Marriage and its Audience!

One of my acquaintances recently commented 'When people are happy in life, they have a tendency to ruin it. They do things like getting married.' I have nothing against marriage though (I am still waiting for a man married for a long time to comment thus :)). It is a wonderful institution of two people promising themselves to live to-gether and blah and blah. Anyways, I do not have a problem with people getting married as long as people don't expect me to show up with precious gifts and lots of blessings. Blessings, I guess I can, but gifts....hmmm!! During my time in Mumbai, I had friends inviting me for weddings - the wedding card explicitly mentioned 'Gifts are not entertained. The only gift you give in my marriage is your blessing'. We all know what that means (For the uninitiated, the guards at the Security gate would ensure that you would not enter the marriage hall unless you have a gift in your hand).

That is only the first step. The second is the most dangerous one - Relatives!! Again, these are not close relative, they are far-off relatives and their probing questions. At one point of time, I was made to meet my grandfather's brother's second cousin's son..whoaa!! More so, they interview me as if I am there not to attend a marriage but an UPS interview. I positively think that the latter interview is much more easier to clear than the former. Why, What, When, How of everything and anything. An example conversation I had with one of my far-off relatives at a marriage a year ago -

R - So, what do you do?
Me - I work in the **** **** in Mumbai
R - what is your educational qualification?
Me - I quote mine.
R - For that, you work at **** ****. My son with similar qualifications is working for Deloitte Consulting.
R - Anyways, how much do you earn (the dreaded question?)
Me - I avert the question - 'Quality of work is more important than how much you earn' and other management gyaan..people typically quote when they are earning below poverty line salaries.
R - (By now, she has decided that I was good for nothing) So, any girlfriends? I am sure you have one. When you are in a place like Mumbai, you are bound to have one. That is the reason, my son works only in Hyderabad.
Me - Whoaaa!!! I have many aunty. The list would take ages to complete (all this, with a clear wink of course). Anyways, I admire your son working in Hyderabad just not to have girlfriends.
R - (feeling proud) Yes, yes. Do you drink and smoke, I am sure you do...but then, don't overdo it, ok na?
Me - Aunty, you forgot drugs...and I walk away because I heard a faint call from another far-off relative sitting a mile away.

Another snippet - this time on my dress. I didn't even know who this far-off relative/friend's mother was, I met her for the first time in my life.

R - Hey, what is this you are wearing - a black t-shirt and a blue jeans. Black should not be worn during marriages. Go, change and come.
Me - But...this is fine with me, I am really comfortable.
R - No, I am not. Go, go change and come.
Me - My house is quite far from this marriage hall.
R - The marriage is not going to stop if you are not here. Go, go change and come. I will wait for you. We'll have lunch to-gether.
Me - Whooaaa..aunty, one request.
R - What?
Me - I will change and come. But you continue with your lunch. I have some friends (imaginary!) waiting for me.
R - Ok. Change and come, I want to see the dress you come up with.
Me - Uh!!

Then, you have friends. Long lost friends, friend's friends turning up, giving a hi-fi for no reason, laughing for the most nonsensical jokes and all of a sudden, there is silence. An uncomfortable silence - at which point you do not know whether to continue with the hi-fis and laughing like you just had puffs of Nitrous oxide up your lungs.

Anyways, lets come to the main event. Food...aah..the wedding, we'll come to it later. Food, I guess is the most important for most of the guests who have arrived at the wedding. I for one, first look at the menu and the caterers and then come into the hall for the wedding. Lest the bride and bridegroom think otherwise, I ensure that I have breakfast, lunch and dinner during the day of the marriage. I am lucky in the sense that I have a set of friends from diverse backgrounds - Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannadigas etc. I get to have a wide variety of food - from alu and paneer mutter to idli-sambar. The success of marriage is decided on food - if food is great, then it was a perfect match. Else, aahh...the couple are good-looking, BUT the food was not that tasty...see what I mean when I say the main event of any marriage is food. No wonder there is so much focus on food.

The actual wedding - more of garnishes and decorations. Bride and bridegroom - I guess the only members in the entire event thinking about the main ceremony. Others are generally busy with showing off jewellery, sarees, sons who returned from US recently, daughters who recently cleared CAT. If not for the above, they can generally be found in the dining hall.

I cannot come to a conclusion about this marriage and its audience topic nor can I stop writing about this. All I can say (a.ka. Bush) is that Marriage is a wonderful institution where two people promise themselves to live to-gether and.......................and the audience come in to bless the couple profusely in their own inimitable way!!!!

Living in the Present!!

The title is something I think of almost all the time. A serious problem I grapple with day in day out. Most of the time, I tend to either live in the past or in the future. As and when I drift away in my thoughts, this question strikes me time and again. Why am I not able to live in the present, live in the moment and enjoy every moment to the 'T'?

One of my favorite teachers quoted - Past is past, forget the past. Future is uncertain, why worry about it. Live in the present, 'that' is happiness. The profundity of the statement never hit me, till couple of years back.

The reason might be this - Probably I never realised that I either lived in the past or in the future. I thought I was living in the present, but on further evaluation never was. Slowly but surely, the depth of the statement dawned on me. I try desperately to remain in the present at various instances - and I enjoy it. It is such an elevating feeling living in the present, yet I fall back in my normal mode - either live in the past or the future.

Consider this. Right now, as I am writing the blog, I am thinking of what to do next weekend. I am also thinking of what would I do once I go back to India on a short trip. I would also want to buy a house within the next six months - how much would the EMI be? Will my savings be enough? What are my future career prospects? Will some course help me move on the corporate ladder faster? How will my life-partner be? Is there any way of getting an oppurtunity to appear on KBC (or even flashier - how about Koffee with Karan?? :))? Should I buy the ticket for watching India vs England which would take place some time in July?

The other side - Ah! Childhood was great, we were so carefree, we did everything. Till school life was excellent. Engineering was mind-blowing, what with four years of enjoyment interspersed with a few exams. MBA, maaannnn..was that fun? Absolute, Non-stop fun. Quizzing sessions - lovely thursday and friday evenings. Or, had I prepared harder for CAT/GMAT/IIT etc etc, I would have been in a different league now. Did I take the right decision in academics/career/love/job/friends? We used to have so much fun back then, in the canteen, IEEE bus, events in college etc etc.

Think about your own life. How many times/instances in a particular day have you actually lived in the present? I bet, you can count on your fingers. And how many times/instances have you lived in the past/future on any given day - Infinite. While we all know that living in the present is so blissful, yet we let our mind wander. We are always thinking ahead of time or behind time, never on time. This facet probably cuts across all cultures and countries.

Each one has his own way out of this quagmire. I have mine - I try to remind myself at very frequent intervals to live in the present, to enjoy the moment; that way atleast I am out of the loop of past&future for a few moments. Each one to his own, but never forget to live in the present. Live it once and you will know.

