholders has to participate whether the decision impacts them directly or not. I believe it helps me in developing an ambience where everyone feels they have had a role to play and this sows the seed of self-esteem in a resource which I believe influences the productivity.

Why its difficult to have a democratic set up in truest sense in Corporate world ? Else, lets just write off the claim that a company grows with its resources. Why can’t it be proclaimed in open - I pay your salary and You work for my profit ! I find it more logical and easier to accept !

What did I learn today?

One of the ads that left a very deep impression on me was the one for Havells cables - A kids sees his mom struggling to hold the roti she is preparing. The kid gets holds of a cable wire lying unused and bends it in the shape of a holder and gives it to his mom.

What struck me ( a lot others, I am sure) was the presence of mind of the kid. His application skill. In short, the birth of a future innovator !

How many times have we thought fixing things by ourselves without depending on others ? I believe I can safely claim we Indians are not much of a risk taker ! Its an electrician’s job…Its a plumber’s job…lets show to the mechanic ..We always have a handy phone number to call if a nut has come out of its place. Its always someone else’s job !

And to add to the woes, we have had this IT revolution leaving us with fatter pay checks that few bucks don’t matter. We seemed to have pawned our brains !

Innovation does not need a research hub with fancy cables plugged to monitors… your living space is more than enough. When you need a safety pin and all you have is a paper clip, can you make a safety pin out of the clip ? Do you know what are those 3 points in a socket ? When was the last time you replaced the fuse wire yourself when the fuse blew? Next time you have a leaking flush, please take some time to open the lid ..you will be amazed to see its nothing but a simple control system !

When we imbibe the spirit of learning thru questioning in our day-to-day lives, we would have made a wonderful headstart and the next generation will definitely boast of many innovators/inventors !