Tujhe sab hai pata hai na Maa

I have recently developed a liking for this song. Makes me think how internally we are all fallible. No matter how many coats of toughness do we wear, at some point we are all vulnerable, desiring emotional support from our nears and dears.

मैं कभी बतलाता नही, पर अंधेरे से डरता हूँ मैं माँ,
यूं तो मैं दिखलाता नही, तेरी परवाह करता हूँ मैं माँ
तुझे सब है पता है ना माँ
तुझे सब है पता मेरी माँ

Also, makes me wonder why I need to tell our nears and dears on how I feel about them. Why can't they just see how important are they in my life.
तुझे सब है पता है ना माँ.

The sidekick must die

I sometimes think about the life of the sidekick. You know, the guy besides the hero who never gets the girl and always dies at the end. What does he get for being the good guy all through - pain and death?

Being a good guy is not easy. Neither is being the mentally tough guy who has learned to wipe his tears himself and not get fazed no matter what life throws at him. But why does the audience claps for the hero who cannot control his emotions?

Any activity is fun ...

Only till it is not WORK :-D. Quote of the night by Sanjay Goel.

Amateurs always have more fun than professionals. Love is more fun than marriage.

To illustrate, choose any hobby u have (photography, traveling, playing a particular sport) and try to make it your source of earning. You'll be surprised to see how less u like it after a few days.

Also recommended is this related article by Scott Adams.

Permanent Age

Read this article by Scott Adams (Dilbert fame) quite some time back.

Ever since I have been thinking over my permanent age. I am a preacher. I have enthusiasm for new things, but it is combined with a sense of cautiousness. I am a good mentor. I know that certain things in life I would never do (like biking to Ladakh).

I feel that my permanent age is in early thirties. Like a fast bowler who has slowed down in favour of accuracy. Though that doesn't mean I've found that accuracy yet.

P.S. My actual age is 26.

Pursuit to Happiness

Watched this movie sometime back. The first thought that came to my mind while watching it was "Oh my god, and I thought I was the only guy out of luck".

I often hear and even say this statement - Why does this always happen to me?
What we forget all the time is that everyone get into trouble. Infact, everyone gets into their own unique bit of trouble. A guy getting his dental dentures treatment dicovers that he has a cyst in his lower jaw that needs to be operated while another guy gets harassed by cell phone company for non-payment of a bill that doesn't belong to him. Or one guy is the only earning guy in a 6 member family while other gets trouble getting his parents accept the girl he wants to marry.

What did they all do to deserve this?

We all have our share of problems. Cribbing about them may not help solving them. Neither would comparing your fate with others. Pursue your dreams. Take steps to resolve your problems. Or watch this movie if you need some motivation.

The problem with Emotions

Lets start this with a small mental exercise.

There is this place where there are 2 parallel railway tracks. One track is old and isn't used anymore while another one is live and in use. There are 10 children playing on the live track. At the same time, a single child is playing all alone on the dead track. At this moment, a train is approaching on the live track putting the lives on the children on the live track in grave danger. Far from this place, you see this happening on your monitoring screen. The only control you have is the ability to switch the track temporarily so that the train goes on the dead track instead of the live one. Which would mean putting life of that single child into danger.
What will you do? Make up your mind before reading any further.

A majority of us would switch the tracks to save those 10 children at the expense of that single child. It seems right from the humanitarian perspective, saving as many lives as you can. If you did the same, read on to see this from a different perspective.

Why was that single child playing all alone on the dead track. Probably because he knew that the live track is dangerous. Who was doing the right thing by playing on the safe track? The single child. Who did the wrong thing? The 10 children by putting their own lives in danger by playing on the live track. And in your judgement, who gets punished? The one who was doing the right thing.
Second point - the 10 boys knew that they are on the dangerous track so they might flee on hearing the train noise etc. However, the single child, knowing that he is on the safe track will almost certainly not move and hence is in a much bigger risk.

So what is the moral of your judgement - Follow the crowd, Don't use your own brains to understand what is right.