P.S -

1) So what do we do? Past is ok, but should I not think of the future? Of course you should. But not all the time. How about sitting for a few moments to think only about the future and nothing else? Isn't that equivalent to living in the present?

2) I also hate people justifying their past - especially, when things have gone wrong. 'You know, it had to happen that way, because I had to be here' ; 'Good that I left him/her, otherwise, god knows what would have happened' ; To me, it indicates only one thing - unfulfilled commitments/effort at that particular moment in their past and justification as a means to trudge along with their lives. We may take comfort by justifying the past so ridiculously, may look/sound good to others - but to yourself, you are the only judge. Accept it and move on, you would be fine. You have lived your past, thinking about the future. Don't commit the same mistake again. Because as I said earlier, the present is too precious to let go.

3) This blog was long overdue, the idea dated by now. However, yesterday when we were driving at 100 mph on an express way with the drizzle, beautiful greenery on either side and soulful music on the stereo, I let my mind wander. 1 hour drive and the time I lived in the present - probably around 10 minutes. That is, 50 minutes of pure happiness lost. That is when, this post came high on the radar of my thoughts :).

Air Travel – Bangalore, Hyderabad, Dubai, Birmingham!

In this age of low-cost airlines, every Tom, Dick and Harry seemed to have traveled in different airlines – long distance or short. At 24, I had not boarded the flight even once, out of my own volition for quite some time though. However, an opportunity came by and travel I did, on company’s expense in different flights and if you ask me my first impressions…ah..well, flights are not as interesting as traveling in trains.

Bangalore – Hyderabad

Well, this was Kingfisher Airlines in the evening. Known more for its style and panache, Kingfisher did not disappoint at all. The passenger sitting beside me was an Iraqi – huh, great start I thought. He was a consultant in Iraq, helping Iraqi students get education abroad – from counseling to ticketing. We had an interesting conversation at 30000 feet about different food habits in Iraq, post-Saddam Iraq and the way Indian economy was becoming stronger by the day. He was fluent in Arabic and German (that is what he claimed) but was not in English. So, we had a kind of Morse code going on about some words he could not utter. The air-hostesses were pretty and they were taking kisses on their cheeks from all the little babies around….ahhh..I wish…

I digress.

If Bangalore runway was pathetic, Hyderabad was even worse – felt like some speed breakers on the runway (interesting way to stop a plane though J). I would not be wrong if I claimed that the Bus station in Hyderabad is far cleaner and better than the airport. Most of the trolleys don’t work and pre-paid autorickshaws are a misnomer. End of the first-trip on an Aeroplane was exhilarating, watching the land, lakes and the clouds from 30000 feet. Conversation with an Iraqi made the trip even more memorable.

Hyderabad – Dubai

The best flight of the three – flew in Emirates. Very comfortable – seating, food and entertainment. All fell in place. The only complaint was that every announcement was made in English as well as Arabic – so had the funny pleasure of watching every advertisement and hearing every announcement twice. Watched Rocky Balboa and Bollywood Calling again after an hour of admiring the grandiloquence of Boeing and the takeoff it made. Enjoyed them thoroughly. The landing in Dubai airport was near perfect and to go along with it, there was a superb runway and an excellent airport. Had McDonalds and Coke for Lunch which cost me 15 Dirhams. Hopefully my company reimburses this too J

Dubai – Birmingham

Emirates again. Worst of the three. Bad food, Bad entertainment and a 7 hr flight. There were no choices in movies like the earlier Emirates flight. We had to watch what they played. They played ‘Don’ (SRK) which I watched and some arcane Priyanka Chopra movie which I didn’t – didn’t have the courage must admit. The view from the plane over Alps and other rivers was breathtaking. That was the only salvage point of this travel. At the end of 7 hours, was tired, hungry and frustrated. Immigration authorities were kind enough to let me through within 5 minutes. Picked my luggage and took a taxi to Nottingham. The taxi was extremely comfortable – was at my destination in an hour and a half. Charge – 90 pounds. (huh!)

Airplane travel…ahhh..well, it would be great if the travel doesn’t exceed 4 hrs at a stretch and there is good food. Otherwise, it is quite boring. Train or even bus travels are much better.

The Futility of Logic!

How often have we heard the terms ‘How logical is that’, ‘Your logic is brilliant’, ‘Logically, it is true’. Yet, rewind the instances in your thought process and evaluate whether the logic convinced you or your sense of logic or thought process merged with the logic spoken by the other person.

In my experience, logic did not convince anybody at any point of time. As I read in a book the other day, only when the spoken word appeals to the other person’s self-interest, will or thought process, will logic be of any use. Logic primarily is to be used for rational beings, or inanimate objects, say with computers. Logic works perfectly in such a system because they are devoid of their own thought process and neither do they possess a sense of individuality and hence self-interest. Human beings are primarily emotional creatures. In an emotional atmosphere, there is no place for logic.

The religion/culture (or whatever you might want to call it) of almost every country doesn’t propagate selfless service. It propagates ‘you help people, there is heaven when you die’, ‘you get punyam’. The key word essentially is ‘you’. The futility of logic was perceived was by our ancestors thoroughly. They had to create an incentive, a self-interest motive to help the poor and the needy. ‘What is in it for me?’ primarily drives arguments and not logic. Innumerable examples to support the futility of logic. They are around us every day and every moment, from global to personal.

Logic states that pollution of air has to be reduced drastically to reduce global warming. Many countries signed the Kyoto Protocol. However, major pollution causing countries like the US have refused to sign Kyoto Protocol indicating that they do not believe these global warming reports. The most industrialized and a developed country speaking thus – logic, what is that?

Shilpa Shetty being kissed by Richard Gere in an AIDS campaign in India. As usual, a furore over this was telecast a million times in various 24x7 rubbish news channels. Shilpa Shetty enquires – ‘Why is the public raising such a furore? I do not see any logic in raising such petty issues to a national level’. The same lady was silent and probably approving with glee when the same public created a ‘star’ out of nowhere because of another worthless TV show ‘Big Brother’. Wasn’t logic working then?

Personal experiences are multiple. If my friend is faced with a particular situation, and I am offering a so-called ‘objective’ opinion, that is because of two reasons. The decision he might take will not affect me in any way and two, I get this exalted feeling of helping him out of a situation. All said and done however, my friend would act in a way that would maximize his self-interest and not any other way round. I have been on both sides of the fence multiple times and have observed that unless the logic serves our self-interest, the logic is bad/faulty/no use.

Rationalism, Objectivity are all things which can unanimously be applied to machines and computers, never to human beings. Next time someone says it is so logical, just take a step back and evaluate as to how it would benefit that particular person, because the way world is, ‘self-interest’ rules.

P.S – Books like ‘The Art of Negotiation’ and similar books have one baseline, serve (maximize) your self-interests, give and take very few. The blog is fundamentally against a core philosophy I strongly believe (tried it, with disastrous results :)), but then…‘Selfless’ uh…I hope to reach that state someday.

Indian Actors and ‘Apocalypto’

One of the visually-brilliant and most violent movies – ‘Apocalypto’. I watched it last week. The film essentially tracks Mayans (or Aztecs depending on whom you would want to believe) being captured and sacrificed by Mayans/Aztecs living in a different region so that they could satisfy their god Kulkulan. In the end however, as all movies end, the lead character ensures that all the villainous characters are killed and the hero and heroine live happily thereafter.

The lead character in the movie is enacted by Rudy Youngwood. For a novice, he was brilliant. But last heard, that different Indian actors were auditioned for this role before Rudy. Mel Gibson (who directed the movie) flew down to India visiting various states to finalize on the lead character – he deduced, albeit empirically, that since the Indian Economy was booming, if he hired an Indian Actor, there would be a ready market.

He wanted a dynamic actor, with a booming voice and a great body. An immortal line from the movie, and I quote ‘I am Jaguar Paw and this is my land. My father had hunted this forest before me and my sons will hunt it after me’. This was the line given as an audition test.

He started off with Bollywood.

Sunny Deol – Oyi, itni si baat!! Mein to Gaddar mein aur bhi shor macha ya tha. Audience meri aawaaz sunn ke, bhehere ho gaye the. Oyi Gibsonnnnn, sunn…’mein Jaguar Paw hu aur ye dharti meri hai. Mere baap ne ispe raaj kiya tha, aur mein jaane ke baad, mere bacche bhi raaj karenge….jo bole so nihal, sasriyakaal!!’

Mithun da – ye Mel….kuch disc visc lagaate hai na, kuch dhinchaak vinchaak rahega to apni public bhi khush ho jaayegi. I did lot of B-grade movies you know, where you know, I have shouted a lot you know. With me in your movie you know, you have a lot of market in Bhojpur you know. Now listen, I am Jaguar Paw, otherwise known as Disco Dancer. Ye meri dharti hai, kyun ki ispe maine disco dance kiya hai….mere baap bhi kiya tha aur mere bete bhi karenge’. But Mel, be sure to provide me a good wig you know, and a 20-year old girl as heroine you know – that chemistry should be there you know.

Mel Gibson was disappointed to say the least. He moved South.

Firstly, telugu actor, Balakrishna, fondly Baliah baabu – Balakrishna doesn’t waste time delivering his dialogue with meaningless banter, Shreya was waiting for him for a dance sequence. He jumps directly to dialogue delivery ‘vorey vorey vorey, ee seema naadi. Nenu toda kottanu ante, ee seema loni jantuvulanni naa kaallla daggaara vochi padtaayi. Ee seema paina maa naayana raktam kuripinchaadu, nenu poyina tarvata, naa pillalu raktam kuripistaaru’ – saying this, he rushed out and Mel almost fainted.

He decided to call it quits with Indian actors. Just then he had an idea. How about having dynamic Indian cricketers. He enquired about dynamic Indian cricketers with disgruntled fans – they suggested:

The first fool, otherwise known by the name Kris Srikanth – Mel Gibson met him, did not understand whether he was speaking in Tamil, Hindi or English. Kris enquired whether Mandira would be playing the lead role. Mel denied and Kris said he was not interested in the role.

The bigger fool, Sidhu – Mel Gibson met him over three big glasses of Lassi, and decided to hire him as a dialogue writer for a movie Mel decided to direct once he turned insane.

Last heard of Mel, he was enquiring about Indian actresses for the lead female role eventually played out by Dalia Fernandez. Mallika was the universal choice suggested by many. Mel asked her if she had any inhibitions about wearing Mayan clothes (typical to clothes worn by pygmies). Mallika immediately replied that she would not waste time even on wearing Mayan clothes and would get on the job without them too. Wisely, Mel decided against her.

He went back to Latin America. Found Rudy Youngwood and Dalia Fernandez from Mexico and the rest as they say is ‘history’

P.S – If you want to watch blood, forest landscapes and learn a bit about wrong history, do watch the movie. Just kidding. It is brilliantly done, although I would have loved our Indian actors in it. Then, I would have recommended it as a must-watch :)

In Memory of Saugat Jit!!

I never ever thought that I would get to write an obituary of one of my closest friends on my blog. Saugat Jit was a person, aged 25, one of the brightest colleagues I have worked with - he met with an accident today morning and passed away in the hospital.
I guess the first job, first company and the first team you have worked with would always be dear to your heart. Saugat was one of the first team members I was introduced to in the Bank. We hit on like we had known each other for a very long time. He was bubbling with enthusiasm almost all the time - either at work, play or at home - making him one of the employees everyone loved to work with-colleagues, bosses or the customers. We have had innumerable rides on his bike and I for one still believe that he was one of the safest riders I had ever pillioned on. He was very conscious of his image, what with his big, strong biceps to go along with his short and stocky physical stature. He had an extremely short temper, but he would greatly surprise you with his calmness and smile the very next moment.
The bosses at the Bank had immense faith in him, as he had executed almost every task given to him to perfection. He was a dedicated and an intelligent employee, every organisation would have loved to possess.
Will miss you buddy, memories of all the breakfast and lunch sessions we had had everyday together for over 20 months just flooded in front of my eyes when the news came to me. It was plain unbelievable.
May your soul rest in peace!

Friday the 13th!!

The conversation went on and on. On Friday the 13th, X and his friend were discussing about friends, relatives and life in general over the past two hours. X was getting restless with each minute. It was already 4’o clock and only an hour remained before he could meet her. In the meantime, he had to rush back home, take a shower and rush to Coffee Day which was 30 min from his place. He had tried helplessly to close the conversation for over 15 min now, and yet there was no finish in sight. X reached his limit – he looked at his watch and said “Buddy, gotta rush back home, have some important work before I fly back tonight”. His friend became speechless, more so because he could not offer any counter argument to continue the conversation. X rushed as fast as he could from that place. He decided between boarding a bus or an autorickshaw and decided on the latter considering the circumstances. He rushed back home, evaluating his options of reaching Coffee Day on time versus the excuses he could offer, if he was 10 min late. He was lost in all the mushy thoughts of meeting and talking to her. He never left the city before meeting her, atleast for an hour or so and inspite of an extremely short trip, he had squeezed this schedule, and there was no way he would be late to the date.