Sadly, similar is the state of affairs in India. Decisions are not taken on what is right or what is better for development. Instead, its based on what would make maximum people happy. And while it is most fruitful if the general happiness of the people aligns with development of country , it is not always possible to do that, particularly in a country this huge.
Short term efforts are made just before the elections to make general people happy and gather the votes, while long term planning with no immediate benefits are left out.

In democracy, heads are counted, not brains.

Live for yourself...

Coz if you can't take care of yourself, you can't take care of anyone else.

Quote of the night, by Sanjay Goel :-)

The K Types

A friend of mine once classified me as a K type individual rather than an H type. According to him, K type individuals are people who would come up with great ideas to make your life miserable and they will show off their power by telling you these ideas and scare you off. However, K type people rarely implement these ideas. Showing off the power gives them great fun, actually implementing it takes away the fun. The H type people on the other hand may or may not come up with their own ideas, but they have a higher probability of implementing those they have. They are more of the practical jokes variety.

While I tend to agree with this judgement, I begin to think why is it like that. I believe it all started the college ragging days(healthy interaction period :-D). IIT Delhi has a very different kind of ragging culture as compared to other institutes. Here a freshman has to face ragging for only the first 15 days of his college. During this period, seniors never resort to any physically harming activity as they consider it an insult to their mental torture skills. So ragging in IIT Delhi is all of a K thing. As a freshman, I remember how my seniors would try to scare me telling all the bad things they would do to me and make my life a hell in college. Knowing that they would never do any of such things, I always felt like laughing and let me tell you that its really difficult to maintain a frightened face when you are laughing inside.
Then as a senior, I would do the same to freshers. And this kind of thing continues after the interaction period too, but then its an equal oppurtunity on both sides.

I remember that this same friend of mine, who at that time was my junior in college, had understood me very well and would never get scared no matter what I do. I actually had to move towards the H type once to actually get him scared. But that wasn't much fun.
So friends, feign fright, it keeps me away from being a H ;-)

P.S. for people who are wondering about K and H, I'll quote my friend - Shakti Harami nahi hai, Shakti Kameena hai

Sabka Katega

bodhiTree is talked about either because of "XL ki kudiyan" or for the unconventional lyrics in their songs. However, I feel that they have huge potential as a band and they should not restrict themselves to just another college band. I can understand that these people are MBA students from XLRI and a music career might be a huge risk to take. However, I am a big fan of bodhiTree and the only reason why I am not able to discuss their music with many people is their lyrics. Hence I feel that they should create some songs with conventional lyrics too if they want to get into mainstream music.

Here I write the lyrics of one of their song which I like the most and which preaches the eternal truth of life - Sabka Katega.

Din kate na raat kate na subah kate na shaam
dhoop hate na chav hate na gum hate na jaam
Dekho sabka katega, sabka katega raam
yuhin katta rahega, sabka katega raam

teri yaadon main kalki rain bitai thi
meri aankhon main phir se aas bhar aayi thi
shaakon se phoolon toote, raahon main jiske
dil dooba, namm hua pyaar main uske
pyaar ghate na yaad bade, yaad bade har saans
pyas main teri jaane kitne kaat chuka main jaam

jaise sabka katega, sabka katega yaar

phir se subah hogi, kabhi to tere dar par
phir se tere mann main, hum rahe har pal

kya hua jo jhooth kaha ki mujhe na tumse pyar
maan bhi jao kat jayega pyar main jeevan yaar

jaisa sabka katega, sabka katega yaar

So rememeber, you are not alone, sabka katega ;-)

When in doubt, Be Honest

Yup, thats it. Quote of the day(night actually) by Sanjay Goel ;-).
This is what I do, coz this is the safest bet most of the times.
What do you do?

Rang de Basanti

This one is I-Day Special. It all started quite some time ago when I read this post by greatbong. Do read it first to be in coherence. Since I read this post, I have had some thoughts and I even discussed some of it with few friends. I think its time to put my point of view.