He finished his shower and put on his favorite shirt. Just then, the phone rang. It was her. X thinking within himself ‘No way, she would be early to a date. Am I dreaming? She never came on time and now this…WOW’. The smile turned into a smirk, it was the usual excuse. She would late by half an hour. Her manager had held her up with some ‘important’ work. I sometimes wonder why she doesn’t just show the finger to me. Every time and all the time, being late had become the order of the day. He slowed down all his activities and more importantly his heartbeat.

On the other hand, she was as restless as he was. She was all enthusiastic to meet him from the day he promised he would meet her. She wore a dress which he always loved and admired, along with her favorite perfume. She had completed all her work by afternoon itself so that there wouldn’t be any inordinate delay. She consciously avoided eye contact with her manager all day for obvious reasons. Then, the inevitable happened. A report had to be submitted to the management by end of day and she HAD to do it. She cursed her manager profoundly, she cursed herself and she cursed her company. She didn’t want to be late this time around atleast. She had planned everything and now this. This was bad but she had no choice. His voice at the other end made her fell all the more sad and downtrodden.

She boarded the bus half an hour post the scheduled time comforting herself in the feeling that it was only half an hour’s delay and not an hour. In her innumerable travels back home from her office, it usually took only one hour with the driver honking continuously and screaming his bus over multiple potholes and Coffee Day was only half an hour from her office. She felt smug at the feeling of meeting him after a long time. But as the bus proceeded towards her destination, clock seemed to tick by very fast. The driver was in an unusually good mood, driving the bus with leisure and pleasure. Half an hour ticked by and they were not even half way through to her destination. She sent three messages to him in space of 15 minutes. ‘dear, boarded the bus now, should be there in half an hour’. ‘dear, caught up in traffic and the bloody driver is drunk – he seems to be happy today, will be delayed by 15 minutes’. ‘sweetheart, am so sorry, am reaalllyyy very sorry, 15 minutes or nothing, I am gonna kill this driver ba***** today’ and hoped that he would not be really upset.

He was waiting near Coffee day for 15 minutes before the first message came by. He didn’t know what he could do for 30 minutes. There was no Crossword around where he could browse through some books. His phone was on roaming for him to chat with another friend, neither was any shopping mall in sight. So he did the obvious, stared into infinity and occasionally looked at pretty girls with spaghettis and minis walking past. He enjoyed the delay. However, with every 15 minutes, he was getting increasingly frustrated. He wished he had met her at her office itself.

Her bus finally arrived at the traffic signal immediately preceding her destination. She just wished she could just jump out of the bus and run to meet him. She decided wisely against it and in the meantime, the signal turned green. She got down quickly as soon the bus came to a halt. There she was, looking at him from a distance wearing a white shirt with blue jeans. She was overwhelmed. He looked at her getting down from the bus. She was wearing his favorite dress – a cream t-shirt and a black skirt. He was overjoyed to say the least. As she came closer, he wanted to hug her and give her a peck. He decided against it as she usually did not like public display of affection. He restrained his emotions, but his delight could be seen in his eyes. Her perfume smelt quite a way from her and he was in a different world altogether. She rushed straight to him, hugged him and gave him a peck. X was dumbstruck with happiness and glee. She took his hand and rushed into Coffee Day, uttering many expletives on the driver, traffic and life in general. He was just too happy to hear what she was saying. X felt the delay and the effort worth it. Now, he thought, they would talk for an hour, an hour of bliss and happiness. She rambled off to glory, with all the delight in the world. For an hour, she would not think of anything or anyone else except him – and so she thought.

She was woken up by her mother. It was already 9’o clock in the morning and she would be late to office. It was Friday the 13th.

Motorola L6i and Canon A530

Two buys this weekend - one was forced and the other planned. As my previous blog indicates, I finally bought a mobile phone (which was forced) and a digicam (which was planned). Both of them were bought after a lot of research and peer review. After couple of days of intense use, here I present a review on both.

Motorola L6i - Well, any mobile is defined by the requirements of the user along with the budget he has. My major requirement was phone along with a basic level of camera. FM and MP3 were not a priority as I already had a mp3 player. With my limited budget (of Rs. 5k), I went about searching for different models, reviews on Net and reviews from friends.

Now for my review. This model has excellent speaker quality along with an user interface which is comparable to higher end models of Motorola. The VGA camera is quite good with a functionality of exposure on the pic (-4 to +4), although the pics are not comparable to the ones in megapixel. However, this one is much better than VGA cameras of its competitors. With Bluetooth functionality added in, this one is helluva value-for-money. I hope it stands up on reliability for a long time. I guess there is only one hiccup however - the battery needs to be charged almost every day, which can be quite a pain. Other than that, with the sleekness, the looks and the functionalities, I would recommend this to anyone anyday, as long as they are a bit tolerant towards the battery life.

Canon A530 - This one involved a lot of research for over two months. Peer review almost universally recommended Canon over Sony (Sony, it seems are much better at handycams). Within Canon, I was looking for a bit of flexibility in terms of my snaps as well as good picture quality. Budget was not much of a constraint here, although I was very clear that I would not be going for a SLR.

A530 fit in almost all my requirements. After using it for more than 2 days now, should admit am completely satisfied with the product. With a 5 megapixel and 4X optical zoom along with the price tag of Rs 11k, it is brilliant. Some of the features which I love -

1) Stitch functionality - A landscape can be broken into different snaps and can be stitched later in the laptop. Although I used this functionality before in other cameras, the difference and disturbance used to be visible. Take a look at this stitched photograph of Infy campus from the terrace of my house - the difference is negligible (zero in fact). I should experiment on the number of snaps that can be stitched yet, but the first stitched photograph involving three pics is great.

Before Stitching -

After Stitching -

2) Manual Option - My best option in the camera. Although other cameras claim to have a manual option, 70% of it is already programmed. However, in this camera, almost every setting can be tweaked to suit the requirement. Right from Shutter speed, aperture, brightness, ISO, image quality and many others - the feature is outstanding; and the best part being after clicking a photograph it switches back to the initial setting, making every pic customizable.

3) Optical viewfinder - I am not sure, but then I saw a majority number of cameras without the viewfinder. I used to use this quite frequently in other cameras (my friend's :)) and am fairly comfortable. If anyone is low on batteries, this one is the best solution to save on batteries as well as have some snaps. Wonder what those digicam guys are thinking about removing this viewfinder from their digicams?

4) SCN option - This one is found in other cameras as well, but the range is excellent. From Colour Accent to Pets to Snow, it covers all. I guess more usage would let me fine tune it.

The major feature I did not like is the delay between one pic and another. 1 second - and this is the timeframe between a bird sitting on a porch and about to fly away - that crucial one second. Flash photography was never the claim, but a second is too long. Kodak has one digicam (I dont remember the brand though) where the delay was absolutely nil (though costed around 15k). Hopefully Canon would fix this in the future. All in all, a camera, 1GB card and soft case for 11k seems reasonable for a camera with multitude of features and great picture quality (unless prints are big, I dont think it wud make a difference between a 3.5 megapixel and a 7 megapixel camera).