What connects “shooting politicians” with “rubbing against Mallika” is that they are both fantasies. While many a director have realized that the way to make a quick buck is to pander to the second fantasy, there have been comparitively few that have realized the potential of playing up to the first.

I agree. I never thought in these terms before, but yes, movies are about selling emotions and fantasies. And contrary to whatever the elderly has to say about aajkal ke bacche, I believe that patriotism is as strong an emotion as ... say ... love. And solving all problems of India would be a fantasy to a lot of us. No wonder when you see something similar on screen, you are bound to get emotional. So where's the fault in that?

Now for the other part. I ask - What is inspiration? Inspiration is an idea that you see which you never saw before. Its something that makes you start thinking in this new direction. Is there anything I can do to make mine and other lives easier? Its a switch from cribbing about problems to thinking about a solution.

I agree that the movie doesn't provide a solution. It can never, as there is no single problem. There are hundreds of problems, starting from an auto rickshaw driver asking for too much money to bomb blasts in Mumbai. But is there anything I can do about it. Maybe I can't. But atleast I'll think over it.

If a common man watches Rang de Basanti and comes out saying that he'll go and kill all the politicians, I don't think he has been inspired at all. Its just an hysteria that in all probability will die down in a few days. Inspiration would be if he finds out that he might have able to get the road of his colony repaired by filing a Right to Information Application.

When blogspot was blocked in India, I myself consulted a lawyer if there was anything I could do about it. I finally didn't do anything as the ban was lifted in a few days. Even if the ban had not been lifted, I might well have not done anything due to "high lawyer fees, too much trouble, external pressures or whatever excuse". But atleast I took the first step. I became Aware.

Are you aware of your rights? When you crib about a problem, did u ever think if anything can be done? It might well be that there is nothing you can do today, but down the line, there might be a time when you CAN do something, and don't hesitate when that time comes. Be Aware, Be Active. No need to remember how many people died in Jaliawala Bagh, no need to know who Bhagat Singh was, just open your eyes, see around and think if there is anything you can do make your own life easier.

And while the security checks this independence day doesn't make me feel that independent (I know I am cribbing but I know there is nothing I can do about it), I wish you all Happy Independence Day :-)

Life moves on

sahi aur galat ka faisla karna to bahut aasan hai, lekin do sahi rasto main behtar chunna, aur do galat rasto main munasib chunna, yahi zindagi ka faisla karte hai.
While I really wouldn't give Fanaa the top rating, philosophical punchlines like these do sometimes get relevance in one's life.

Life never ceases to amaze me, sometimes it crawls at a snail pace and at other times, it become too fast for comfort. The same me can be a hero to some, a villain to few and a ordinary guy for most, depending upon my decisions on various big and small events that life throws at me.

Lot many events happened in past some time, lots of movies, a trip to nainital, squash and football games and some noticeable loss in weight. My blogging frequency doesn't do justice to any of them, but there is one lesson I have learned.

Life Moves On. Take out the +ves and make them your happy memories. Take out the -ves, analyze them and make them your experience. Move On.

Computer Guys

"Shakti, my network card isn't working, please fix it."
"Sorry man, I don't know much about hardware."
"kya kahe raha hai Shakti, tu to compu stud hai, theek kar de"

If you are familiar with such conversation, chances are that you are one of those people proclaimed computer guys out there. I was reading this article today and found this real good corollary.

"Did you watch the Raiders game?"

"No, I don't follow football ------"

"What do you think of the new quarterback?"

"Really, football's not my thing. I don't know."

"I thought that you said that you're a sports fan?"

"No, I said that I watched tennis."

"Right, so what did you think of the penalty called in the Raiders game?"

"I watch tennis."

"Why would they call a penalty like that?"

Um.

Interesting Read.

Update 01/02/2006: Check out today's dilbert.

Happy New Year

So many thoughts, so less words and even less time. Last year was a pretty balanced one, delivering the best of professional life experiences and the worst of personal life experiences at the same time. But hasn't life always been like that.