More pics to come in the blog...and as usual only the best would be put up. Experimental pics would be the first one to be put up although my interest lies with landscapes. Smile please!! :)

A week without a mobile phone!!

It is surprising how one gets attached to mundane things like a mobile phone. A device which I had bought couple of years earlier (a Sony Ericsson T230), a device which just had to serve the purpose of communication wherever I am, an instrument which neither had a camera nor a bluetooth but basic functionalities of a mobile phone - it was my constant companion over these two years day and night, serving me in innumerable ways. I had become so attached to it, that once I lost it a week ago, stupor hit me. I went numb for a little while thinking about all the phone contacts with my mobile. Cost was not much of a factor, because the depreciation of the phone was close to zero. The phone contacts were priceless.
On my way back home the same day, the first instinct was to buy a mobile phone immediately - a typical knee-jerk reaction. However, I pondered and decided that I would do without the mobile for a week. Reasons were multiple - the main being I loved the challenge of staying away from something I was so deeply attached with. This challenge was enticing and exciting (partly becoz nowadays there is no challenge(work) at office). I decided to go ahead with my plan. Challenging myself like this on numerous occassions has helped me immensely - both mentally and psychologically. Probably the challenge in resisting something you are attached with remains probably for a day or two. Subsequently, it magically disappears.
Some of my friends were very frustrated of not able to contact me - some of them on mail quoted - 'What is wrong with you, why the **** are you not buyin a mobile phone?', 'abbey *******, jaldi khareed na!' and others which I cannot quote at all. Yet, in the midst of all these chaos, I felt immense calm. I did not have to worry about missed calls and messages while in a meeting, nor worry about messages about the stock market, which would have sent me in a headspin. Calm and Peace - two words you could have associated with me over the past week.
A week passed by. In the meantime, I had to scurry through reviews and websites regarding the mobile phone. I finally decided on one and bought it day before yesterday. A review of my mobile phone and digicam I bought the same day in the next blog. The process has started of putting in place my phone contacts. Hopefully should not take long.

Pic of my mobile - here goes

Lift Conversations?!

Well, the title in itself is an oxymoron. Invariably, there are no talks or conversations while in the Lift. Innumerable number of trips in the Lift have left me with a conclusion that there invariably is some treasure hidden somewhere in the Lift which people are looking for.
I was 10 years old when I first got into a lift which was in one of the offices my uncle once took me to. Lifts back then fascinated me. The whole idea that I need not exert any effort to move up 5 floors coupled with the curiosity for lifts back then was extremely wonderful. Lifts were not as common back then as they are nowadays and the rarity made it a thing to boast about with your friends.
Time passed and I encountered physics. With physics, the inevitable happened. Newton's laws and Acceralation due to gravity was awed. The effects of these on Lifts was even more fascinating - interesting problems emerged, and with almost every problem on lifts I used to imagine myself in the lift trying to solve that problem - did my weight increase or decrease,
is the lift moving with constant acceralation or constant velocity and the associated solutions. It was great fun solving them as well as served as an enthu factor for getting into lifts again and again.
As time progressed, lifts became more common (and with it, my vocabulary of calling it an Elevator :)). I then began to notice strange things happening. People in the lift almost never talked to each other unless they were closest of close friends. Whether it was claustrophobia or something else, I do not have an idea. People absolutely normal outside the elevator behaved strangely in the lift - staring at walls, looking at the celing, observing their shoes and rarely observing people around in the lift. A strange sense of silence prevails before the hustle-bustle of the floor begins again. I seriously couldn't (and still don't) understand as to what people look at. Are they trying to find some hidden treasure on the ceiling or between the walls? Are they trying to observe the formations of dust on their shoe and deduce 'The Dust Theory'? Are they looking at their watches continously and trying to calculate whether time slows down due to relative motion of the lift against the speed of light? I mean What???
And then there are categories in Elevators. Fast and Slow elevators - the slower the lift, the more tortous it is. Slower lifts are a bane on organisations (my previous organisation had one :)) and their people. People get frustrated waiting for these lifts at each of the floors only to be tortured much more in the 'Field of Silence' inside. As luck would have it, I was in the lift with the CIO of that particular organisation one day. Strange situation - I didnt know whether to smile, to talk, murmur - so what did I do? I stared at my watch for an awful loonnng time, spoke a hello, how are you? and looked hard at the ceiling for a virtual crack in it. He got off the next floor and I heaved a huge sigh of relief!! So much, for the slowness of the lift.
And then there are elevators with capacity of 8 persons or 16 persons - invariably during lunch time, you would find more people in the lift than on any given floor :) And god save you, if there is a power cut and no backup available for the lift. Or even worse, the lift gets jammed (experienced it twice). Given the modern world of steel covering and alloy covering, voices inside the lift do not reach outside - all that would be left would be prayers to God, if he can get a peep into a stuffed lift that is!!
Having said all the above, with skyscrapers shooting up in almost all parts of every city, lifts are a necessity rather than a luxury. Lifts have undergone a massive makeover - from typical iron-grills to metal doors and fancy gadgets. However, in my 14 years of experience in these lifts, people have never changed. They never talked inside lifts always looking for the seemingly invisible particles that would make their day. I hope one day, they do find it and prove that they were not wasting time inside these lifts in the 'Field of Silence'.

Cherished Conversations!!

This post has been pending since long. The initial draft was around 2 months ago...but then in the melee of situations, it has been delayed. Apologies.
There are moments in life when you pause and reflect, reflect on situations you want to live through again, given a chance. As mentioned in my previous posts, situations typically are filled with conversations - verbal and non-verbal. Although every conversation is important, there are some conversations which are very dear to your heart. It took me long walks in silence
and a lot of introspection to come up with five conversations which I would want to live through again, relive them irrespective of the situation. Quantifaction is a necessary evil because of some constraints (like space, time, my patience and well..your patience :))...so here we go, a post to cherish for myself (not necessarily in any order) -
1) Conversation with K at Andheri Railway station at around 9 in the night - We were chatting off to glory about family, career, friends etc etc in the midst of peak Mumbai traffic, unmindful of the frenzied atmosphere around. It was a talk interspersed with lot of noise around which included the innumerable local trains, vendors and the public. I guess we ended up talking for a couple of hours because by the time we came out for dinner - all restaurants were closing down for the day. We slept eating little dinner but having had the satisfaction of talking your heart out.
2) Conversation with D at Malgudi - Lunch - Now, this is some fun discussing it. We just didnt have any idea of the time or the people around. We went to Malgudi because I insisted on having a good Andhra meal and decent ambience. We went there in a very sober manner and the moment we started having a conversation over lunch, we started laughing - for just about everything and anything. The waiter gave us a surprised (or was it astonished??) look but we cared less. If people had objectively judged us, we were insane - it was just one laughing riot. It was a typical case where you talked everything and anything, content being immaterial but your stomach aches because you laughed your lungs out. We happened to meet many times after that
again, but never again was it so much fun, frolic and laughter.
3) Conversation with R, P and C at R's place - This happened way back in Engineering (way back..am I that old now??..yeah..it was kindaa 6 years back) when we were to do our first technical paper submission. 'I and R' and 'C and P' were to do a paper. We met at R's place and till 12 in the night, everything was going as per schedule - we were working very seriously on the paper. Then came the tragic mistake - C acccidentally fell asleep (This was inspite of paper presentation the next day). Very normal, we were very tired working throughout the day and it was but natural to fall asleep (I can't stop my laughter as I write this right now!!). But then P had different ideas - he took a pillow and a blanket, woke up C and asked him to sleep COMFORTABLY. Now this was it - I and R burst out into laughter and probably kept laughing throughout the night (we incidentally did not sleep through the night due to the presenation) because C got up (recovering from the sarcastic shock he got :D), went into the verandah and practised entire night - I and R laughed our lungs out - and whenever we happen to meet
(either of us), that incident pops out and again we burst into fits of laughter.
4) Conversations with C at lakeside - Now these are conversations where you meet the other person and even if silence prevails for the entire time, you can just walk away and feel that you have had the best conversation. Not sure whether it was the ambience of the lakeside (waterbodies usually tickle my philosophical bent :-)) or the person - conversations ranged
from the usual banter to very serious topics - but everytime you have a conversation, you feel better. Guess I would call this a cherished time than a cherished conversation as we had innumerable number of conversations, each one better than the previous one. The content of conversations ranged from daily mundane affairs to serious decision making and the fact that the pattern of thought was similar made these conversations all the more worthwhile.
5) Conversation with T, J and D at Pilani - Another laugh riot, this time at a place completely foreign to us. T was in 'form' and J was adding fuel to the fire. We had a silent dinner (and very little) and initially thought to spend some time together before we crash to sleep. What started as a banter of imitations of professors in our college led to humor par excellence. Each one of us were bursting with tears at the end of it, which was at 4 in the morning :)

As can be deduced, essentially almost all of these conversations are less about content and more about the relation, the sync (frequency match - language of P :)) and things you can relate - which makes each relation stronger and better. As someone said, people may go to different places, time may take them away from you but what remains are converstaions and memories that would remain for the rest of your lifetime - to bring a smile to your face whenever you are down, to make you laugh better when you are happy and make the journey of life as memorable as it can be!

Personality Conflict!!

Till Xth class, I guess noone would have had any dilemma as to his/her personality. As we age, we tend to have more and more choices about the subjects we choose, about the friends we have, about partners and various other important aspects of life. I specifically mention Xth class because till then we (or should I say 'I') did not have any choice about the subjects we chose - forget about other aspects like friends and partners.

Then came the period between Xth and graduation - mathematics or biology. I for one, did not have any doubt, for two reasons - one, I was terrible at drawing and sketching (which I came to know through my friends who took biology) and two, I liked mathematics - although must admit the love for the latter, especially the so-called glory of being called 'An Engineer' swept me away. Limited choices - two of them - was not that difficult to make this choice.

Then came Engineering - college, branch, friends, hangout places, games - multiple choices (now I understand the reason for Entrance exams having multiple choice questions - and choosing the best answer). Over four years, one common thread I observed was that for a given problem, there was only one given answer - analytically and mathematically. This was wonderful, only one answer to any given problem - a methodology which got ingrained, whether you completed Engineering by rote or by experiencing it.

Then came Management. Multiple scenarios, multiple solutions, multiple companies and multiple packages. Initial days of my management classes were a little too difficult for me to digest. Some claimed that Engineering was the ideal background for a MBA - How? I asked. I received no answer. I personally feel they are on either side of the horizon - one speaks of perfection (one answer to a given problem) and the other speaks of time (a good answer now is better than the best answer at a later time). Finance and Accounting they say, is akin to Engineering. To speak in MBA gyaan, to arrive at an optimal value, a company can use different accounting systems and financial policies. 'Optimal' is the key word - there is no perfection in Management - Management is about people, and are people perfect - they are only striving towards perfection (Am I?)

There you go - here I am with two degrees on opposite sides of the horizon, trying to derive the best value ('best' from Engineering and 'value' from MBA :-)) - Isn't there a personality conflict everyday in every situation??

P.S: At the start of the blog, I wanted to deal with the friends and partners angle too - that angle is waaayyyyyyyy tooo complex - they bring in so many impressions and thoughts with them - there might be no personality left, forget about the conflict :-). Last but not the least, had a taste of Banking - providing the 'best' to the customer and now Consulting - providing 'optimal' solution to your clients :D

Selfishness - A Matter of Perspective!!

Selfishness - one virtue that is inherent in all humanbeings. When I mean all, it includes greats like Gandhi, Mother Teresa etc. Every man (or woman) is selfish in his/her own way. However, how selfish and the reasons behind selfishness is what differentiates probably the bad, good and the great.
A question might arise that categorization of selfishness (into good, bad and the great) is absolute nonsense. Selfishness is something very emotional, it is not a market survey to be categorised - some might argue. However, my plain argument to that is if the highest forms of knowledge (encompassing description about the Supreme Power to the most emotional of thoughts), the Vedas - can be categorized into different volumes, based on the subject, depth and understanding, so can emotional matters like selfishness.
Keeping categorization aside for a moment, the question arises as to why people tend to be selfish. When I asked this question in various forms to friends of mine - I got one universal answer - though not necessarily in the same form - I want to be happy and hence I tend to be selfish. If selfishness is what it is usually portrayed to be, which is evil, then is being Happy a crime? As is the case with black or white - there is no little selfishness and extreme selfishness (and don't get me started on the gray area - a topic of total jibberish) - a person is selfish or he is not - and we see the case across, everyone is/was selfish at some point or another.
Interesting arguments arise out of daily life. I have faced the ire of my close friends in instances where I have been selfish - however, when I point out their selfishness at a different point of time and question them, I get seemingly baseless or escapist answers. This is common across organisations, family, friends and at every instance of daily life. What seems right to you, which can make you happy seems wrong to the other person and vice-versa - as I mentioned earlier, it is a matter of perspective again.
Great people like Mother Teresa and the Mahatma were selfish in their own way - very selfish - they wanted freedom for their country and liberation for their people respectively. I have used 'their' very deliberately - a word which distinguishes the bad/good from the great. The Greats use 'their' and 'our' as selfish motives while people like me use 'I' to keep myself happy. The worrying factor at present and probably in the future is the hedonistic feeling that is creeping in everyone's thought process - I live my life, I want to be happy, why should anyone care or be bothered - which actually affects others in a miserable manner. How we deal and differentiate between hedonism and what we term to be 'happy' is a question only the individual can answer, least of all others' perspectives.