I want my life to be a decaying sinusoidal curve, slowing moving towards a stable equilibrium. Ever since I started writing there, I feel that I have been constantly moving closer to it. This is enough reason for me to be satisfied and hopefully that future will be good.

Hope all you people reading this never lose hope. Happy New Year.

Life should be easy

I believe that the basic stuff should always be easy to do so that one can concentrate on advanced stuff. But look at even the basic stuff of life, you move around in night and you catch cold, you eat a little extra and you get fat. Just maintaining a healthy body is the toughest task of the world. Add to it the little hobbies you want to pursue and see how much effort one has to put in each.
I remember at one of those corporate sessions, I was asked what I would I change if I was god. I said, I would give people the ability to pursue what they want, freed from all the unwanted responsibilities of their life.
Most people don't even know what they want to pursue in life and which way their life is going. But I don't blame them. The complexity of life is not easy to handle.

Honesty and Pragmatism

As a child, we are taught to be honest, starting with all those stories of how a child admitted his mistake and was not punished ... Then as you grow up, you get to know how all this is termed foolish by the pragmatic world. Then you come to know that had the child not admitted his mistake, he would have anyways not got punished. You understand its better to give Rs. 50 to the traffic cop to avoid challan. And I am not talking being 'fraudi' here, just pragmatic.

I fail to understand why teach stuff which one has to unlearn anyways? Why should a parent teach something to his kid which neither he follows nor would he want his kid to follow in future?

Being Vulnerable

The game of bridge has this concept of vulnerability ... As soon as you win a game, you become vulnerable, so stakes for winning and losing the next game increase, i.e. you get more points if you win a subsequent game and you lose much more if you lose.
Life is more of an opposite ... here stakes go high when you lose something ... One big loss and you lose lots of confidence and every single subsequent loss, however small it might be, makes you lose even more confidence ... And then it starts reflecting in other stuff that is not related to the original loss.
I was taught in a soft skill training that emotions arising due to one issue shouldn't be taken out on something unrelated ... we may make ourselves strong enough to do that ... But though there may not be a direct impact, it certainly leaves me vulnerable.

Echoing my thoughts

What is more important? Writing well or conveying thoughts. People who write well get all the laurels but the purpose here is the the latter, hence I would simply point to this post and say that I couldn't agree more.

I remember a question asked to me in an interview when I was a fresher. He asked "Why do you want to be a software engineer?"
I answered "Because I like Computer Science, or mathematics in general. I like it because it has straightforward equations for every scenario, not dependent on physical or environmental factors. Things are much more clear and reliable in that sense."
He responded "That seems untrue as one never knows when a piece of code will break while a building once made lasts for more than 100 years."
My reasoning "Code only behave the way it is written. It cannot behave in any other way depending upon the heat or coolness of the weather or simply because its not in the mood."

Maths is simple

Recently one of my friends had this status line on his yahoo messenger
"If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is. "
A little googling and I got this Math Quotes site that told me that this comment is from John Louis von Neumann, the guy who gave the Von Neumann architecture.
This is something I can totally relate to, as I guess would most of my engineer friends. Handling a software engineering job is the easier part of life.

A lost purpose

So far, most of my posts here have been random ramblings. This makes me think what exactly did I have in mind when I started this blog. Or did I even have anything in mind at all.

The title says it all. I have this philosophy of Preach and Learn (which is slightly different from the learn and preach philosophy). I am usually a very confident guy thinking that everything I say is correct to the fullest extent. So, as per the philosophy, I wanted to share all the knowledge I have. While "Omniscience" is the ultimate goal, the primary purpose of the blog is to share whatever little I know.

However, my confidence has been shaking of late making this blog failing on its purpose. The only posts that I could qualify to an extent in tune with the blog were those few movie reviews I wrote long ago. However, watching just 3 movies in past 3-4 months certainly explains the lack of such reviews of late.

Now, I need to re-group my confidence and wish to give this blog back its lost purpose. I have certain plans, lets see.