The City of Mumbai - A year gone by dedicated to the 'City of Dreams'

I never ever thought 20 months was enough time to fall in love with a city. A city of dreams for many and a city of bread for many others. Every aspect of Mumbai, be it the cultural diversity or the magnanimous nature, the ever crowded trains or the never ending traffic, innumerable number of nature spots to hang out or the myriad pubs to suit the western culture, the never-say-die spirit or the city that never sleeps - these and many more make up for the wonderful city it is.
I had my initial apprehensions of Mumbai - a city where the underworld dwells, a city of open murders and thefts, a city where getting in and out of the local trains is akin to clearing a competitive exam and last but not the least, a city where every house is congested and fighting for space. For reasons unknown, I wanted to live in this city, atleast for some time. Although I had an oppurtunity to take up almost any job profile across South, I chose to move to Mumbai - where I had one relative and very few friends. What drew me here is still a mystery to me - probably the charm of living in Mumbai or the mystery associated with the never-say-die spirit - a decision I would cherish throughout my life.
Two things lead a person to cherish a place - One, you gained a lot in terms of exposure from that place and two, simply because you enjoyed thoroughly out there. I am sure there might be much bigger cities and with better amenities than Mumbai has, but to imbibe the culture of hardwork, street-smartness and helpful nature takes ages to seep in a society. In terms of exposure for a typical south-indian like me, it was just tremendous - in terms of financial smartness or the way you deal with different people, my bosses at my previous organisation, friends etc etc, I can go on and on. The peace you experience when you sit in Worli facing the sea face or the fun me and my colleagues had at Aksa beach, the failed attempts to enter a discotheque as a stag or on a Monday :) or the heavy bargaining for good books at Churchgate - I just transport myself mentally there when I think of such things.
The place where I stayed - my roommates - encountered different characters over this short period of my stay there - an extremely short-tempered guy (had great fun tickling his temper :)), an absolutely fun-lovin guy who sleeps only in the day and forgets that it was night that he was supposed to do that activity, a guy whose passion was singing and one more who used to chatter endlessly about everything and anything. There was one television and I dont remember even for once that we fought for the remote control (points to two things, one - noone was interested, two - our interests matched). There was a sense of immense trust in the financial calculations that one person's job was and there was immense miserliness on the other hand by the same set of people. All in all, a great set of people, all extremely knowledgeable - had sooper fun with them!!
It's been 25 days since I left the place and moved on to a different city - and how I wish this city was as good if not better than Mumbai. I havent seen much of this city, probably it is much better - but then Mumbai would remain as it always was 'A dream destination'.

The three 'ists' that define People!

After trudging through a couple of topics, not knowing where to end or how to end, eventually leaving them incomplete and unpublished, here I am writing about a topic inspired by a friend who set me thinking on this one.

In this cluttered world of extreme market segmentation, where every new attribute is broken up into different classes, taking a macro-view on people helps. The dictionary defines 'ist' as a person who follows a distinctive doctrine, theory, system or practice. I essentially feel that there are three kinds - Optimists, Pessimists and Realists.

Ask anyone in this world or for that matter yourself whether he/she is a pessimist? The answer, most if not all the time would be an overwhelming NO. They would rather classify themselves as 'realists', someone who know the ways of the world. We have different words for the same set of people - a slightly more optimistic term would be 'Pragmatists' while a pessimistic term would be a 'Cyncist'. How about each one of us? Different types of reactions for three different words - Optimist or a Realist, you feel good and termed as Pessimist or Cyncist, you rise to defend yourself staunchly.

Why do people react negatively when others associate them with slightly negative terms (does the term 'pessimist' or 'cynicist' connote a negative meaning is a totally different argument)? Hope is a very siginificant part of anyone's personality. Hope denotes Optimistic view of the future. Optimism correlates very strongly with self-esteem and psychological well-being and hence by corollary, we expect all people in the world to be Optimists. However, the number of studies that have been done on Pessimism are far more in number than those done on Optimism. Does that serve as any indicator to how most people think?

How about being called a 'Realistic' personality? A feel good factor probably - knowing the perfect balance between what is optimism and pessimism! But probably that is the way we should function. In psychological terms, Optimism and Pessimism are not opposites. Having more of one thing does not mean you have less of another. The factors that reduce one do not necessarily increase another. The dilemma/conundrum as is the case with every human tendency is the balance of the two, to achieve harmony in a personality - a task which might be difficult, if not impossible.

Prejudice!?!?

Waves of optimism and pessimism might make a man disbelieve in time-tested principles but no matter what happens, he would never waver from his prejudiced thought process - Benjamin Graham

Prejudice - The word itself leads me to two different conclusions: One that this is the right way of looking and interpreting things and two, it is a wrong way of looking at things. Various words have originated out of this one base word of Prejudice - Feminism, Sexism, Racism, Religious intolerance etc. How do we actually define prejudice? Is it some judgement we come to by means of an experience in the past? Then, why would we call Experience as our Best teacher! Is prejudice something learnt in childhood or do we get prejudiced every day? Is manipulation by gross commercialists and politicians by way of slogans and advertisements contributing to our way of looking at things?

What does the dictionary have to say about the word 'prejudice'? Prejudice is defined as: An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. Simply stated, it is a preconceived judgement, in a negative fashion. Going by the definition, is it right for me to say that various religious views thrust upon me since chldhood which have held the test of time prejudiced me the way I look at the world? This particular word, usually used to accuse someone else - saying, so and so was prejudiced against me. By uttering that mere statement, aren't you prejudicing your conclusion?

Lots of questions!! Further food for thought - People are prejudiced because they lack sufficient experience, is a common argument we hear. However my question is, how much experience do you need to satisfactorily say that his point of view is not prejudiced? If no amount of experience entitles a person to a point of view, then the word 'objectivity' loses its meaning and charm. Fallacious extensions of one's own experiences will lead to a horribly colored view of the scenario. We had had innumerable number of such examples - Anti-Semitism, Nazism, Racism to name a few, which have led to destruction of human life.

Taking the discussion a bit further, I take pride in the fact that the decisions I make or the suggestions I give to others are entirely objective - based on proper analytical facts, weighing pros and cons. But isn't the analysis itself flawed if the basis of my assumptions is itself prejudiced? Analytical that I am, I wanted to have an answer to this complex conundrum. The answer being - There is a continuum between decisions based on prejudice and decisions based on experience. Most of our decisions fall under this continuum - atleast that is what I think (prejudiced again?? ;))

Relationships - Conversations = NULL

There are two types of conversations - Memorable ones and the others. Memorable ones needn't necessarily be the ones in which you laughed your lungs out, they might also be the ones in which you cried, the ones in which you felt 'one' with the other person - essentially the ones which weren't bound by space nor time.

How often do we come across conversations like these? A brief conversation with a stranger, a conversation between long lost friends, conversations which gave you a new dimension about your thought process, silent conversations, violent conversations and so on and so forth - each one of them highly significant, each one a brick to build something. There are other conversations which counted little in terms of spoken matter, but counted a lot in terms of the value it built into a relationship. For that matter, how do wonderful relationships develop? Don't they develop by conversing from sweet nothings to profound thoughts all in the same breath? Doesn't a relationship base its foundations on some of the memorable conversations - on the phone, in a bus, during a walk, on the beach, on the Net or during lunch/dinner. Conversations interspersed between lots of talk and long moments of silence - silence which conveys infinitely more messages than lots of talk.

Some of my best conversations have happened at places least expected - On the ground (in my Engg days-some crisis as we would call it), in the middle of heavy traffic, at 3 in the morning while working on a paper, in an auto (where nothing was said and everything was communicated), on the beach (invariably philosophical), during the early hours of some event. There are infinitely many more - at various instances, at various places and various times. Each conversation - postive and negative - has been a brick into making the foundation stronger and its memories extremely fond.

Memories...

How often do you come across something accidentally, a book or a piece of paper you had totally forgotten about, a long lost friend whom you can recognise by face but can't recollect his/her name, a childhood photograph which you never really cared to have a serious look then or the little dress you had worn when you were born - and makes you totally happy no matter which situation/mood you are in!!

Two days back, something very similar happened to me. I was in the most irritable mood possible, a situation wherein I had no patience to deal with anything or anyone. I was just plain fussy, for reasons unknown. In such a desperate situation, I was looking for something in my suitcase and as usual, when you are looking for something desperately, it usually eludes you. However, accidentally, I did stumble across the scrap book of my MBA(nothing very flashy, a very small and a plain spiral pad) - filled in prominently by many of my seniors I admire and respect. The 'Lines for Me' section is the best of them all. One from my wing leader(he has been inspirational in everyway) said - 'Know Goal, Reach Goal'. A simple, four-worded statement, but then it hit me like a bullet considering the situation I was in. Another one said, 'Good, Better, Best - Never let it rest. Till the Good becomes Better and Better the Best'. A lovely line, striving for perfection all the time. Another one said ' Live and Let Live' - I should say, pretty good view of life ;). 'Be HONEST with...yourself atleast', 'Be the way you are, that will take you places' - some of them written in jest, some of them written with a heavy heart but all of them having a profound influence. I would be extremely delighted to get back to those days - but then as one of my senior wrote 'We meet to create memories, we part to cherish them'. A true ending to what was one of my best phases in my life - and back to the present, the irritable situation just vanished(as mysteriously as it had come about) by just reliving those memories!!

Play to Play OR Play to Win??

Interesting proposition! I was conversing with one of my friends yesterday and the conversation veered towards whether we have to Play to Play or Play to Win! This topic set me thinking for quite some time for the simple reason that it is contradictory and yet convincing.

To begin with, in any game, everyone is not a pro - each one of us has a learning phase and then you mature at how the game is played. To bring in the argument at this juncture, Playing to play the game - I believe, we will never learn. Only when you have the desire to win the game, however small the desire, only then something can be learnt. I did hear some of them say, 'I just play for playing sake'. Well, I don't believe it. If you are in the game, you are always trying to win it - that is when the adrenaline can flow, that is when you get the kind of excitement in learning the game. Playing to play will evoke no interest to participate in the game. I can say with my own personal experience, when I play to play - the result is often disastrous, losing is just the start - your opponent would lose any further interest to play with you.

Looking at the larger issue of life(as a game itself), I believe you need to play to win everyday. You win some, you lose some - but at the end of the day, you learn. Learning is the key to any aspect of life. When you play just to play everyday, you drift along in life, eventually getting monotonous. Life is a challenge, tackle it - the only way to do it is to be prepared all the time, to develop the instinct to win all the time. Life is a dream, realise it - dreams into reality will require courage and a willingness to challenge, action on it and win it.

However, there is one subtle issue to be looked at here. Not getting too philosophical, disappointment is bound to follow if after putting all the efforts you dont get to win. It is, but natural. But it depends on your character as to whether you allow the disappointment to get better of you or you take that disappointment as a stepping stone to a new level of learning and experience. Once again, when you play to play - there is bound to be little disappointment, and a lost chance of inculcating a new experience, a learning chance gone a begging.

Time and with it Confusion!!

People just don't seem to have the time for anything nowadays. They don't have time to spend with their family, friends, with their books, sleep nor work. One such case is an excuse of not finding enough time to BLOG. Wonder how? or rather why? Am amused that I don't even have time to answer that question.

The question remains - what do I do with my time? I have no idea. Maybe fulfill some of my needs - talking to people, trying to work and thereby earn some money and worse still, idle around. It's been kind of funny over the past month - tried to do many things in too short a time and ended up doing none. Or maybe I did, but not to my satisfaction!! Wonder why this question pops up time and again - Is time too short or is your need too insatiable??

I can already hear people reading this piece talk about managing your time well, how effectively would a planner work, books on managing time etc. Effectively what remains is whether you are spending your time in the way YOU want to or are you trying to fit in what people want YOU to do in the 24 hrs possible? Difficult question to answer - Needs and wants have to be satisfied through all the things people want YOU to do and We generally get under the false notion(or is it hope) that what they want US to do is what we actually want to do! Confusing - yeah, same here :-)

There are moments where time just seems to fly by and you have enjoyed every moment of it. I want those moments to repeat - maybe many times over, just because of the fact that I did what I wanted to do. There are other times where time drags on forever - reason, people want me to do it and I have no choice about it. People talk about doing what their heart tells them to do, and listen to noone - they say. 'You got to spend your time the way you want to all the time' is a common comment. Nice to hear, I say - but how many of us have the choice? Everyone has their own constraints, own beliefs and own ways of dealing with the world. Even to do what we want to do, we need to know what we want to do! How many of us really know what we actually want to do or what we are really capable of? I am not, I have certainly thought about it but could not arrive at any concrete answer. I am certainly not living the way I want to all the time - for the simple reason that my time moves like a sinusoidal wave, sometimes fleeting and sometimes dragging like a snail. I am confused (and am sure you are too :-) ). Any Answers??